If you meet the Eligibility Criteria and would like to submit a paper, you must:
- consult the Submission Guidelines below, and
- edit and format your submission according to the NVJS Style Guide with attention to detail.
Papers which do not comply with the NVJS Style Guide will not be considered for publication.
If you would like to submit a review, please consult the Review Guidelines.
1. Preparing a paper for submission
i. Subject Matter
Submissions may be on any topic related to Japan. Papers from any discipline are welcome; however, please note that NVJS primarily publishes work in the fields of social science and the humanities. Papers may focus exclusively on Japan, or feature Japan as one of several case studies.
ii. Originality and Authorship
Submissions must be original, sole-authored papers that have not been published or submitted elsewhere. Refer to the Publication Policy page for further details.
iii. Word Count
Submissions must be between 5,000 and 8,000 words. This includes footnotes and appendices. Note that the References list is not included in the word count.
Footnotes and appendices should be kept to a minimum. Publication of supplementary materials such as charts and appendices will be at the discretion of the editors.
Papers exceeding the maximum word count will not be considered for publication.
iv. Language and Writing Quality
Only English-language submissions will be accepted. Manuscripts must be thoroughly proofread for grammar, spelling and readability prior to submitting. Authors are encouraged to seek professional assistance with proofreading where required.
Papers with poor grammar, spelling and readability will not be considered for publication.
v. Terminology and Glossary
NVJS is an interdisciplinary journal. Contributors are asked to avoid over-reliance on acronyms, specialised terminology or Japanese terms where possible to ensure maximum accessibility to a cross-disciplinary readership. Any specialist terms used should be explained at first mention for the benefit of cross-disciplinary readers.
If repeated use of acronyms, specialist terminology or Japanese vocabulary is unavoidable, please provide a comprehensive glossary at the end of the paper to assist readers who are unfamiliar with your field of specialisation. Other reference materials (e.g. lineage charts, figures, etc.) may also be of use.
Glossaries and appendices should appear before your references list.
If you are in doubt about the level of accessibility of your paper, ask a non-specialist to read it and flag language or concepts that may require clarification.
vi. Charts, Graphs and Tables
Charts, graphs and tables should be kept to a minimum, and must be consistently formatted in line with the NVJS Style Guide. Publication of charts, graphs and tables will be at the discretion of the editors.
Any charts, graphs or tables you include must be:
- indicated by file name in your paper at the point you wish them to appear;
- accompanied by an appropriate title and number that corresponds with references to the data within the text;
- accompanied by an appropriate title (above the chart, graph or table); and
- supplied separately as clearly labelled raw data files in the original format they were produced in (eg. Excel, Powerpoint). PDF files will not be accepted.
All source data should be referenced directly beneath the relevant chart, graph or table using the author-date style. Statistical data collected by the author does not require referencing.
vii. Images and Copyright
Any images you include must be:
- indicated by file name in your paper at the point you wish them to appear;
- accompanied by an appropriate title and number which corresponds with references to the data within the text;
- accompanied by an appropriate caption (below the image); and
- supplied separately as high-resolution JPEG files where possible (at least 300dpi, or approx. 1MB or larger).
All sources should be referenced in the caption using the author-date style outlined in the NVJS Style Guide. Copyright credits should appear at the end of captions. Images taken by the author do not require referencing.
You must seek permission to use any copyrighted images or other material as part of your paper. You will be required to provide proof of permissions, along with any credit lines to be inserted, in writing prior to publication. NVJS has a permissions form for this purpose and can also provide a letter of support to accompany permissions requests.
Seeking permissions can be a time-consuming process, so you will need to begin working on this as soon as your paper is accepted. If you are unsure whether an image you wish to use is subject to copyright, please refer to the Australian Copyright Council for information.
viii. Japanese-Language Citations
If you cite from a Japanese text, you should provide an English translation of the citation in the main text, and include the original Japanese in parentheses afterward, or in a footnote at the bottom of the page. For further details, refer to the NVJS Style Guide.
ix. Format and Style
Prior to submission, you must edit your paper from start to finish to ensure that it complies with specifications in the NVJS Style Guide.
Papers which fail to comply with the NVJS Style Guide will not be considered for publication.
x. References
References should be in the author-date style outlined in the NVJS Style Guide. Footnotes should not be used for references.
Your References list must:
- be in alphabetical order;
- include bibliographic information for Japanese-language sources in both Japanese and English, following the style indicated in the NVJS Style Guide;
- include only works that are explicitly cited or referenced in the body text of your paper. If your paper is an edited version of a longer thesis, make sure you also edit all unnecessary references from the reference list before submitting;
- include full publication details for all works cited; and
- represent monographs, journal articles and other source types accurately in line with the NVJS Style Guide (e.g., monograph titles in italics, no inverted commas; article and chapter titles in double inverted commas, no italics; journal titles in italics, no inverted commas, etc.).
Refer to the NVJS Style Guide for further details on referencing requirements.
Papers with references which fail to comply with the NVJS Style Guide will not be considered for publication.
2. How to Submit a Paper
i. What to prepare
You will need the following items in order to submit.
- Edited and formatted manuscript (MS Word .doc or .docx file, clearly named)
- Any separate images, charts, graphs or tables you wish to submit
- Cover Sheet
- Contributor’s Checklist
- Electronic copy of academic transcript
- Supervisor Recommendation Form
The Cover Sheet, Contributor’s Checklist and Supervisor Recommendation Form are in the Submission Pack, which is available for download at the bottom of this page.
ii. Sending your data
Collate your manuscript, cover sheet, checklist, transcript and any other files for submission into a single folder. Submit by the deadline shown on the Call for Papers page.
Ensure that:
- individual files are clearly labelled
- the folder is labelled with your name
3. Notes
i. Editorial decisions
Final decisions regarding the selection of papers will be made at the sole discretion of The Japan Foundation, Sydney based on quality of work, suitability and subject matter.
The Japan Foundation, Sydney reserves the right to edit submissions.
ii. Licensing
Work published in NVJS is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), with attribution requested for the author and The Japan Foundation, Sydney.
Submission Pack
Note: This submission pack is for papers only. For review submissions, please consult the Review Guidelines.
Contains:
- Cover Sheet
- Submission Guidelines (PDF)
- Style Guide (PDF)
- Supervisor Recommendation Form
- Contributor Checklist
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