Guidelines for Authors

The Journal of Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS) is published half-yearly by the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (MBRAS). It disseminates knowledge and matters of historical value pertaining to Malaysia and the surrounding region. Articles submitted for consideration should be in English or Bahasa Malaysia and should not have been published or be under consideration elsewhere. Authors are requested to adhere to the guidelines below.

SUBMISSION OF MS

Format. All articles should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document in 12 point Times New Roman. They should be sent as an unformatted text file on CD or emailed to the Journal Editor, together with a printed version, which should be double-spaced on single sides with 30 mm margins all round. Special fonts should be included as an attachment. (Authors are advised to retain an identical copy of the MS and illustrations submitted.)

Author Details. The full postal address/phone/fax/email details of each author plus a short biographical note of 50-60 words should be included on a separate sheet.

PRESENTATION OF MS

Length and Style. Articles should not exceed 10,000 words. They should be written in a clear and readable style, free from jargon. Foreign or technical terms and abbreviations must be defined at first mention.

Abstract, Introduction, Conclusion. All articles should begin with an Abstract of 150-200 words, followed by an Introduction which should orient readers to the topic and thesis of the article. The Conclusion should summarize the article's findings and, where feasible, distinguish between the present work and future research.

Tables. Tables should be titled and numbered consecutively with their positions clearly indicated in the text. Sources and footnotes (numbered independently of the text notes) should be provided below the tables.

Illustrations, Figures, Maps. All line diagrams and photographs are termed 'Figures' and should be numbered in a single sequence following their order of appearance in the text. Maps, however, may be numbered separately if deemed more convenient for readers.

All figures should have complete captions with sources and acknowledgements. Authors are responsible for securing the required copyright permission for their articles.

Line diagrams should be presented in a form suitable for immediate reproduction to a text area of 125mm x 190mm, while photographs should be sharp with good contrast.

References. The Journal uses the author-date system together with footnotes. The author-date system cites the author's name, publication year, and page numbers within parentheses in the text (e.g. Gullick 1987: 112; Yong 1992: 61-70), and provides the full details in a list of References at the end of the article.

Footnotes are used for substantive comments as well as for primary or archival sources or anonymous works which do not lend themselves to the author-date system. Footnotes are signalled in the text by superscript numbers.

As the list of References is the primary vehicle for documentation in the author-date system, authors must ensure that all sources cited in the text are included in the References and that all bibliographical details are accurate.

Details for books should be given in the following order: (1) author's surname, followed by first name or initials or, for un-Westernized Asian names, the complete uninverted form; (2) editor, compiler, or translator, if any (in parentheses); (3) year of publication (in parentheses); (4) title of book (in italics); (5) name of series, if any: (6) edition, if other than the first; (7) no. of vols.; (8) facts of publication, i.e. city: publisher; (9) other pub. details, if any.

Chan Heng Chee (1971), Nation Building in Southeast Asia: The Singapore Cast, Occasional Paper No. 3, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Press.
Kassim Ahmad and Noriah Mohamed (1997), Hikayat hang Tuah, Kuala Lumpur: Yayasan karyawan.
Kathigasu, sybil (1954), No Dram of Mercy, London: Spearman; reprinted Singapore: Oxford University press, 1983.
Makepeace, W.; Brooke, G.E.; and Braddell, T. St. J. (eds.) (1921), One Hundred Years of Singapore, 2 vols., London: John Murray.

Details for articles in journals or books should be given in the following order: (1) author's name, followed by first name or initials or, for un-Westernized Asian names, the complete uninverted form; (2) year of publication (in parentheses); (3) title of article (in roman within single quotation marks); (4) title of journal (in italics, followed by comma if journal title is given in full; no comma if title is abbreviated) or title of book (in italics, preceded by 'in' and editors' names); (5) vol./issue no. for journal; facts of publication for book; (6) inclusive page references.

Andaya, Leonard Y. (2001), 'The Search for the Origins of Melayu', Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 32/3: 315-30.
Kassim Ahmad and Noriah Mohamed (1997), Hikayat hang Tuah, Kuala Lumpur: Yayasan karyawan.
Ismail Hussein (1966), 'The Study of Traditional Malay Literature', JMBRAS 39/2: 1-22.
Sandhu, K. S. and Wheatley, P. (1983), 'From Capital to Municipality', in K. S. Sandhu and P. Wheatley (eds.), Melaka: The Transformation of a Malay Capital c.1400-1980, Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, Vol. 2, pp. 495-597.

PROOFS AND OFFPRINTS

Authors will receive proofs of their articles and be asked to send corrections to the Editor within two weeks, failing which the Editor will make such corrections as deemed necessary. Authors will receive 25 free offprints. They may order additional offprints at their own expense by informing the Editor in advance.

COPYRIGHT

CORRESPONDENCE

All correspondence and submissions should be sent to the Editor at the address below: