Style

Author Guidelines

 

Modern Africa: Politics, History, and Society – Spelling and Style of Text and References

 – Hradec Králové, 5 August 2025. URL: https://journals.uhk.cz/modernafrica

 

Instructions for Authors

  1. Modern Africa: Politics, History and Society is published in English only.
  2. The texts should deal with politics, history, and society of the African region.
  3. The texts should be in the form of Research Articles (papers or studies), Reports (of events, conferences, etc.), or Reviews (of books, journals). Articles can have 7.000–9.000 words.
  4. Articles must be preceded by an abstract (between 115–130 words) with five keywords.
  5. Texts must be submitted by using our web interface. Research Articles will be double peer-reviewed. In such a case, prevent identities of author(s) to be known.
  6. Further instructions for spelling and style of text and references can be found below.

 

Stylesheet of Modern Africa: Politics, History and Society

  1. Basic information

            Spelling and style generally follow British usage, as given in The Oxford Guide to Style, with some                        exceptions:

  • We prefer the –ise rather than the –ize form of words such as globalisation (rather than globalization); likewise: emphasise (rather than emphasize) and analyse.
  • The journal uses double quotation marks (“continental Europe”) instead of ‘single’ quotation marks.
  • Footnote numbers come after the dot (.) and the comma (,) but before the semi-colon (;).
  • Quotation marks come after the dot (.”) and the comma (,”) but before the semi-colon (”;).
  • All major words are capitalised in titles and subheads: e.g., Socialism and Political Theory. Subtitles and captions of illustrations are all capitalised: Theorising Social Remembering.
  1. Formatting articles
  • Times New Roman, font: 12 pt (footnotes, font: 10 pt), NO endnotes
  • Pictures: colour and black-white, 600 dpi (TIFF)
  • Graphics and figures: 600dpi (TIFF)
  1. Numbers
  • One through ten spelled out, 11 and higher in numerals in text, notes, and references; 1945–49. Examples: 1,100; 210–26; 60%; five o’clock; 100 EUR; $25,000 USD; 100 hectares, 0.5 hectare; 3 October 2015.
  1. Titles and Keywords
  • Major words in Titles, Subheads, and References are capitalised. Keywords are italicised but not capitalised: Ghana, COVID-19, living standards, low-income earners, poverty
  1. Terms that often appear: the Catholic Church (the institution); the Catholic church (a building in a specific place); CE (rather than AD); central, eastern, and western Africa; Cold War; Communist Party; communists, communism; decision making (n.); decision-making process (adj.); decision taking; Nanumba District, District Six (formally named places); the Coastal district, the Upper districts (informal names); encyclopaedia (not encyclopedia); (e.g.) [in parentheses]; for example [in text]; EU, US, PhD (no periods used with acronyms); euros; (i.e.,) [in parentheses]; that is, [in text]; land is preferred over lands, except in reference to the homelands of distinct peoples (e.g., agricultural land; in the lands of the North); the mayor; the president; President Obama; Senegal River; Drakensberg Mountains; Russian Empire; Second World War; so-called enlightened Europe; South East Africa; Central Africa; south-east Angola; western Morocco; to legitimate (rather than “to legitimise”); West, Western (when the reference is general, e.g., Western civilisation); western (when there is precise geographical meaning, e.g., western Europe). Other exceptions: co-existent; cooperative (and its forms); coordinate; postsocialist; among instead of amongst, while instead of whilst.
  2. Author Bio for the Notes on Contributors: 5-6 lines or c.70 words.
  3. References and Citations
  • In-text references follow this example: (Hogben and Kirk-Greene 1966: 554).
  • Non-English terms in titles of books and articles must be translated

  [in square brackets].

  • The use of signs such as “&” should be avoided.
  • Style examples of entries in the list of references include the following:

Book

Mbembe, Achille. 2017. Critique of Black Reason. Durham/London: Duke University Press.

 

Article in a Journal

Zuern, Elke. 2012. “Memorial Politics: Challenging the Dominant Party’s Narrative in Namibia.” Journal of Modern African Studies 50(3): 493–518.

 

Article in a Book

Macdonald, Sharon. 1996. “Theorizing Museums: An Introduction.” In Sharon Macdonald and Gordon Fyfe (eds.) Theorizing Museums: Representing Identity and Diversity in a Changing World. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 1-20.

 

Edited Volume

Hodgkin, Katharine and Radstone, Susannah (eds.) 2014. Contested Pasts: The Politics of Memory. London: Routledge.

 

Websites and Online Articles

Namibweb. n.d. The Association of the Ovaherero Genocide in the U.S.A. Launched. https://www.namibweb.com/ovahererogenocide.pdf (Accessed 17 July 2025).

 

Social Media Posts

BBC News Africa. 2019. “Congo: A Journey to the Heart of Africa – BBC Africa.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43xTvpxWLW4 (Accessed 4 August 2025).