A pdf of these guidelines may be downloaded here.
1. SUBMISSIONS
i) The Regional Furniture Society studies the rich diversity of British regional furniture-making traditions, and the social and cultural context of furniture from the earliest times to the present day. This includes the development of furniture design in relation to vernacular architecture and the organisation of domestic interiors, workshop practices, the use of tools, construction techniques and the surface treatment and decoration of furniture. The term ‘regional’ is used loosely to refer to differences between nations and regions (Wales, South West England, Norfolk) and traditions rooted in particular towns, villages or workshops. We are interested both in British influence on furniture design in North America, Australia and elsewhere, and in continental and other overseas influences on British furniture. The Society is an open body which encourages interchange with those with interests in related fields including vernacular architecture, clock-making, tools and metalwork, textiles and upholstery, and dendrochronology. If in doubt as to the suitability of material, contact the editor.
ii) There is no word limit for submissions to Regional Furniture. Articles may be as long or as short as the author considers necessary. Bear in mind, however, that very long articles may be difficult to accommodate within the budget allocated for the year. If in doubt, ask the editor.
iii) Submissions should be made as Word or Word compatible documents, submitted preferably by email. Text should be double-spaced.
iv) Notes to the text should be footnotes, not endnotes, formatted as below in section 4.
v) Submissions should include a full bibliography at the end of the article.
vi) Acknowledgements, if any, should be placed at the end of the article. Keep them brief.
vii) Contributors should include a short autobiographical note (60 words maximum) with their submissions. The note may include the author’s e-mail address.
2. PUBLISHING DEADLINES
i) Regional Furniture is published in October.
ii) Submissions can be made at any time, but the deadline for each year’s copy is 31st January in the year of publication. Restrictions on space, subject matter or other considerations mean that the editor cannot guarantee publication in that year.
iii) The editor will respond to authors directly in the first instance, before sending articles to one or more reviewers.
iv) Reviewers will submit their reports by 1st March.
v) Amended texts, if required, should be returned to the editor by 1st April.
vi) Proofs will be e-mailed to authors as PDF documents between April and June. Final corrected proofs will be signed off by 31st August.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Submissions should include a full bibliography at the end, divided into three sections, viz:
i) manuscript sources
ii) published sources
iii) electronic sources.
Manuscript sources should be cited as follows:
Location, document reference, document title, (date).
Example: Flintshire Record Office, D/E/280, Inventory of Erddig, seat of John Meller esq., (1726).
Example: The National Archives, Prob 3/32/127, Inventory of Richard Roberts, (1733).
Published sources should be cited as follows:
Book: Author, Title (Place of publication: Publisher, date).
Example: Jones, David, The Edinburgh Cabinet and Chair-Makers’ Books of Prices,, 1805-25, (Cupar: Kirk Wynd Press, 2000)
Article: Author, ‘Title,’ Journal or Publication, Vol. (date), pages.
Example: Jones, David, ‘The Laburnum Tradition in Scotland,’ Regional Furniture, VI, (1992), pp. 1-9.
Example: Pickvance, Chris, ‘Shropshire 17th century furniture? Problems of interpretation,’ Regional Furniture Society Newsletter, No. 49 (Autumn 2008), pp. 3-4.
Electronic sources should be cited as close to the following format as possible:
website, title of document or source, reference or item no.
Example: http://www.oldbaileyonline.org, Proceedings of the Old Bailey, t.17680706-47.
Any other sources:
Try to maintain the following format: location, title, reference no. (date, if any). If in doubt, contact the editor.
4. FOOTNOTES
Footnotes are used in conjunction with the bibliography at the end of the article. They should be kept as short as possible, but may include explanatory notes. If a long note is unavoidable, authors should consider whether it might be better as part of the text, or as an appendix.
Manuscript sources should be noted as follows:
Location, reference no.
Example: Flintshire Record Office, D/E/280.
Example: The National Archives, Prob 3/32/127.
Published sources should be noted as follows:
Book: Author (date), page(s).
Example: Jones (2000), p. 42.
Article: Author (date), page(s).
