Institute for Regional Studies of the Californias

Instructions for Authors

The purpose of this document is to provide authors contributing to IRSC publications with standard guidelines for IRSC's preferred styles and reference formats. Contact irsc@mail.sdsu.edu for further information about publication questions and issues.

Preparation of Copy

All copies must be typed (including indented material, endnotes, and references), double-spaced, and printed on white paper. Number all pages consecutively, including those with tables and endnotes. A separate page clearly identifying and defining all mathematical symbols must be attached. All tables, graphs, and illustrations should be on separate pages. Finished copies of graphs and illustrations must be submitted, both in hard copy and on diskette. Indicate clearly where illustrations should appear in the text. A note in the text in brackets will be sufficient, as in the following example:

[Table 1 about here]

IRSC prefers the use of references in parentheses within the text and the use of footnotes and endnotes is discouraged. If necessary, endnotes may be used, but they must appear separately at the end of the text. For word processing programs, the endnotes must not be embedded in the text. IRSC-preferred styles for references and footnotes are indicated below. For additional questions of style not covered in these IRSC instructions, authors should consult The Chicago Manual of Style, fourteenth edition.

Italicize all foreign words and provide their translation into English. When using acronyms, provide their definitions on the first use in the manuscript, and if in a foreign language, provide the translation.

Authors of articles accepted for publication must provide an electronic version of the work on diskette. WordPerfect is the preferred format, but Microsoft Word and other widely-used software programs are acceptable. The diskette must be clearly marked with the author's name, word processing program and version, as well as the operating system (Mac or IBM compatible).

Please do not use fancy fonts or formatting for manuscripts submitted to IRSC. Formatting complexities cause problems with the typesetting software used by IRSC.

Format of Text

All references to monographs, articles, and statistical sources are to be identified at an appropriate point in the text by last name of author, year of publication, and pagination when appropriate—all within parentheses. Be sure that the year and the spelling of the author’s name within the parentheses exactly match those in the reference list. Frequently, manuscripts have to be returned a second time to authors because the reference list and the references in the text (including endnotes) do not agree. Frequent problems include the item referenced in the text not appearing in the list of references at the end of the chapter, the year of the citation within the text not agreeing with the year listed in the reference section, inconsistent spelling for authors’ names, and failure to include accents and other diacriticals for foreign-language references.

Footnotes are not acceptable, and endnotes are to be used only for substantive observations, not for the purpose of citation. There is no need to use ibid., op. cit., loc. cit., and so forth. Each reference to the same source should appear in exactly the same format with the possible exception of different page numbers indicated.

If the author of a source referred to appears in the text, follow it with the year of the publication in parentheses [… according to the work by Peach (1986), the data are inaccurate …]. If the author’s name does not appear in the text, insert the author’s name, year, and pagination (if appropriate) in the text in parentheses [… according to some works (Peach 1986: 14–15), the data are inaccurate …].

For more than one work published by the same author in the same year, distinguish these by the use of a letter attached to the year of publication in the reference in the text and in the list of references at the end of the article [Peach 1984a, 1984b].

With triple authorship, give the three last names; for more than three, use the last name of the first author and “et al.” For institutional authorship, supply minimum but adequate identification from the beginning of the complete citation that appears in the list of references [… occupational data (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1985: 473–75) revealed that …]. When several references appear in the same location in the text, enclose in parentheses and separate by semicolons [… (Peach 1995a: 41; Smith 1981; García 1996: 14–15) . . .].

Format of References

At the end of the text, after the endnotes (if any), the full listing of all items included as references within parentheses in the text should appear in a section titled References. While the references in the text used only the first author and “et al.,” for works with more than three authors, the reference section should list all authors. IRSC prefers that the full names of authors be used, not just last name and first initial(s). Only book and journal titles should be italicized. For references in foreign languages, please translate parts of the reference such as month, volume, city of publication, and so forth. The following are some examples of reference formats:

Journal Article—one author

Custred, Glynn. 1995. “Language Boundaries in South America.” Journal of Borderlands Studies 10 (1): 69–88.

If no issue number, month, or season is used for the journal, use the number of the volume, if available.

Journal Article—two authors

Maillat, Denis, and Gilles Léchot. 1995. “The Franco-Swiss Jura Arc: From Cut-Off to Seam.” Journal of Borderlands Studies 10 (1): 1–18.

