Style Guide for Political and Legal Anthropology Review

Political and Legal Anthropology Review (PoLAR) is a semiannual journal devoted to the anthropology of law and politics, most broadly conceived.  It publishes work that is distinguished by its innovative definition of problems, ethnographic orientation or theoretical outlook.  We welcome submissions of manuscripts between 4,000 and 8,000 words in length, book reviews between 800 and 1,000 words in length, and contributions to the Directions section of between 900 and 4,000 words in length. All word counts should include notes and references.

This style guide is intended to provide guidance to authors in preparing copy for publication in PoLAR.  For matters of style not covered here, consult the reference list at the end of this style guide or contact the editorial office.

The editor reserves the right to reject or return for revision any material submitted, on the grounds of inappropriate subject matter, quality, or length, or because of nonconformity with this style guide. 

PoLAR does not pay authors for their manuscripts, nor does it provide retyping, drawing, or mounting of illustrations, or other such services.  These are the responsibility of the author.

Authors remain responsible for the content of their articles, for the accuracy of quotations and their correct attribution, for the legal right to publish any material submitted, for the inclusion of mandatory acknowledgments and/or disclaimers, and for submitting their manuscripts in proper form for publication.   

Submission guidelines 

Articles and Book Reviews    Manuscripts should not exceed 8,000 words in length (including notes and references) and book reviews should not exceed 1,000 words.  Type authorship, institutional affiliation, complete address, phone number, fax, and e-mail on a separate sheet. Submissions of manuscripts should also include an abstract and at least five keywords. A manuscript submitted to PoLAR should not be under simultaneous consideration by any other journal or have been previously published.

Prospective authors may submit manuscripts in one of two ways.  You can either submit electronically via a Word or RTF document to Polar@law.wisc.edu or send four hard copies to the editorial offices of PoLAR.  Please notify the polar editorial office by email if you intend to send a hard-copy submission rather than an electronic submission.

Directions Pieces    This section of PoLAR provides a forum for exchange about the changing practices in the field.  Material submitted for this section should not exceed 4,000 words in length and may include any one of the following (for which no abstract is necessary):           

  • Grant proposal applications addressing issues in the anthropology of law and politics.
  • A brief essay or report on research that makes a contribution to political and legal anthropology and that can be communicated most effectively in commentary format. 
  • Course syllabi that investigate themes and topics of political and legal anthropology and expand the purview of the field.
  • Interviews with persons of interest to members of the field.
  • Debates on questions of interests to anthropologists of law and politics.

Authors are encouraged to communicate informally with the editorial office if they have questions about or suggestions for this section of the journal. 

Evaluation    Generally, manuscripts are evaluated by two or more peer reviewers and by the editor.  Authors are notified as soon as a decision has been made to accept or reject a submission.  Some rejections are made with the invitation to revise and resubmit, but in all cases a new evaluation of the revised manuscript will be made.

Typing the manuscript    Manuscripts must be double-spaced throughout, including notes, references, tables, figures, captions, and quotations.  Use 8 1/2" x 11" white paper.  Text should be standard 12-point font and have margins (top, bottom, and both sides) of at least 1". 

Please include as separate sections and in the following order:

  • title page with complete title, author name(s) and affiliation(s), a current mailing address, phone number, and e-mail

  • text

  • endnotes (this section, entitled "Notes," no quotation marks, contains any acknowledgments which are not numbered and precede the actual footnotes and then the footnotes themselves which are used for explanatory purposes)

  • references cited (headed by "References Cited," no quotation marks)

  • figure captions (each on a separate page)

  • tables or figures (each on a separate page)

All of the pages must be numbered consecutively.

Note on Headings  If you wish to divide your article into sections, headings must be used.  Do not use numbers, as these are not part of PoLAR style.  Section headings should be left-justified, in bold, and not in all-caps. 

For all specific guidelines pertaining to textual elements, see the American Anthropological Association Style Guide.