Example: Jones (1992), pp.83-84.
Example: Pickvance (Autumn 2008).
Electronic sources should be noted as follows:
Website, reference no.
Example: http://www.oldbaileyonline.org, t.17680706-47.
When more than one source is cited in a footnote, each source should be separated from the next by a semi-colon.
5. IMAGES
i) Authors are responsible for sourcing, ordering and delivering all images used in their article. Rights holders often ask for details of the print run. This should be quoted as 450, English language, worldwide. In some cases a price reduction, or free reproduction, is available for educational use.
ii) It is the author’s responsibility to clear copyright and obtain permission to publish images.
iii) Image reproduction fees must be met by the author. The Society offers research bursaries, with deadlines in January and July. However, separate bursaries to cover the cost of image purchase and reproduction are also available and applications for these may be made at any time. Details of how to apply can be found on the RFS website. Please do also consult the Editor.
iv) Digital images are preferred, but photographs can be submitted as prints.
v) Digital images should be submitted as either JPG or TIF files. Submissions on disc are accepted although internet file transfer is preferred. Images may be submitted in the first instance embedded in a separate word file but please ensure that images of an adequate quality are available for an accepted submission.
vi) Digital images should be of a minimum size and resolution: 3000 x 2400 pixels and 300dpi. Larger images are encouraged, for example 4800 x 3600 at 350dpi. Please do not resize or upscale files. Please convert RAW files to TIF. Black and White images are permitted. Images below 300dpi may be considered on the basis of file size and print size, at the editor’s discretion. If in doubt, please discuss with the editor.
vii) Images should be cited in the text as (Figure 1), (Figure 2), etc. If authors have any preference as to the scale at which particular illustrations are shown, or any specific juxtapositions, this should be indicated (though it may not always be possible to accommodate all requests).
viii) A list of captions to figures, including credits and copyright information, should be given at the end of the article, or in a separate document.
6. AUTHOR’S COPYRIGHT
The author retains copyright of the text and is free to reproduce it in a new format. Authors are, however, asked to respect the Society’s policy of a three year embargo on online distribution of the text and images in the format in which they are published in Regional Furniture.
If the text is reproduced elsewhere the Society asks that authors acknowledge the Regional Furniture Society using the following form of words: “This article was first published in Regional Furniture (year).”
7. STYLE
i) The editor will have reference to the Modern Humanities Research Association Style Guide, the New Hart’s Rules (Oxford University Press) and the Chicago Manual of Style; however, the journal imposes strict style formulae only in certain areas. Contributors are asked to conform to the following house style rules.
ii) Headings and subdivisions may be applied but without numeration. One hypothetical scheme is outlined below but contributors should refer to previous issues of the journal.
TITLE
Introductory text setting out the scope of the article.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
An account of the context and a review of previous literature.
THE RECENT DISCOVERY AT BASINGSTOKE
Description and analysis of the recent discovery.
WAS JOHN SMITH THE MAKER OF THE TABLE?
A further discussion in the light of further evidence.
CONCLUSION
A short summary of the author’s conclusions and their significance.
iii) Short quotations should be run on within the main text, and enclosed by single quotation marks. Internal quotations (within another quotation) should be enclosed by double quotation marks.
Longer quotations, extending to more than four lines, should be set out from the main text and indented. Set-out quotations should be presented without quotation marks. Internal quotations within set-out quotations should be enclosed by single quotation marks.
iv) Hyphenation. Examples of correct usage are given below, the presence or absence of the hyphen governed by the intended meaning. Adjectival compounds are hyphened when attributive but not when predicative unless the adverb ends in -ly. The -ly ending is taken always to anticipate the following adjective or participle and so does not need a hyphen.
hard-won prizes the prize was hard won
a well-known fact the facts are well known
work-worn tools badly worn carpets
two-year-old dogs two year-old dogs
a deep blue lake a deep-blue lake
eighteenth-century chairs
late eighteenth-century chairs
mid-eighteenth-century chairs (because ‘mid’ is not a word in its own right)
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century cradles
the chairs were all eighteenth century
in the eighteenth century (not ‘in the 18th century’)
until the mid-nineteenth century
post-Second World War difficulties
v) Abbreviations take a full stop only when they do not end with the last letter of the word: Fig. 1, Figs 2-4, Vol. 1, Vols 2-4, Mr Black, Mrs Brown, M. Dupont, Prof. J. Jones, Dr White Jr, the Rev. Brown Snr, Col Mustard, St Hilda, Wondafurniture Co. Ltd, ibid., et al., etc.
