Style and Submission Guide

General 

The following guidance applies to monographs. The journals supported by the Press have their own style guides and formatting requirements. Those interested in submitting articles to the various journals supported by the West Point Press should refer to those journals for specific style guidance.

The Press prefers the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition for monograph submissions.  However, any coherent, consistent system may be acceptable (e.g., APA, MLA, Bluebook, etc.). The Press values internal consistency over strict adherence to the Chicago Manual of Style, provided your notes and citations are in an acceptable scholarly format.  If authors wish to deviate from the Chicago Manual of Style, please coordinate with the Press and explain why a different format is appropriate.

The manuscript should be submitted in electronic form only.

Manuscripts that are being sent out for peer review should be one file with figures and images embedded. Once a manuscript has been through peer-review, accepted by the editorial board, and a contract issued to the author, authors will incorporate feedback from the peer-review process and submit an updated manuscript that complies with the following guidance.  

 

Manuscript Formatting 

  • Manuscript will be submitted in Microsoft Word using Times New Roman, 12-point font. Footnotes will use 10 pt. Times New Roman font.

  • The entire manuscript should be double-spaced with 1-inch margins.

  • Use a single column layout. 

  • Left justify text (not full justification). 

  • Use tab, not spaces, for paragraph indentation.

  • Use a single space between sentences (i.e., one space after a period).

  • Number the endnotes starting with "l" in each chapter. Notes should be linked in Microsoft Word.

  • Please use en dashes in all number ranges in the text and in footnotes, rather than hyphens.

  • American spelling and punctuation will be used in all manuscripts. British spellings will be retained in quotes and in the spelling of British organizations and such. Example: travelled, towards, and regards will be changed to traveled, toward, and regard. In general, use the serial comma, but do not alter quotations, titles of works, or institutional names where a serial comma is lacking.

Manuscript Submission Guidance

The manuscript will be submitted as a single Word file organized in the following order (as applicable)

  • Title page 

  • Dedication 

  • Epigraph 

  • Table of Contents (called “Contents”) 

  • List of Figures or Illustrations (called “Figures” or “Illustrations”) 

  • List of Tables (called “Tables”) 

  • Foreword (conventionally by someone other than author) 

  • Preface (may include acknowledgments) 

  • Acknowledgments 

  • Abbreviations (if used in text)

  • Body Text - Leave endnotes embedded within their chapters

  • Acknowledgments (if not in front matter) 

  • Appendixes 

  • Abbreviations (if used only in endnotes) 

  • Notes 

  • Glossary

  • Bibliography or References 

  • Figures or Illustration Credits (if not in captions) 

  • Index (will be prepared by Press’ vendor)

 

Figures and images must be submitted as separate files; they should not be placed in the manuscript document(s). Instead, authors will use a callout (place marker) in the text for each table (e.g., “[Figure 14.1 about here].” See “Figures and Images” guidance for additional information.

Any captions should be provided in a single, separate Word file, not in the primary manuscript document. Captions must include the credit line, if applicable. 

If the manuscript includes non-Western European diacritics, non-Latin alphabets,

complex mathematics, or extensive verse extracts, authors will include a PDF of the complete manuscript – ensuring all special text appears in the PDF as it should appear in the final book.

Questions

Authors with any questions or issues should submit their questions to the Press at westpointpress@westpoint.edu