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Guidelines for contributors 

THE OBSERVATORY

The Observatory is the blog of ISAC. It provides a platform where scholars can publish short papers introducing and discussing research related to Asian Catholic populations living in Asia or elsewhere.

 

Contributions are written for a broad audience interested in Asian Catholics, social science, Asian societies and diasporas, Global Catholicism and related topics. All articles should be written with a non-specialist, public audience in mind, including policy makers, the media, students, and the general public.

Please write in a natural style that avoids acronyms and academic terms not widely used outside of specific disciplines.

 

Word count

  • Approximately 2000-3000 words

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Format for sharing

 

Paragraph length and spacing

  • Keep paragraphs short. No longer than a few sentences. 

  • We adhere to the one space after the period philosophy, not two.

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Formatting

  • Use headers and subheaders to break up your post.

  • Avoid big blocks of text.

  • When writing headlines be specific and indicate a benefit to the reader

  • Use bullet or numbered lists.

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Spelling

  • The Observatory uses American English and the Collins Dictionary for spelling and punctuation (available free online).

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References

  • We recommend keeping the number and size of footnotes as minimal as possible. 

  • Ideally, referencing should be in the form of links rather than citations. Links should point to more detailed information and, if possible, to an open access publication or website. Please integrate all content into the main body of your article.

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Editing

  • All posts submitted are reviewed for length, clarity, and style, primarily to ensure posts are appropriate for the blog format. Authors work with The Observatory co-editors to finalize their contribution, but all final editorial decisions rest with the coeditors.

  • We reserve the right to make final copy edits, including formatting and title changes as necessary.

 

Images

  • Each article requires 4 to 6 images.

  • Images should be included in the same file as the written submission. All images MUST have descriptive captions (we encourage long captions). 

  • Please make sure that the images are high-resolution and that you either own the images or have the right to reproduce them. 

  • One image must stand as the main illustration of the article. 

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Author bio

  • Author bio should be 50 words max.

  • Link to your email, Institution, Twitter, LinkedIn

 

After Publication

  • Please plan to promote your post throughout your social networks. Do not hesitate to share it more than once on multiple networks over multiple days.

  • If a paper is republished elsewhere afterwards, it should include our publication name (‘ISAC: The Observatory’) and the original link.

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