Articles submitted for publication must be typed in double spacing throughout, on one side only of white A4 paper, with generous left- and right-hand margins. All articles are ‘blind' refereed.

The word length for articles is 4,000–6,000 words, including notes and references. For reports/debates the preferred length is 2,000–4,000 words. Articles are expected to have brief abstracts of no more than 80 words; abstracts are not required for election reports or debate pieces. Authors should include a separate cover sheet with a short biography and full contact details.

Titles and section headings should be clear and brief. Lengthy quotations (exceeding 40 words) should be displayed, indented, in the text. Spellings should use the ‘ise' alternative (realise, organisation) and where -yse (analyse); -our rather than -or (favour) except in proper names, e.g. Australian Labor Party, if that is its formal title. Indicate italic type by underlining, and use single quotation marks (double within single; single within indented quotations). Dates should be in the form 9 May 1994. Take out points in USA and other such abbreviations and do not use points after Dr, Mr, Mrs, etc. When referring to pagination and dates use the smallest number of numerals possible consistent with clarity (e.g. 10–19, 42–5, 1961–4, 1978–85); use 35.3% in tables rather than 35.3 per cent. Use words for numbers one to ten unless dealing with percentages, pages or sets of numerals.

Use capitals sparingly, for titles (the Secretary-General; President Clinton) and for unique or central institutions (the European Court of Justice, the World Trade Organization) but not for general or local organisations and offices (a government minister, the mayor, Glossop district council, the national executive committee). Capitalise Party in a title (the Conservative Party), otherwise lower case. Lower case for the state and for the left and the right (but the New Left, the New Right). Capitalise -isms (Marxism), elsewhere lower case (ecologism). In general lower case for conferences and congresses (the party's ninth congress was held in 1997).

Tables and figures should have short, descriptive titles. All footnotes to tables and their source(s) should be typed below the tables. Column headings should clearly define the data presented. Camera-ready artwork for all figures must be supplied. Artwork intended for same-size use should have a maximum size of 200:140mm (page depth: page width); oversized artwork should be prepared in the same proportions. The approximate positions for tables and illustrations should be located in the text.

Essential notes should be indicated by superscript numbers in the text and collected on a single page at the end of the text. Authors must check their notes and references for completeness and accuracy. References cited in the text should read thus: Brown (1990: 63–4), Brown and Smith (1985, 1990). Use ‘et al.' when citing a work by more than two authors, e.g. Brown et al. (1991). The letters a, b, c, etc., should be used to distinguish citations of different works by the same author in the same year, e.g. Brown (1975a, b). All references cited in the text should be listed alphabetically and presented in full after the notes, using the following style:

Articles in journals: MOZAFFAR, SHAHEEN. 1997. Electoral systems and their political effects in Africa: A preliminary analysis. Representation 34 (1): 148–56.
Books: MCALLISTER, IAN. 1992 Political Behaviour: Citizens, Parties and Elites in Australia. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire.
Articles in books: KOLODNY, ROBIN. 2000. Electoral partnerships: Political consultants and political parties, in James A. Thurber and Candice J. Nelson (eds), Campaign Warriors: Political Consultants in Elections. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, pp. 110–32.
Unpublished works: BARDI, LUCIANO. 1992. The Empirical Study of Party Membership Change, unpub. Università di Bologna.
Reports: CENTRAL ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR EDUCATION. 1967. Children and their Primary Schools, 2 vols. London: HMSO.*
Newspapers: ROSE, GRAHAM. 1989. New clones mean less guesswork. Sunday Times, 13 August.

*Authors are requested to provide as much information as possible on official reports, including command numbers and websites.

Articles that do not conform to the fundamentals of this style will be returned to the authors for revision.

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