Author Guidelines

All submissions are subjected to internal review, and then, in the case of longer academic papers (only), an external peer-review process. We endeavour to ensure that an initial decision will be made on all manuscripts within 8 weeks. In the case of shorter papers, we envisage that this process will be considerably shorter.

Two copies of your manuscript should be submitted by email to CJIRD@sta.uwi.edu as a Word (.doc or .docx) file. The first should be a full version of your paper, with all self-references included. The second should have all self-references or other identifying marks removed so as to facilitate blind peer-review (including statements such as ‘as I have previously argued...’). Please make it clear which file is which in the filename. You should also submit a cover page which comprises:

  • Full author details including postal address, phone number, email for all contributing authors
  • An abstract of approximately 150 words (which isn’t copied verbatim from the paper itself)
  • A short biographical note for each author, including recent and forthcoming publications (if applicable)
  • Any acknowledgements

With regard to house style, we are not especially pedantic regarding the use of American or British spellings. However, it is vital that all submissions are clear and readable, and that they conform to some basic conventions outlined below.

Manuscripts should be typed in English on Letter (8.5” x 11”) size paper, in size 12 font, with 1.5 line spacing. Papers should be written, as far as is possible, in a clear, accessible and jargon–free style.

For ease of reading, please use primary subheadings in bold, and secondary subheadings in italics, to break up the text where appropriate. Please do not use any more complicated formatting than this. Tables, figures and diagrams should be kept to a minimum and should be clearly presented (with simply-drawn lines), numbered and captioned. Pages should also be numbered consecutively in the bottom right-hand corner. If reproducing copyrighted material, authors must seek written approval of the relevant copyright holder, and make this clear to the CJIRD Editors.

All sources used must be acknowledged and referenced according to proper academic conventions. Please use the endnotes and bibliography reference style as outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edn). A good guide on the basics of Chicago referencing is available at the following link:

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

Please note that submissions will not be considered until they conform to the above.

Once an article has been accepted for submission, authors will be provided with proofs. These proofs should be corrected and returned to the Editors of CJIRD within one week.

Finally, authors are not obliged to vest their copyright in the CJIR. However, once reviewed and accepted for publication, we retain the right to publish and keep the paper available online in the form in which it was accepted into perpetuity. Yet because we do not claim final copyright, we welcome and encourage authors to use or reproduce the article after publication (say, as a chapter in a book manuscript). In this event, we would appreciate it if the Editors are fully notified, and the CJIRD is credited as the original place of publication. Authors themselves must seek permission to reproduce copyrighted material from other sources.

All correspondence should be directed to the Editors, Caribbean Journal of International Relations and Diplomacy, Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago: CJIRD@sta.uwi.edu.