Articles and other material submitted should be original contributions and should not be under consideration for any other publication at the time of submission to the South African Historical Journal.

All submissions should be made online at the South African Historical Journal Manuscript Central site. New users should first create an account. Once a user is logged onto the site submissions should be made via the Author Centre.

Refereeing of articles

All material submitted to the Journal, including guest-edited theme features or issues, is peer-reviewed, and is evaluated by the editors, editorial board and other specialist referees. The editors endeavour to ensure that this process occurs smoothly, but assessment of articles can take a considerable length of time, and authors are requested not to make enquiries before a period of two to three months has elapsed after they have submitted their work.

The Journal follows a 'double-blind' process of evaluation of material: the names of authors are not disclosed to referees, and the identities of referees are not revealed to authors. We request that our referees compile helpful reports which fully motivate their recommendation regarding publication. The editors may request revisions before a final decision to publish is reached.

After acceptance, authors are required to sign a publication contract, and are also required to ensure that their contribution conforms to the style and reference technique of the Journal, as set out here. Final copyright remains with authors, but for the purpose of publication, copyright is also ceded to the Southern African Historical Society.

Length

Articles should be concise and should not exceed 8 000 words (excluding footnotes), except with the prior approval of the editors.

Abstract and keywords

Accepted articles should contain an abstract of up to 200 words and be accompanied by a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 key words. As the abstracts and key words are taken up in international abstracting indexes, as well as facilitate the citations of articles and the research of other scholars, it is important that these accurately reflect the article's substance, main arguments and findings.

Quotations

Short quotations should be indicated by single inverted commas, with double inverted commas for quotations within the main one. Quotations of more than 40 words will be printed in smaller type without inverted commas and not indented.

Grammar and Style

Articles which are clearly written are preferable to dense impenetrable text. 

Use gender-neutral language and language free of derogatory assumptions or allusions based on race, ethnicity, religion, disability, birth or family status.

The British form of words is followed: for example, learnt, centre not learned and center.

Our copy editors will standardise articles according to Journal grammar, spelling and style, and authors will always have the opportunity to approve changes made.

Numbers and Dates

Dates used in the text and in the footnotes should be set out fully in the form day, month and year: for example, 5 January 1812; 22 October 1896; 30 December 1958. The names of the months should not be abbreviated.

For indicating page numbers and dates, use the least number of numerals possible: 52-5, 181-4; 1921-5, 1921-37. However, numbers in the teens should be fully provided: 12-14, 16-17.

Numbers below 10 in the text should be written out in full: four, seven - not 4, 7. Figures should be used to indicate numbers above 10: 10, 78, 174.

Centuries should be written out: for example, nineteenth century, not 19th century

References in Footnotes

The Journal uses footnotes and not endnotes. Footnotes should be numbered consecutively in Arabic figures.

Upper-case style is used for the titles of books and articles.

References to books should give the initial(s) and surname(s) of the author(s), the title in full (italicised), the place of publication, the publisher and the date of publication (within brackets), and the page(s) referred to. For example:

A. Bank, Bushmen in a Victorian World: The Remarkable Story of the Bleek-Lloyd Collection of Bushman Folklore (Cape Town: Double Storeyy, 2006), 66-7.

All subsequent references to the same book should use the surname(s) of the author(s) and a short title:

Bank, Bushmen in a Victorian World, 67.

References to articles in books should give the initial(s) and surname(s) of the author(s), the title of the article (within single inverted commas), followed by the full details of the book:

N. Nkonyeni, 'Da Struggle Kontinues into the 21st Century: Two Decades of Nation-Conscious Rap in Cape Town', in S. Field, R. Meyer and F. Swanson, eds, Imagining the City: Memories and Cultures in Cape Town (Cape Town: HSRC Press, 2007), 151-72.

All subsequent references to the same source should use the author's surname and a short title:

Nkonyeni, 'Da Struggle Kontinues', 162.

References to articles in journals should give the initial(s) and surname(s) of the author(s), the title of the article (within single inverted commas), the title of the journal in full (italicised), and the volume, number, date and page number(s). For example:

V. Bickford-Smith, 'Revisiting Anglicisation in the Nineteenth Century Cape Colony', The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 31, 2 (2003), 82-95.

Subsequent references to the same source should use the surname(s) of the author(s) and a short title:

Bickford-Smith, 'Revisiting Anglicisation', 92.

