Social Studies Collection
Guidelines for authors
Publications in this collection are aimed at the general public; therefore it is necessary to
use clear and simple language. The use of specialized terminology, academic jargon or
mathematical formulas should be avoided as much as possible.
Rules for the presentation of original manuscripts
1. Manuscripts must be in digital format, in Word for Windows.
2. Manuscripts can be written in Spanish, Catalan or English.
3. Manuscripts must not be less than 300,000 or more than 400,000 characters (spaces
included). Footnotes, tables and graphs and bibliography will be included in this count.
4. A table of contents for the different sections of the text, as well as an index of tables
and graphs must be included.
Style guidelines
1. Times New Roman, 12 point type (as used in this document).
2. Space between lines: 1.5. Leave an additional line between paragraphs.
3. Do not indent the first line of a paragraph.
4. Begin each chapter on a new page.
5. Number all pages of the text in a continuous sequence.
6. The division and subdivision of the text will be done in the following manner:
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Title of the chapter
1.1. Title of the section
Conclusions
Bibliography
Index of tables and graphs
Methodological appendix (if appropriate)
Glossary of terms and abbreviations/acronyms (if appropriate)
7. The use of text in boldface within chapters should be avoided and there will be no
underlined text.
8. The following should be in italics:
a) A name or phrase that the author wishes to emphasize because it is considered
important.
b) Words or expressions in other languages.
c) The titles of periodicals (newspapers, journals, etc.) and of diverse works (books,
films, CDs, plays, etc.).
9. Single quotation marks (‘…’inverted commas) are used:
a) To enclose quotations in the text.
b) For the titles of articles from periodical publications and for the titles of book
chapters.
10. Double quotation marks (“…”) are used to indicate quotations within quotations or
specific words which should be in quotes within a quotation.
11. An ellipsis, to substitute an omitted part of a quotation takes the form of three
periods (…). They are not placed between brackets or parentheses.
12. Dashes that introduce a digression or interruption in the sentence should be medium
length and should close unless they coincide with the end of a sentence.
13. Centuries are written using ordinal numbers (19th century).
14. Acronyms are written in capitals and without periods (IMF and not I.M.F.). The full
name or term must be used on its first occurrence in the text, unless the acronym is
commonly known (UN, EU).
15. When a sequence of numbers is being given, all digits must be written (1990-1995,
not 1990-95; pp. 123-127, not 123-7). Decades can be written in numerical form and
there is no apostrophe (1980s not 1980’s).
16. Footnotes are to be used, not endnotes. They should be two points smaller than the
size of the principal text. The numbers indicating the footnote must be placed after the
punctuation sign. The use of footnotes should be limited; often their content can be
integrated into the text (for example, in a parenthesis). They should be brief and
concise.
17. The numbering of tables, graphs and maps must correlate with the chapter number
(3.1, 3.2, 3.3.). Follow the following guidelines for tables and graphs:
a) On the first line and aligned with the left margin, write the table/graph number; on
the second line, the title in boldface, as well as the time period referred to (if necessary);
on the third line, the unit of measure or rate used. Notes and sources will be placed
below the table or graph.
b) Ensure that tables and graphs are clear and easy to read, avoiding.
convoluted formulations or the inclusion of an excessive number of columns and rows.
c) The information must be presented in a form which is immediately clear. In other
words, graphs and tables must be understandable without reference to the text.
d) Tables and graphs that are not mentioned in the text or that contain information not
relevant to the text should not be included.
18. Quotations. Quotations within the text will be written in normal text and placed
between quotation marks. Although the original is in another language, quotations will
always be translated into English. If the quotation is long (more than approximately 75
words), it should be separated from the text, indented and leaving a line before and
after. Such quotes do not need to be placed between quotation marks.
19. Authorship of references or quotations that appear in the text will be indicated in the
following manner: Author, year: page number for the quotation. Example: (Collins,
2003: 67). The complete bibliographic reference will appear in the bibliography. If a
work that is cited in the text has more than two authors, only the first will be cited
followed by “et al.” (and others) in italics: (Cruz Souza et al., 2006). In case of various
references to a work already cited in the text, it will be sufficient to simply indicate the
page between parentheses in the following manner: (p. 69), (pp. 80-86).
20. Bibliography. The bibliography must contain all works referenced in the text
without omitting any. In the bibliography the order of elements included is the
following:
a) Books
- Author: last name(s) and initial of first name (or name of institution when it is an
institutional author): Constanza, R. or European Commission.
- Year of publication (between parentheses), followed by a colon.
- Title of the book (and, if necessary, subtitle): in italics, followed by a comma.
- City of publication (in English: Brussels or Milan, not Bruxelles or Milano), followed
by a colon.
- The name of the publisher.
- If there is more than one city or publisher, separate these with a forward slash: New
York/London; The New Press/Polity Press.
Examples:
Mills, C. (2000): The Sociological Imagination, New York: Oxford.
Smart, J.N., and A.B. Johansson (2008): The Pursuit of Excellence: Entrepreneurial
Risk in Times of Turbulence, London: W.W. Mills.
b) Articles (or book chapters)
- Author: last name(s) and initial of first name.
- Year of publication (between parentheses), followed by a colon.
- Title of the article (or book chapter): in normal type and in quotation marks, followed
by a comma.
- When it is a chapter from a book or article in a collection, write ‘in’ followed by name
and last name of editor: initial and last name(s), followed by the relevant information
between parentheses: ed.; title and other information following the criteria above for
books.
- If it is an article published in a journal, after the title place the complete name of the
journal in italics and without quotation marks, followed by a comma.
- Follow this by the issue number of the journal, a comma, and the pages: do not include
any abbreviations (“no.”, “p.”, etc.).
- If it is necessary to indicate the volume, this will be indicated in the following manner:
38(3), where 38 is the volume and 3 is the issue number.
- If an article from a newspaper or weekly is cited, it is only necessary to indicate the
date after the name, abbreviated as day/month/year: New York Times, 03/05/2009.
Examples;
Bem, S.L. (1981): ‘Gender Schema Theory: A Cognitive Account of Sex Typing’,
Psychological Review, 88, 354-364.
Simmon, B.A., (1999): ‘The Internationalization of Capital’ in Kitschelt, H., P. Lange,
G. Marks and J.D. Stephens (eds.): Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism
(36-69), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Other bibliographic criteria:
• Initials together (J.L.) and not separated by a space (J. L.)
• If there is more than one author, starting with the second author, first name initials
will be placed before last name and not after:
Lash, S. and J. Urry (1994):....
• Titles of books and articles in Spanish or Catalan should be written following the
common convention of the Romance languages regarding the use of capital letters:
‘Informe sociológico del medio rural’ and not ‘Informe Sociológico del Medio Rural’.
• Regarding the names of journals, the common criterion of putting all the elements of
the name in capitals except articles and prepositions will be followed (in all languages).
• When repeating the name of an author, a long dash will be used (—) instead of
rewriting the name. The order of the references will be from the most recent to the
oldest:
BOURDIEU, P. (1990): The Logic of Practice, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
— (1984): Distinction, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.