As you write your book or chapter 

It is vital that your book and chapter titles, abstracts and keywords include the key terms that your readers will use in literature searches. This will help researchers find your work and increase readership and citations.

Readers and researchers using websites, search engines and online databases often first discover a chapter of a book before discovering the book itself. It is therefore important that each chapter title is understandable in isolation. For example, it is better to have ‘Introduction to Small Business Economics’ than merely ‘Introduction’ as the book’s first chapter. A good chapter title is concise and gives a clear indication of what the chapter is about.

We also make sure that the preliminary pages and Introduction of your book are made free to access from the point of publication on our Elgaronline platform to all readers.

We require an abstract of up to 200 words and a list of up to 6 key words/terms for all chapters within the book. This is a requirement for the chapter to be indexed by Google Scholar, SCOPUS and Clarivate. This information is included in the book’s metadata and has an important impact on the visibility of individual chapters in online searches as well as the discoverability of the book as a whole.

For each chapter (including any Introduction and Conclusion) please supply a chapter specific abstract, keywords and the chapter author(s) ORCID number(s) at the head of the chapter file, following this format:

Title of chapter

Author names in full

Abstract: This is the abstract for Chapter X in this Made Up Book. It should feature no more than 200 words explaining the chapter, for readers, potential readers, librarians and other bookbuyers as well as for metadata purposes. The abstract should relate to this specific chapter and its content, scope and themes. Abstracts over length will be edited down by our copyeditors.

Keywords: Capital Letters; Semi-colon Separating Each Word/Phrase; Maximum of Six Words or Terms

Author ORCID i.d. numbers: please list these in the order of the author names above, separated by commas

Scholarly books must contain references to sources, and so you must ensure that all published works referred to in the text (including your own) are cited correctly according to a consistent, recognized citation style.

Please do not use reference management software in your Word document (e.g. Zotero, EndNote or other referencing system).

Please be aware that indexes such as the WoS have rejected projects on the basis of unusually high levels of citations to a single source, such as the editor. 

References, citations and notes for law books (for other subject areas, please see below)

It is customary to use footnote citations in law, so a recognized footnote citation style should be used.

• Please use a consistent style throughout your book. If your book is edited, please ensure your contributors know which style they should use.
• We recommend using a reference style that you/your contributors will be familiar with such as OSCOLA or Bluebook. Please inform us on submission which style you have applied.
• Please use the footnote function in Word to insert footnotes.
• Arabic numbers must be used for note numbering. Notes belonging to any figures and tables in the text should be set separately, using subscript, not as part of the general notes.
• Any notes that are not direct citations should also be inserted as footnotes.

References, citations and notes for books in all subject areas except law

References to other publications should be organized using a simple reference system in the text, quoting the author’s name, original year of publication, year of publication of edition consulted (where applicable), and page number (e.g., Smith [1776] 1976, p. 81). The full citation should then be included in a bibliography or reference list. In-text references should use et al. if there are three or more authors/editors. If there is more than one reference with the same first author and date of publication, label each one a, b, c and so on.

• Please use a consistent style throughout your book. If your book is edited, please ensure your contributors know which style they should use 
• We recommend using a style that is already familiar to you/your contributors such as Harvard or APA. Please inform us on submission which style you have applied
• If your book is authored, the bibliography or reference list should appear at the end of your book. This is because your book's Google Scholar preview PDF now includes your book's front matter, first chapter and list of references for the book as a whole. Google Scholar is commonly used by researchers and so we are keen for your book to meet their requirements and be as visible and user friendly as possible
• If your book is edited you have the choice of either compiling one end-of-book bibliography/ reference list or individual reference lists at the end of each chapter as supplied by the contributor
• Any other notes should be inserted as endnotes
• Arabic numbers must be used for note numbering. Notes belonging to any figures and tables in the text should be set separately, using subscript, not as part of the general notes

We edit and proofread manuscript files onscreen. Therefore please keep the documents as clear and simple as possible and do not format the files yourself.

Please supply Microsoft Word files for your book. 

Ensure all heading levels – chapter titles, main and subheadings – are clear. Indicate the sub-heading hierarchy by inserting <a>, <b>, <c>, etc., in angled brackets.

Avoid more than three levels of sub-headings in any chapter. 

When submitting any lists, tables of contents, contributor information or references, please ensure that these are not formatted as ‘bookmark defined’ or linked files.

We prefer to avoid using LaTex files wherever possible, however if the amount of maths in your chapter or book means that you are considering using LaTex please contact your commissioning editor so that we can discuss how to proceed with this.

