Sea Power Centre - Australia Style Guide

The Sea Power Centre - Australia welcomes contributions. We will publish worthy pieces on our website.

At the end of each year, the best articles (regardless of length) will be considered for publication in a Sea Power Centre - Australia annual.

Submission Length

The Sea Power Centre - Australia will consider pieces of varied length for publication:

• Off Watch: (Not above 800 words) Commentary, debate or remark - without references. Anonymous at the author’s request.
• Semaphore: (Between 1200-2000 words) Must be referenced. Must include an abstract. Anonymous at the author’s request.
• By and Large: (Between 4000-8000 words) Must be referenced. Must include an abstract. Anonymous at the author’s request.

Sea Power Centre - Australia Submission Policy

Plagiarism is forbidden.

Word Documents: All submissions must be electronic (Microsoft Word documents).

Anonymity/Pseudonyms: The author may ask that work is published anonymously or under a pseudonym.

Publication Elsewhere: The author must disclose upon submission if the work (or a portion of the work) has been published previously.

The author must disclose upon submission if the work has been or will be considered by another publication.

The author must ensure that the submission does not violate the security rules or policy. No submission may contain classified material. All submissions must be suitable for unrestricted distribution.

No Payment: The Sea Power Centre - Australia neither offers nor provides compensation for writings accepted for publication.

Tone and Style

Submissions must conform to the dictates of good taste and courtesy.

Plain English: Submissions should be easy to read. Authors should not use more words than necessary to do the job. This does not mean that writing should be plain and dull. On the contrary, submissions may be vivid and forceful. But meaning should be plain. Technical or difficult ideas should be explained in simple terms.

Subject Matter: Submissions should be related to: war or to maritime strategy, tactics, procedures, operations, doctrine, international law, operations other than war, technology, shipbuilding and defence economics, civil-military relations, leadership, military ethics, the civil military bureaucracy - especially as it pertains to the foregoing - naval history in general, and Royal Australian Navy history in particular.

When in doubt, we encourage authors to submit their work.

What to Include in Your Submission

Submissions must be Microsoft Word documents and include:

Abstract: An abstract is not required.

Biographical Note: Unless the author is asking to publish anonymously, submissions should include a biographical note. The biographical note should mention no more than: professional title or rank, academic and professional qualification, and institutional affiliation.

For example: Lieutenant Sam Smart holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of New South Wales. Sam is posted to HMAS Nonesuch.

Manuscript Format - How to Set Your Submission Out

Font: 12 point Times New Roman

Spacing:

Lines: 1.5 spaced.

Quotations: Indented and 1.5 line spacing.

Justification: Justified.

Title: Bold and centred.

Section Headings: Bold and aligned left.

Footnotes: Letter superscript identifiers. Times New Roman font size 10, single line spacing.

Footnotes are used to explain, clarify or amplify a word or passage in text.

Endnotes: Arabic superscript numerals. Times New Roman, font size 10, single line spacing.

Endnotes are to acknowledge the source of an idea, or quotation.

Endnotes should be placed immediately after the word or quote to which they apply. If an endnote applies to a sentence, then the superscript number should be at the end of the sentence, after the punctuation.

Endnotes should be set out according to the examples below, although we will accept variations if they are consistently and correctly applied..

Bibliography: No bibliography. Endnotes will be sufficient.

Endnote Style/Format

Single Author Book at the First Mention
A. Jones, Title of the Book in Italics (Place of Publication: Publishing House, year), 10.
NOTE: Unlike in a bibliography or reference list, the first name/initial is listed before the surname in endnotes/footnotes.

Single Author Book at the Subsequent Mention
Jones, Title of the Book in Italics, 10.

Two Authored Book
A. Jones and B. Smith, Title of the Book in Italics (Place of Publication: Publishing House, year), 10.

More than Two Authored Book
A. Jones, B. Smith, and W. Green, Title of the Book in Italics (Place of Publication: Publishing House, year), 10.

Edited Book at the First Mention
R. Lattimore, ed., Homer’s Iliad (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1967), 434.

Edited Book at the Subsequent Mention
Lattimore, ed., Homer’s Iliad, 434.

Chapter in an Edited Book at the First Mention
E. J. Marolda, “Wall of Steel: Sea Power and the Cold War in Asia,” in Maritime Power in the Twentieth Century - the Australian Experience, ed. D. Stevens (Allen & Unwin: NSW, 1998), 170.

Chapter in an Edited Book at the Subsequent Mention
Marolda, “Wall of Steel,” 170.

Single Author Journal Article at the First Mention
A. Bacevich, “The Paradox of Professionalism: Eisenhower, Ridgeway, and the Challenge to Civilian Control 1953-1955,” Journal of Military History 61, no. 2 (1997): 330.

Single Author Journal Article at the Subsequent Mention
Bacevich, “The Paradox of Professionalism: Eisenhower, Ridgeway, and the Challenge to Civilian Control 1953-1955,” 330.

Websites
Courtney Gahan, “How to Paraphrase Sources,” Scribbr, April 18, 2018, ​www.scribbr.com/​citing-sources/​how-to-paraphrase/

Do not use: ibid. or loc. cit, or op. cit, or any other Latin abbreviation.

Do not include a list of references or works cited or bibliography. Endnotes will serve this purpose.