Warring States Papers
Information for Authors

The following notes are for the guidance of prospective contributors to the journal. For more specific suggestions on organization and details, see the material in the Style section. Before submitting a proposal or a manuscript, please read this page and then make a preliminary inquiry via this E-mail link.

General Orientation

We Do Not Publish: Book reviews, surveys of scholarship, abstracts of dissertations, bibliographies, primary archaeological reports, memorial minutes, or histories of the field. We admit their value, but feel that other journals already provide ample space for them. We do not do "theory," and we exclude "postmodern" approaches as incompatible with fruitful historical practice (see Methodology).

Subjects. The journal is not a repository for general Sinology, or even for general Warring States Sinology. Its primary interest is the Warring States centuries and the adjacent Spring and Autumn and Chin/Han periods, including China and the chronologically parallel cultures of India and the Mediterranean. Within that zone, we are interested in the philological clarification of the text sources, and in the historical implications of the texts once they have been philologically clarified. For a brief summary of methodological guidelines as they affect the Warring States period, see the Rules page. Other things being equal, we prefer contributions which advance the construction of an overall chronology for Warring States texts, events, and social developments. The sectional divisions for each volume's Table of Contents are the following. They identify areas of constant interest to the editors (contributions on Indian, Greek, Latin, or other texts are placed at the end of each section, which is otherwise order chronologically by subject):

Tone. As with our Conferences and E-mail conversations, normal expectations of civility will apply. The intended tone of the journal is informal, matter-of-fact, brief, and clear. Criticism of previous results is always in order. Imputations of motive, or other ad hominem arguments, are not accepted.

Ethics. Data or conclusions drawn from the work of others must be properly attributed. The journal will endeavor to assist authors in securing appropriate acknowledgement of articles which it publishes, and in bringing to general notice any violations of this universal scholarly expectation.

Audience. Articles on Chinese subjects are assumed to be addressed to fellow students of Chinese antiquity, but should be reasonably intelligible to colleagues in other areas of ancient history. Familiar Chinese texts need not be identified on first occurrence, and can be mentioned by their abbreviations (see our Texts list). A brief opening statement of the problem to be discussed should suffice; a full history of the problem is not needed. Chinese characters should be added as required, but not gratuitously. To take George Kennedy's example, from his stint as book review editor at JAOS, it should not be necessary to give the characters for "Shr Ji," over and over again, in every article in every volume. Similarly, writers in the Greek Classical field do not continually identify Demosthenes or Pauly-Wissova. There should be a level of minimum presumed familiarity with the field.

Format

Medium. We print only articles in English. Translations or summaries of articles originally appearing in another language are of potential interest.

Length. As a first approximation, aim at 4 pages (2000 words). We also welcome 2-page articles (600 to 1000 words). Longer articles are acceptable when justified by brilliance of conception or by the requirements of demonstration (such as an appended long data set or translation), but at 20 pages we have entered the zone where other journals may be a more appropriate venue.

Acknowledgements of grant or similar support, or of guidance received during a thesis project, may be made in an unnumbered first footnote. Dedicatory statements are inappropriate for these short articles.

Appended Discussions. Discussion by others, transcribed from conference tapes or assembled from written or E-mailed comments, may be appended to an article at the discretion of the editors. Authors will have an opportunity to intersperse their replies to those comments.

Responses. We encourage articles developing, or in a productive way contesting, a point made in a previously published WSP article. We do not engage opinions as such. Thus, we do not generally print rejoinders (just as we do not include reviews, in which an opinion about a scholarly publication is the main point). Errata which affect conclusions, whether brought to our attention by readers or authors, will be made publicly available on the cumulative Errata page at this site.

Procedures

Acceptance. The editorial board will judge a paper on the following criteria: (1) Is it clear, cogent, and collegial? (2) Does it acknowledge major previous work on the subject, and sufficiently note major conflicting opinions? (3) Does it make a significant contribution to Warring States (or comparative) philology or history? The last of the three is decisive; we are prepared to work with you on the other two.

Rejection of an article should not be interpreted as a judgement on its quality, but rather as a determination of its appropriateness to the journal's mission: to clarify the chronology of Warring States (or analogous) texts, and develop their use as historical sources.

Copyright and Permissions. Authors should secure any needed permissions for included copyright material, including illustrations, and submit those permissions with their manuscript. Authors are liable in case of copyright infringement. The journal itself requires first serial and subsequent reprint rights, in order that the volume may be copyrighted for the protection of all contributors. Our permission form specifically cedes to authors all other rights, including publication elsewhere of revised or more extended treatments of the same subject. We ask only that any such subsequent publications contain a reference to our previous publication.

Proof. We will send page proof to authors for correction, and will do our best to incorporate corrections made on proof and promptly returned, or sent via E-mail. We wish however to publish promptly in the common interest, and if you are delayed by circumstances, we will follow the Asian Philosophy policy, which is to correct your proof ourselves, in good faith, and go to press with the result.

Offprints are not economically feasible for short articles. We provide authors with one copy of the volume, and with reproduction masters (PDF) from which multiple copies of their own article may be made as desired.

Where to Send. Your manuscript may be faxed to 413 582-9119, mailed to

Warring States Papers
201C Goodell / 140 Hicks Way
University of Massachusetts
Amherst MA 01003-9272 USA

or sent as an E-mail attachment to the Journal link given below.

Back to Journal Page

16 May 2003 / Contact The Editors / Exit to Journal Page