If you do use LaTex for your chapter we require a PDF version of the chapter to be submitted to us as well as the LaTex driver files, fonts and style files and images so that the data can be checked. Please export the style/font/image files in LaTex and the necessary files will then be saved to a separate folder. (tex.zip; eps.zip; lp.zip; sty.tex).

The main points of style to which we prefer our books to conform are outlined here but we are happy to accept any reasonable consistent style. We would stress the three ‘c’s as criteria in all cases of doubt: common usage, consistency and, above all, clarity. Remember that direct quotations should not be changed to conform to our house style but should appear as in the original publication. 

Please note: unless you include instructions with your submission we will edit for consistency within chapters, rather than between chapters.

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS should be written out in full for the first time of use within each chapter, with the abbreviation/acronym in brackets, and the acronym thereafter. If you wish to include a list of acronyms and abbreviations in the prelims you will need to submit this with the final manuscript on submission. Acronyms and abbreviations consisting of capital initial letters should be expressed without full stops – GNP, USA.

FULL STOPS are not needed after headings (including table headings), subheadings, figure captions, figure numbers, table numbers or section numbers.

ITALICS should be used sparingly for emphasis. Italic type should be used for the titles of films and television programmes and also ships (for example, HMS Ark Royal). Song and poem titles, however, should appear in Roman type, within quotation marks.

LISTS should use numbers (1, 2, 3 and so on) for major lists and letters (a, b, c) for lists within major lists.

PARENTHESES (round brackets) should be used for simple interpolations, with square brackets used for editorial notes or interpolations in quotations (for example, [sic]).

PAROCHIALISMS such as ‘in this country’ or ‘this year’ should be replaced with the country name or specific year.

QUOTATIONS/EXTRACTS must be an exact reproduction of the original in both spelling and punctuation even if this conflicts with the style in the rest of the book. Use single quotes for extracts in the text of less than 50 words in length and double quotes for quotes within quotes. For extracts exceeding 50 words in length material should be indented from the left margin, with space above and below and quotation marks omitted. Any notes or editorial comment within the extract should appear in square brackets and any omissions should be indicated by an ellipsis. Ensure that opening quotation marks are distinguished from closing quotation marks.

SPELLING should be standardized in an authored book. It is helpful if you can supply a separate list of decisions made about spellings. Our house style is British English (e.g. colour) with -ize endings but if you have a preference to use US English (e.g. color) please inform us when you deliver your manuscript files. Where different contributors use different spelling conventions we edit for in-chapter consistency only. Formal names of institutions, for example, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development or World Trade Organization, should not be changed to fit your chosen style.

SYMBOLS and special characters, such as Greek letters, Chinese symbols, logical and mathematical signs etc., should be submitted as both pdf and Word files. Please check the pdf carefully, before submission, to ensure that the maths and/or characters are displayed as intended. The pdf file will be referred to in case of any issue with how these characters are displayed in the Word file.

More information

Update April 2024. Images also now require Alt text and (in the case of complex tables, short table summaries). To find out why and for advice on how to prepare and supply Alt text and table summaries please click here.

Before including these, please think about what each is adding to the reader’s understanding of the material (particularly if you have taken photos yourself). A photograph that does not look entirely professional can cheapen the look and feel of the book. Over-use of figures and photos can be distracting to the overall message.

Figures, graphs, maps and photographs that you submit to us must adhere to the following criteria. This ensures that the images that we publish in our books are legible, professional and of high quality. 

We may have no option but to remove figures, graphs, maps and photographs that do not adhere to the 8 criteria below:

1. Do not copy and paste your figure into a Word document, instead provide them as a separate file in their original format.

• Copying and pasting images into Word files immediately reduces their quality. 
  
  

2. They must be submitted as an EPS, PNG, PDF or JPEG file. We will also accept Excel documents, Powerpoint and Illustrator files.

• We cannot accept any other formats, so please ensure that your figures, graphs, maps and photographs are saved accordingly

3. They must be submitted in greyscale only and should be sharp, clear and legible.

• Any colour coding should be distinguishable in shades of black, grey and white. Different patterns could also be used to distinguish between different sections. Use only up to 5 shades of grey as a maximum.

4. They should be at least 300dpi (dots per inch).

• The resolution of an image is critical to its quality in print. Images of at least 300dpi are considered high resolution and will look better in print. Please refer to the hyperlinked flowchart below for more information.

5. Their location in the chapters must be clearly indicated. All figures, graphs, maps and photographs must be given a title, number and caption. Please also ensure you acknowledge the source and make any necessary acknowledgments.

