ISSN 1022-8136 printed version
ISSN 2224-0020 online version

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

• Journal Scope
• Editorial Policy
• Preparation and Style of Manuscripts
• Manuscripts Submission

Scientia Militaria: South African Journal of Military Studies investigates a broad spectrum of matters and issues relating to defence, military and security affairs and publishes both discipline–based and inter–disciplinary research.

Editorial Guidelines:

Scientia Militaria is committed to the dissemination of high–quality research through its articles according to the set norms and ethics of the social scientific community. Conformance with the standards of ethical behaviour and norms of research of all involved in the process, namely the editors, the editorial advisory board, peer reviewers, publisher(s) and contributors to the publication is important in order to maintain a cutting–edge journal worthy of international academic citizenship. In particular, the following is required of the stakeholders:

• Editorial Advisory Board
  The Editorial Advisory Board is recognised and well–known academics, theorists and expert practitioners in the subject area representing an international spread. The Editorial Advisory Board members act as an example and subscribe to the norms and ethical standards of the international scientific community and the ethical guidelines of this journal. While the member's task is mainly advisory in nature, they act as providers of advice and source of experience during the review and publication process as set out in the instructions to authors and the particular ethical guidelines for the journal set out here.


• Editors
  Editors evaluate manuscripts only in terms of their academic merit and suitability in terms of the focus of the journal. Editors take care that peer reviewers that are selected are academics in good standing and with suitable knowledge and expertise in the particular field of the article submitted. Editors will take responsible and reasonable responsive measures with regard to ethical complaints received. Complaints of ethical transgressions will be investigated and reasonable steps taken as per the circumstances of a particular case.


• Authors
  Authors should ensure that their submissions are their own original work, sufficient in detail, well argued and according to a proper reference system (consult the Scientia Militaria guidelines for authors). Where the work of other authors are used proper and full referencing is required. No paraphrasing or indirect paraphrasing is acceptable. All sources will be properly acknowledged. Plagiarism in any of its forms whether construed as unconscious or naive plagiarism, direct or indirect plagiarism is unacceptable and will lead to immediate rejection of articles including the blacklisting of the person involved. Submitting an article or review article to more than one journal is not acceptable. Where co–authorship is at stake the person responsible for submission will ensure that the co–author(s) concur on the submission in that particular version both in terms of contents, argument and format.


• Reviewers
  Scientia Militaria consistently uses and values a double blind peer–review process. All articles/submissions are treated as strictly confidential. All information obtained through the peer–review process, including research data are not for use by the reviewers or anyone associated with the reviewer both privately or for purposes of dissemination. Peer reviewers strive to conduct their reviews in an unbiased way and observations and comments (including constructive criticism or the identification of shortcomings in articles) are to be formulated clearly and with supporting arguments. Any peer reviewer that feel unqualified or for any reason not interested in reviewing a particular submission should notify the editors and kindly excuse him/herself from the process. Reviewers should under no circumstances review articles in which they observe and/or are aware of a conflict of interests, be it from personal, collaborative or competitive relationships, connections or networks during the process from the start of the initial article to the publication of the output. Reviewers should respond according to the set requirements and feedback period in good time as requested by the editors to the benefit of the authors and the journal.

NOTES TO CONTRIBUTORS

Scientia Militaria is published bi–annually by the Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), Stellenbosch University. It is a DHET accredited, scholarly journal, which investigates a broad spectrum of matters and issues relating to military affairs, and publishes both discipline–based and inter–disciplinary research. In order to ensure that articles are of a high quality, all submissions are refereed (peer–reviewed) by at least two experts in the field. Refereeing is done with complete anonymity and confidentiality. Articles published in Scientia Militaria qualify for a subsidy from the South African Department of Higher Education and Training.

• To speed up the review process, it is recommended that authors submit an electronic copy to the editors via email and the online platform.
• The length of papers should be between 7 000 and 10 000 words, including footnotes, schedules and reference lists.
• A written guarantee that the manuscript has not been submitted to other publications is required.
• All papers must be language–edited by a language practitioner.
• Please see the General Guidelines for Contributors (scroll down) for the preferred reference technique. Research containing no references will not be considered.
• Where maps, figures and graphs are presented, they must be professionally produced and ready for photographic reproduction.
• The final decision concerning the publication of papers lies with a subcommittee of the editorial committee. No correspondence will be carried on in this respect.
• Copyright on all published material in Scientia Militaria rests with the Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), Stellenbosch University.
• Authors submitting papers, which originally formed part of dissertations or theses, should consult with their study leaders/promoters prior to submission.
• Opinions expressed in the Journal, or conclusions made, are those of the author(s) alone and do not imply endorsement on the part of the editors.
• The assessment of papers could take a considerable length of time, and authors are requested not to make enquiries before a period of at least four months has elapsed.

APC and Submission Charges

This journal does not charge any APCs or submission charges.

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

• STYLE GUIDE
  It is difficult to be prescriptive about the use of a certain style of reference in a multidisciplinary journal such as Scientia Militaria. This specifically concerns the referencing of certain primary researched historical and science articles. The Editorial Committee will make certain exceptions in the case of these kinds of articles. However, as a general guideline, for the purpose of uniformity and to simplify the editorial process, the use of endnotes (not footnotes) is required for all articles considered for publication in Scientia Militaria.