Book

Williams, Edward J., and John T. Passé-Smith. 1992. The Unionization of the Maquiladora Industry: The Tamaulipan Case in National Context. San Diego: Institute for Regional Studies of the Californias, San Diego State University.

Article in Edited Book

Simmons, Marc. 1983. “New Mexico-Colorado History.” Pp. 42–45 in Borderlands Sourcebook, Ellwyn R. Stoddard et al., eds. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Newspaper Article—no author

New York Times. 1990. “The Iron Curtain Rises.” (17 February): A3.

Newspaper Article—author

Norman, Michael. 1990. “The Iron Curtain Rises.” New York Times (17 February): A3.

Paper Presented at Meetings, Seminars, or Conferences

Author. Year. “Title of Paper.” Paper presented at annual meeting of the Association for Borderlands Studies, 21–22 April, City, State.

Unpublished Paper or Manuscript

Marciniak, Edward, and Nancy Jefferson. 1985. “CHA Advisory Committee appointed by Judge Marvin E. Aspin: Final Report” (December). Chicago. Unpublished.

Organization as Author

Task Force for Regional Development in Poland (TFRDP). 1996. Outline of a Regional Development Strategy for Poland: Final Report. Warsaw: Task Force Secretariat.

Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development (TCBEED). 1995. Survey of Border Retailers. Laredo: Texas A&M International University.

U.S. Government Document

U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1986. Household Net Wealth and Asset Ownership. Current Population Reports, Series P-70, No. 3. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 1986. Toxicology Handbook. Rockville: Government Institutes.

Thesis or Dissertation

Author. Year. “Title of Work.” Ph.D. diss., Name of Department, Name of University, City, State, Country.

Author. Year. “Title of Work.” Master’s thesis, Name of Department, Name of University, City, State, Country.

Internet Document

When referencing sources of information found on the internet, please include sufficient information so that other researchers can easily locate the materials. For example:

Kameras, David. 1996. “NAFTA Hearing Exposes Sprint.” AFL-CIO News (cited 8 March), www.aflcio.org/newsonline.

Interview by Author

When referencing interviews conducted by the author that are not published or broadcast, the following format should be used: Last name of interviewee, first name. Year. Interview by author. Tape (video) recording [if applicable]. City, State (Day Month). For example:

Alexander, Robin. 1966. Telephone interview by author. San Bernardino, California (12 February).

Personal Communications

Personal communications to the author should be formatted as follows: Last name of person with whom author communicated, first name. Year. Telephone conversation, conversation, or letter with/to author. City, State (Day Month). For example:

Nickey, Laurence N. 1991. Conversation with author. El Paso, Texas (21 June).

Format of Tables, Graphs, Charts, Maps, and Other Illustrations

Authors may include illustrations in unstandardized format with initial manuscript submissions to IRSC. Once a manuscript is accepted by the editors for publication, it is the responsibility of authors to submit all illustrations in the proper format and in camera-ready form. Authors may wish to provide illustrations to IRSC specifications at the time of original submission of the manuscript in order to avoid later revisions and delays.

If authors do not, or cannot, provide camera-ready illustrations, IRSC will have these prepared and will bill the author for the cost of their production. The cost of a fairly simple full-page map, for example, would be approximately US$40.00; a full-page table would be approximately US$50.00.

Size

All illustrations, including legends and notes, must fit within a frame that is 4.6 inches (11.684 centimeters) wide by 7.6 inches (19.304 centimeters) high. Tables that are more than 4.6 inches and up to 7.6 inches in width will be printed in landscape format. Landscape tables that are longer than 4.6 inches will carry over to the following page(s).

Fonts

The preferred font for illustrations is Helvetica or Helvetica Narrow. Arial is a fairly close equivalent. Legends should be in Helvetica or Helvetica Narrow bold and 12 font.

Frames

Illustrations should be enclosed in a single or double hairline frame on all four sides.

Titles and Legends

Tables must be titled and numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. The titles or legends should be in Helvetica or Helvetica Narrow, 12 font, bold, and in initial capitals and lower case. Punctuation should be as in the following example:

Table 1. Per Capita Income in Border Counties

All other illustrations (maps, diagrams, charts, and graphs) should be labeled as “Figure” and numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals. For example:

Figure 1. The Russian-Finnish Border Region

The legend or title should be located at the top of the illustration, either inside or outside of the frame, and centered. The legend typeface should be Helvetica or Helvetica Narrow, 12 font, and bold.

Hard Copies and Electronic Copies