Birmingham Egyptology Journal
The Journal is an on-line, peer-reviewed academic journal offered to readers free of charge. The journal welcomes papers relating to all aspects of Egyptological interest covering periods from the pre-dynastic to Graeco-Roman. Papers should be written in English, and in an appropriate academic style, presenting original research or original perspectives on previously documented material. While fresh opinion and innovative work is encouraged, this should be supported by reference to primary source material where possible; and should give appropriate recognition to historiographical accounts relating to the topic in question. Pseudo-archaeological matters, or topics otherwise considered to be based on fringe theory – ideas not generally supported by mainstream scholarship within their relevant field or fields – will not be accepted.
All work submitted must be the original work of the author (or authors) that has not been published previously in any format, either as a whole or in part, or is soon to be so published.
Word limits
There is no minimum length for submissions, although short research notes should make a relevant point. Papers will not normally exceed 12,000 words in length, although longer pieces may be accepted by arrangement with the editors.
Papers should be accompanied by an abstract, not exceeding 250 words, and up to 10 keywords or phrases.
Book reviews will normally be in the region of 1,500 to 2,500 words; although review articles may be longer.
Contributions to BEJ are not automatically accepted and will be declined if they are not supported by the academic reviewers. Papers will be subject to review by at least two scholars from an appropriate field or fields. Following review, papers will be either: accepted; accepted subject to some revision as suggested by reviewers; or rejected. No further correspondence will be conducted in respect of rejected papers nor will detailed feedback be routinely provided in such cases.
Copyright and indemnities
In making submissions to the Journal contributors will declare that they are the authors of that work. Papers may be supported by photographs, maps, and diagrams where appropriate however, contributors will be required to declare ownership of copyright to all such materials or produce relevant copyright permissions as necessary. The Journal cannot research or obtain copyright permissions on behalf of authors.
No submission to the Journal should have previously been published, in part or in full, elsewhere; nor be under review by any other publication.
Copyright of submitted work will remain with the author, who will be free to use the work elsewhere after its publication in the Journal.
Material is published in the Journal under the terms of Creative Commons license: CC BY 2.0 UK.
Submission process
All contributions should be in electronic form only. Manuscripts must initially be submitted in both Microsoft Word and PDF format for refereeing and should be accompanied by a covering letter giving the author’s contact details which must include a viable email address. Papers should be formatted in accordance with the style guide shown below otherwise they may not be considered for publication.
The Word file can be set out to indicate general layout of the article, including footnotes, acknowledgements, and bibliography.
The first page of the manuscript should include the title, abstract, and the list of key words.
The PDF file should contain the full text of the article + any tables and/orimages. The PDF can be used to show suggested placement of images and other illustrative material.
Please ensure that all file names include the name of the author and a brief indication of the title of the work.
Digital files can be submitted as email attachments to the Editor through the email address: editor.bejournal@gmail.com
PLEASE NOTE: Files greater than 5MB should not be forwarded directly to the e-mail address but via a link from a web-based file transfer site.
Reviewed and accepted manuscripts are returned to authors for any necessary revision before final submission for copy-editing. Final proofs are sent as PDFs for the author’s approval before publication. Articles are published as completed, and at the discretion of the editors.
The editors reserve the right to remove any article from the website which, subsequent to publication, is found to have been submitted other than in accordance with these guidelines, or in a manner deemed inappropriate to scholarly discourse.
Style guide
Book Reviews
Reviews should open with a paragraph of information in the following format: Author (first name, middle if known, surname). Title [in italics]. (If the book is part of a series add relevant information), Publisher: Publisher Location. Date of publication. ISBN no. (HB and PB if applicable). Price (HB and PB if applicable). Number of pages, number of illustrations and/or tables.
General layout of reviews should otherwise be consistent with that for articles.
Articles
Text should be submitted in Times New Roman font at 12 point setting with essential specialist fonts where required. Oxford English spelling conventions should be used. Text should be single spaced and left aligned. Use a single space after a full stop. Ordinary spacings can be used throughout (it is not necessary to supply copy double-spaced or to separate notes as endnotes). The file should avoid the use of special formatting; Word’s NORMAL style should be used with text left aligned.