• Endnotes
  Place the endnote indicator after the argument, not after the name(s) of the author(s). For example, Hermann Giliomee and Bernard Mbengu argue that the SADF conducted “… one of the most successful counter–insurgency campaigns in history” in Namibia.¹ Please note that the indicator always comes after the punctuation. The endnote containing the first reference to a specific source should be detailed. The short–title method is used for subsequent references to the same source. Ibid. is used to refer to the last cited source. The page is added when the citation refers to a different page in the same source i.e. Ibid. p. 10. Use op. cit. to refer to an earlier citation, i.e. Giliomee and Mbengu, op. cit. p. 10. All direct quotes or ideas require a reference with a specific page number. When referring to a central idea in a specific work, no page numbers are required.
  
  ¹ Giliomee,H and Mbengu, B. New History of South Africa. Cape Town: Tafelberg, 2007, 370.


• Abbreviations and acronyms
  Abbreviations and acronyms should be given in full when they occur for the first time and the abbreviation/acronym should be given in brackets. Acronyms such as ECOWAS and HIV/AIDS should be written in caps. Do not use full stops in acronyms, for example USA, RSA, UN. Avoid the use of abbreviations/acronyms in headings.


• Bulleted lists
  Start all bulleted lists with capital letters. Semicolons are required between bullets and a full stop after the last item in the list.


• Captions
  Table, graph, map and figure captions should be placed at the bottom. When reproducing data from a diagram or table, or when copying the entire table or diagram, it should be referenced by means of an endnote.


• Dates
  Use day, month, year (for example 1 June 2010).


• Headings
  Indicate the hierarchy of levels, preferably not more than two, as follows:
  Heading 1
  Heading 2


• Italicisation
  Italics are used for the titles of books, periodicals and newspapers.


• Language
  Use English (UK) or English (South African), not English (US). Set you language preference and spell checker accordingly. Take note of the following differences:
  
  
  • In the United States:
    – Use –yze for words such as 'analyze'.
    – Use –or for words such as 'favor', 'flavor', and 'color'.
    – Use e in words such as 'esthetic' and 'encyclopedia'.
    
  • In the UK and South Africa:
    – Use –yse for words such as 'analyse'.
    – Use –our for words such as 'favour', 'flavour', and 'colour'.
    – Use ae in words such as 'aesthetic' and 'encyclopaedia'.


• Numbers
  Numbers from one to ten are written out, except dates, page numbers, percentages, etc. A hard space must be used as the thousands separator, for example 1 000, and a comma for decimals, for example 6,5 per cent. The term 'per cent' is to be used in text, while the symbol (%) should be used in tables, graphs, etc.


• Quotations
  Use double quotation marks for quotations. Long quotations (40 words or more) are usually indented and blocked, without quotation marks. Do not use italics in these indented paragraphs. Use square brackets to indicate authors' insertions and changes to the original. Additional emphases are noted as [my italics/emphasis]. Omissions are indicated by an ellipsis in square brackets […].

STYLE OF REFERENCE

• Archival references
  Archival depot, library or museum followed by the collection, group of documents or papers.
  Example: Department of Defence Archives (hereafter DOD Archives), Chief of the General Staff (hereafter CGS) 607, CGS/3/2/1Vol. 1, CGS Adjutant General (hereafter AG), 6 June 1952.
  Subsequent reference to this archival group can be made as follows:
  DOD Archives, CGS/3/2/1Vol. 1, CGS–AG, 6 June 1952.


• Journal article
  Last name, Initials. “Title of Article”. Journal Title Vol./Nr. Year. pages.
  Example: Scholtz, L. “The South African Strategic and Operational Objectives in Angola, 1987–1988”. Scientia Militaria: South African Journal of Military Studies 38/1. 2010. 77 – 113.


• Book
  Last name, Initials. Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, Year.
  Example: Gray, CS. Modern Strategy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.


• Chapter
  Last name, Initials. ‘Title of Chapter’. In Last name, Initials, and Last name, Initials (eds), Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, Year, pages.
  Example: Kiras, J. “Irregular Warfare: Terrorism and Insurgency”. In Baylis, J, Wirtz, JJ and Gray, CS (eds), Strategy in the Contemporary World: An Introduction to Strategic Studies . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, 185–207.


• Internet document
  Last name, Initials. “Title of Document”. Site Owner. Date. Accessed on date with day, month and year.
  Example: Engelbrecht, L. “Analysts Welcome Defence Budget Boost”. defenceWeb. 28 October 2009. Accessed on 3 June 2010.


• Newspaper article
  Last name, Initials. “Title of Article”. Name of Newspaper, Date with day, month and year. Section. Page.
  Example: Sefara, M. “Beast that instills only fear and loathing”. The Sunday Independent, 30 May 2010. Sunday Dispatches. 14.


• Thesis
  Last name, Initials. “Title of Thesis”. Thesis presented for degree (stipulate in full). Name of university, year.
  Example: Jordaan, E. “South African Defence since 1994: A Study in Policy–Making”. Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the MMil in Military Sciences. Stellenbosch University, 2005.


• Conference paper
  Last name, Initials. “Title of Paper”. Paper presented at Name of Conference, Place, Date with day, month and year.
  Example: Heuser, B. “Strategy Making: The Theory vs. the Practice”. Paper presented at the First South African Conference on Strategic Theory, Stellenbosch, 11 June 2009.


• Editorial addresses
  
  The Editors
  Scientia Militaria
  Private Bag X2
  Saldanha
  7395
  South Africa
  
  E–mail: kleynhans@sun.ac.za
  Tel: +27–22–702–3102
  Fax: +27–22–702–3060

Authors need to register with the journal prior to submitting or, if already registered, can simply log in and begin the five–step process.