References to theses should give the initial(s) and surname of the author, the title of the thesis (within single inverted commas), and the degree, the university where it was awarded and the date (within brackets):

U.S. Mesthrie, 'From Sastri to Deshmukh: The Role of the Government of India's Representatives in South Africa, 1927-1946' (PhD thesis, University of Natal, Durban, 1987), 160-7.

Subsequent references to the same thesis should use the author's surname and a short title:

Mesthrie, 'From Sastri to Deshmukh', 182.

Archival references should indicate the archival depot, library or museum, and identify the collection or group of documents or papers:

Cape Archives (hereafter CA), Verbatim Copies (hereafter VC) 607, Doop Register der Gedoopten Christen Kinderen 1757-79, 10 July 1757.

Subsequent reference to this archival group can be made as follows:

CA, VC 607, 22 November 1772.

Full stops should not be used in citing archival references; for example, use CSO, not C.S.O.

Abbreviations and short-hand references such as op. cit. and loc. sit should be avoided.

Ibid. and et al. may be used where appropriate, and should be italicised.

If applicable the abbreviations, ed. and eds are used but are not bracketed.

Internet sources should be cited with the full URL and the date the site was accessed; for example:

http://www.tanap.net/-content/activities/documents/Orphan_Chamber-Cape_of_Good_Hope/index.htm, accessed 17 April 2007.

Line breaks of URLs should be avoided as far as possible, and the copy editor will indicate breaks in the final text.

References

A list of all books, articles, theses and unpublished papers cited in the article, arranged alphabetically by author (only surname and initial/s), needs to be provided at the end of the article. For example:

Coombes, A.E., History after Apartheid: Visual Culture and Public Memory in a Democratic South Africa (Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 2004).

Dubow, S., A Commonwealth of Knowledge: Science, Sensibility and White South Africa 1820-2000 (Oxford, New York and Cape Town: Oxford University Press and Double Storey, 2006).

Grundlingh, A.M., 'Transcending Transitions? The Social History Tradition of Historical Writing in South Africa in the 1990s' (Inaugural Lecture, University of South Africa, 1997).

Kros, C., 'Heritage vs History: The End of a Noble Tradition?', Historia, 48, 1 (2003), 326-35.

Unterhalter, E., 'Truth rather than Justice? Historical Narratives, Gender, and Public Education in South Africa', in H.E. Stolten, ed., History Making and Present Day Politics: The Meaning of Collective Memory in South Africa (Uppsala: Nordiska Afrika-institutet, 2007), 98-113.

Reviews and Review Articles

Although in most cases reviews will be solicited, the review editor will be prepared to consider unsolicited reviews. All reviews will be submitted to members of the editorial board and, if necessary, to other referees before acceptance for publication.

The details of a book should appear at the head of the review in the following form: full title (italicised); name of author(s); place(s) of publication; publisher(s); date of publication; number of pages; and ISBN number. For example:

The African Aids Epidemic: A History. By JOHN ILIFFE. Athens, Ohio, Oxford and Cape Town: Ohio University Press, James Currey and Double Storey, 2006. x + 213 pp. ISBN 1 77013 048 9.

Reviewers of books on countries other than those in southern Africa should, wherever possible, indicate the relevance of such books for the study of South African history.

Books sent out for review must be reviewed by the date stipulated. If reviews are not received by that date, the review editor may request that the book or books be returned forthwith.

A review article should be longer and more detailed than a review, and should discuss the book or books in the historiographical context of the field of study as a whole. Review articles may qualify for subsidy purposes by those attached to South African universities.

Maps, Diagrams and Photographs

Where maps, figures, graphs and photographs are presented, they must be professionally produced, and ready for photographic reproduction. Each must be separately submitted, preferably as a .jpg file. Under no circumstances should they be presented embedded in the article.

Copyrights and permissions

It is the responsibility of the author to obtain permission to reproduce any material under copyright from the original copyright holder or archival depot, and to provide documentary proof that this has been granted when the final draft of the article is submitted for publication.

Page Proofs

Page proofs are always given to authors, who are responsible for checking them carefully. Corrected page proofs are to be returned to the editors within seven days of receipt of them, in order not to delay the printing of the Journal.

Offprints

Authors will not be sent offprints of their articles, but will receive one copy of the Journal free of charge. Additional copies can be requested. Their article will also be provided in electronic format.

Subsidy