Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

This document provides details on typesetting and layout requirements pertaining to final manuscript submission to Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance.

Formatting Requirements

• Do not include a title page or abstract. (Begin the document with the introduction or the start of the paper; a title page, including the abstract, will be added to your paper by the editors.)
• Do not include page numbers, headers, or footers. These will be added by the editors.
• The journal accepts articles in English and Filipino. However, translations of title, abstract and keywords should accompany articles written in Filipino.
• Submit your manuscript, including tables, figures, appendices, etc., as a single file (Word, RTF, or PDF files are accepted).
• Page size should be 8.5 x 11-inches.
• All margins (left, right, top and bottom) should be 1.5 inches (3.8 cm), including your tables and figures.
• Double space your text.
• Use a single column layout with both left and right margins justified.
• Font:
  1. Main Body—12 pt. Times or the closest comparable font available
  2. Footnotes—10 pt. Times or the closest comparable font available
• If figures are included, use high-resolution figures, preferably encoded as encapsulated PostScript (eps).
• Copyedit your manuscript before submission.

Additional Recommendations

Indenting, Line Spacing, and Justification

Indent all paragraphs except those following a section heading. An indent should be at least 2 em-spaces.

Do not insert extra space between paragraphs of text with the exception of long quotations, theorems, propositions, special remarks, etc. These should be set off from the surrounding text by additional space above and below.

All text should be left-justified (i.e., flush with the left margin—except where indented). Where possible, it should also be right-justified (i.e., flush with the right margin). "Where possible" refers to the quality of the justification. For example, LaTeX and TeX do an excellent job of justifying text. Word does a reasonable job. But some word processors do a lousy job (e.g., they achieve right justification by inserting too much white space within and between words). We prefer flush right margins. However, it is better to have jagged right margins than to have flush right margins with awkward intra- and inter-word spacing. Make your decision on whichever looks best.

Language & Grammar

Submissions can be in English or Filipino. Except for common foreign words and phrases, the use of foreign words and phrases should be avoided.

Authors should generally follow academic or standard language in writing. Authors writing in English can use The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White (now in its fourth edition) as a "standard" guide, but other excellent guides (e.g., The Chicago Manual of Style, University of Chicago Press) exist as well. Authors writing in Filipino can follow style guides from Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino.

Article Length

Authors can follow the word limits for each of the article types that the Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance accepts for publication:

• Regular articles: original and unpublished critical essays on literary, cultural and performance texts and scholarship in Asia, which range from 6,000 to 9,000 words (inclusive of abstract, notes and work cited section);
• Perspectives articles: practice-based papers on writing and performance and annotated interviews and forum of Asian artists and scholars, which range from 3,000 to 6,000 words (inclusive of abstract, notes and work cited section); and
• Review articles: reviews of scholarly monographs, and creative, cultural and performance texts in Asia, which range from 1,000 to 2,500 words (inclusive of publication details and work cited section).Submitted articles should not be previously published or under consideration for another journal or publication..

Colored text

Set the font color to black for the majority of the text. We encourage authors to take advantage of the ability to use color in the production of figures, maps, etc., however, you need to appreciate that this will cause some of your readers problems when they print the document on a black & white printer. For this reason, you are advised to avoid the use of colors in situations where their translation to black and white would render the material illegible or incomprehensible.

Please ensure that there are no colored mark-ups or comments in the final version, unless they are meant to be part of the final text. (You may need to "accept all changes" in track changes or set your document to "normal" in final markup.)

Emphasized text

Whenever possible use italics to indicate text you wish to emphasize rather than underlining it. The use of color to emphasize text is discouraged.

Font faces

Except, possibly, where special symbols are needed, use Times or the closest comparable font available. If you desire a second font, for instance for headings, use a sans serif font (e.g., Arial or Computer Modern Sans Serif).

Font size

The main body of text should be set in 12pt. Avoid the use of fonts smaller than 6pt.

Foreign terms

Whenever possible, foreign terms should be set in italics rather than underlined.

Headings

Headings (e.g., start of sections) should be distinguished from the main body text by their fonts or by using small caps. Use the same font face for all headings and indicate the hierarchy by reducing the font size. There should be space above and below headings.

Main text

The font for the main body of text must be black and, if at all possible, in Times or closest comparable font available.

Titles

Following MLA Style Guide, titles of books, journals, films, websites etc., should be set in italics rather than underlined. Titles of shorter works, on the other hand, like chapters, short story, poems, are in open and close double quotations.

Endnotes

Endnotes should appear at the end of the paper before the Works Cited section. Endnotes should be in 10 pt. Times or closest comparable font available, with superscript number each entry, and they should be single spaced. Endnote numbers in the text must follow, rather than precede, punctuation. All endnotes should be left-justified (i.e., flush), unless this creates awkward spacing.

Tables and Figures

To the extent possible, tables and figures should appear in the document near where they are referenced in the text. Large tables or figures should be put on pages by themselves. Avoid the use of overly small type in tables. In no case should tables or figures be in a separate document or file. All tables and figures must fit within 1.5" margins on all sides (top, bottom, left and right) in both portrait and landscape view.

Citing Sources

All cited works in the manuscript and the list of references should follow the Modern Language Association (MLA) 9th version.

For in-text citation, MLA format follows the author-page method. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence.

The Works Cited section should appear right after the end of the document, beginning on the last page if possible. Arrange the list of reference in hanging indentation. Only works cited in the text are to be included on the reference list.

Examples:

Books:

Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture. Routledge, 1994.

Chapter in an Edited Book:

Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl." The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage, 1994, pp. 306-07.

Periodical (Journal, Magazine, Newspaper Article):

Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.

Online Sources:

Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 16 Aug. 2002, alistapart.com/article/writeliving. Accessed 4 May 2009.

Multimedia:

Beyoncé. "Pray You Catch Me." Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016, www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/.

"94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, season 2, episode 21, NBC, 29 Apr. 2010. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/70152031?trackId=200256157&tctx=0%2C20%2C0974d361-27cd-44de-9c2a-2d9d868b9f64-12120962.

For more examples, please check the latest MLA Style Guide or our latest issue, in its electronic version.