• Simply indicate a point in the chapters where the figure should appear. Most of our authors write ‘INSERT FIGURE x.x HERE’ in a large font. They must be numbered consecutively within chapters. The first number refers to the chapter number and the second to that figure's appearance within the chapter.

6. Photographs must not include recognisable faces of any person/persons unless prior permission has been obtained.

• GDPR restrictions clearly state that reproducing the image of a person without their permission is against the law. As such, we cannot reproduce these photographs in our books.
  
  

Copyright

Please refer to the Elgar copyright policy carefully regarding figures and photographs. Permission may be required.

Tables and boxes

Update April 2024. Images also now require Alt text and (in the case of complex tables, short table summaries). To find out why and for advice on how to prepare and supply Alt text and table summaries please click here.

Much like figures and photographs, the tables and boxes in your submitted chapter must adhere to our criteria. This ensures that the tables and boxes that we publish in our books are legible, professional and of high quality. 

We may have no option but to remove tables and boxes that do not adhere to our 7 criteria outlined below from your chapter. 

Tables and boxes must adhere to the following criteria: 

1. They must be set within the text where you want them to appear.

• The easiest way of doing this is to create the table using the Word Insert>Table tools in your manuscript file.

2. They must be amendable and any text must be editable. 

• Screenshots or images of tables/boxes that cannot be edited or manipulated will not be accepted.

3. They must be numbered consecutively within chapters and referred to within the text as Table 2.3, Box 4.1 etc.

• This is our house style and we will amend your numbering to match this style.

4. They must have their own title and caption.

• The title should summarise the content of the table. The caption can describe the table in more detail or reference any data
  that you consulted when creating the table if necessary.
  

5. In order to ensure tables can be read accurately by software used by partially signed or blind readers, please provide a brief description/table summary of any particularly large or complex table that we can embed behind it in the ebook edition as Alt Text. Alt Text should be supplied in a single separate Word file (along with Alt Text for any figures), clearly indicating the table number and caption. A template form for providing this information is available here.

6. Tables must not feature any shading. 

• We advise use of bold or italic to highlight different key areas in table text, and avoid highlighting the whole cell/row/column as this can look cluttered or be difficult to read

Live hyperlinks can be included in the ebook version of your book if the links are present in your submitted Word files. The easiest way to create a basic hyperlink in Word is to press ENTER or the SPACEBAR after you type the address of an existing webpage, such as www.e-elgar.co.uk. Word then automatically converts the address into a link. For more detailed information please click on the following link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-or-edit-a-hyperlink-5d8c0804-f998-4143-86b1-1199735e07bf

If you are concerned about link-rot (when links change, for various reasons and no longer point to the original or intended page/file) there are systems available which allow for future-proofing of your links. We would suggest you discuss the options with your librarian, who will know your institutional arrangements. 'Perma' is one such service and is free for academic use. Perma provides a new URL which you would use in the chapter to ensure that the record will be available regardless of the change to any web address/site.

For more information see: https://perma.cc/libraries. 

EEP has no affiliation with Perma.cc 

These are only required for law practitioner titles and law textbooks, and not for research focused books.

If you wish to include legal tables please inform us when you submit your manuscript.  Please also check your contract to find out who is responsible for preparing the tables. If it is you, then please submit the list together with your final manuscript. You will be required to insert the correct page numbers once the manuscript has been typeset.

More Information

If you wish to use the Microsoft Word indexing and legal tabling software to create your legal tables we can accommodate this, please discuss this when setting up your files and use the following guidelines to ensure you are correctly inserting the legal table references so that our typesetting software can generate the tables.

Legal tables marking in Word

Notes for contributors to multi-authored books

Indexing in Word

Indexing Advice and FAQs

The use of Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Claude to generate substantive content, such as the analysis of data or the development of written arguments, is not permitted.

If authors choose to use Assistive AI tools to assist in their research for a book, chapter, or article, they must disclose this in the manuscript and on submission. An author's final written text should be their own and reflect their own ideas, arguments, and conclusions, and for this reason AI and LLM Models may not be listed as an author.

The publisher reserves the right to verify the use of Generative AI and to reject manuscripts that violate this policy.

Use of AI should in no way invalidate the warranties the author provides in the publishing contract including ownership of copyright, originality and factual accuracy. It is worth bearing in mind that in highly specialised research areas Generative AI tools draw from a small number of published sources and there are real risks of unoriginality, plagiarism, copyright infringement and factual inaccuracy.
This policy does not refer to spell and grammar checking tools (such as Grammarly) which may be used without acknowledgement.