Note the exceptions ‘no.’ from Italian ‘numero’ (plural ‘nos’) and MS and MSS (‘manuscript(s)’).
Please observe the space following a page number reference: p. 6, pp. 106–09, vol. xix.
In lower-case abbreviations for expressions consisting of more than one word, there is a full stop after each initial: a.m. (ante meridiem), e.g. (exempli gratia), i.e. (id est), n.p. (no place [of publication]), n.d. (no date [of publication]).
Scholarly abbreviations are not italicised (ibid., et al., op. cit., passim) except for circa (c.). Excepting circa, excessive use of these abbreviations is discouraged.
vi) Dates should be given in the form ‘23 April 1564’. The name of the month should always appear in full between the day (‘23’ not ‘23rd’) and the year. No internal punctuation should be used except when a day of the week is mentioned, e.g. ‘Friday, 12 October 2001’.
In giving approximate dates circa should be abbreviated as c. followed by a space: c. 1490.
If it is necessary to refer to a date in both Old and New Styles, the form ‘11/21 July 1605’ should be used. For dates dependent upon the time of beginning the new year, the form ‘21 January 1564/5’ should be used.
When referring to a period of time, use the form ‘from 1826 to 1850’ (not ‘from 1826–50’), ‘from January to March 1970’ (not ‘from January–March 1970’), ‘the 1920s’ (not ‘the 1920’s’),’ the 60s’.
vii) Numbers up to a hundred should normally be spelt out in full, as should a thousand, three thousand, etc. Other numbers over a hundred should be expressed as figures (102, 3,400). However, detailed dimensions should be given in figures (6 feet, 4 inches high, 3 feet, 2¼ inches wide).
In expressing inclusive numbers falling within the same hundred, the last two figures should be given, including any zero in the penultimate position: 13–15, 44–47, 100–22, 104–08, 1933–39.
Where four-digit numbers do not fall within the same hundred, give both figures in full:
1098–1101. Dates of lifespans should be given in full, e.g. 1913–1991.
viii) Values and prices in pre-decimal sterling are expressed thus:
The bookcase was sold for £197 12s. 6d. in 1965.
Buffets were valued at between 1s. and 1s. 6d. each.
The forms 3 10 6, – 5 -, or 3/4/6 may be used in quotation of original source material.
ix) The short dash (‘en rule’) is used to indicate a span or a differentiation and may be considered as a substitute for ‘and’ or ‘to’: the England–France match; the 1939–45 war; 2 January–13 February; pp. 81–101. However, compound adjectives take a hyphen and not a dash (‘Sino-Soviet relations’).
Long dashes (‘em rules’), often with a space on either side, are normally found in pairs to enclose parenthetical statements, or singly to denote a break in the sentence:
Some people — an ever increasing number — deplore this.
Family and fortune, health and happiness — all were gone.
Long dashes should be used sparingly; commas, colons, or parentheses are often more appropriate.
8. ADVICE TO NEW AUTHORS
Contributors who are altogether new to the process of writing a journal article should read closely previous volumes and consider the following. New work may focus on a specific object or commission or it may group together and compare a range of items with common factors, such as cradles from within a given county. Articles may be either narrative in style or analytically structured. The introductory paragraphs should set out the background circumstances or research questions and a conclusion should address these questions and possibly state what the specific new discoveries imply for more broadly defined issues. Specific description and discussion may need to be preceded by a review of the existing published literature and/or a statement of the methods used by the writer. Historical and geographical context is encouraged, where relevant, as are comparisons with other published pieces. As ever, if in doubt, please contact the editor.
Stephen Jackson, Editor, December 2019
Regional Furniture Society 