Transliterated text should use either the transliteration font supplied by the Centre for Computer-aided Egyptological Research, or the Trlit_CG Times font which may be downloaded from: http://www.wepwawet.nl/dmd/fonts.htm .
Hieroglyphic text, including words, phrases, or signs to be inserted in the text, should be submitted as image files (.jpg or .tiff)
Illustrations
All images, illustrations and graphics should be presented in separate files in suitable format. Images should be submitted as .jpg or .tiff files of sufficient resolution to allow clear on screen and print reproduction. Photographs should be around 300 dpi, line art around 600 dpi.
Referencing
Papers should be fully referenced using footnotes rather than ‘in text’ referencing [please do not use endnotes]. Citations should follow the pattern: author date: page number; for example, Gregory 2012: 14. Full details of the publication should be given in a bibliography which should follow the main text and any acknowledgments. Lengthy discursive footnotes should be avoided; as should the abbreviations op. cit and ibid.
Footnotes
Footnote numbers should be placed above the line (superscript) after punctuation, and without brackets. The title must not include a numerical footnote reference. If any notation is required in respect of a title, this should be done by means of an asterisk [*] following the title and an asterisked note inserted before the first footnote.
Headings
There will normally be two levels of headings: section headings, set in bold and centred, and sub-section headings, set in italics and set flush-left. Numerical sub-headings should not be used.
Paragraphs
Initial paragraphs (including after headings) have no indent and so are flush-left. Subsequent paragraphs are indented – use an ordinary tab space when composing manuscripts in Word.
Brackets
Should be round (…). Square brackets should be restricted in general text to comments and corrections and to specific Egyptological conventions such as text restoration or to indicate original listing style.
Quotation Marks and Quotations
Quotation marks are single throughout. Use double quotation marks only for quoted text embedded within quotations. Extensive quotations (more than 25 words) should be indented. Indented quotations should be in plain text, reduced to 11 point, without framing quotation marks. Separate indented quotations from main body of the text by one line space both above and below.
Dynasties and Dates
Dynasties are spelled out: for example ‘Eighteenth Dynasty’ NOT ‘18th Dynasty’ or ‘Dynasty 18’. Similarly spell out the numbers of centuries: for example ‘fifth century BC’ ‘second century AD.’ BC and AD should be in SMALL CAPITALS and both follow the century. Circa is abbreviated c. (italicized) and set close up to following numbers without space (c.1250 BC),but single spaced from words (c Eighteenth Dynasty).
Quantities of measurement
Where numerical expressions are followed by the abbreviated unit of measurement there should be a single space between the elements expressed: for example, 22 mm, NOT 22mm.
Bibliography
In general bibliographical entries should follow the pattern: author, initials (with a space between each initial). Date. Title. Publisher: Place of publication. Further guidance is given in the following examples. It is essential that authors construct their own bibliography: do not embed electronic bibliographies!
Books
Bowman, A. K. 1986. Egypt After the Pharaohs 332 BC – AD 642. The British Museum Press: London.
For multiple publications of the same author in a single year, use 2006a, 2006b, etc.
Books in series:
Darnell, J. C. 2006. The Inscription of Queen Katimala at Semna: Textual Evidence for the Origins of the Napatan State. Yale Egyptological Studies 7. Yale Egyptological Seminar: New Haven.
Chapters in edited volumes
Bell, L. 1997. ‘The New Kingdom “Divine” Temple: the example of Luxor’, in B. E. Schafer (ed.) Temples of Ancient Egypt, 127-184. Tauris: London and New York.
Articles
Aston, D. A. 1989. ‘Takeloth II – A King of the ‘Theban Twenty-Third Dynasty?’, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 75: 139-53.
Journal titles should be written in full rather than be presented in abbreviated form.
Web pages
References to electronic publications should follow a similar format, giving the conventional reference and the URL, with the latest date of access in square brackets.
Coleman, M. 2012. ‘The Galatian Shield in Egypt’. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 4: 1-8. https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/jaei/issue/view/1012 [29 October 2012].
For a PDF file of the guidelines click on: BEJ submission guidelines 2013
Version: June 2013