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Submissions to the Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies

Introduction

JIATS provides full multimedia content, meaning that submissions can incorporate digital maps, audio recordings, digital images and digital video. To date, the prohibitive cost of printing full-size color plates has restricted the number of images that traditional journals in the field have been able to publish. Moreover, as scholars and students of the Tibetan region increasingly make use of digital technologies to record and document their research findings, it is essential that these visually rich resources should be incorporated into their publications. Today multimedia data is an essential component of the scholarly endeavor.

JIATS is a refereed journal. This ensures that the scholarship published in the journal meets the highest academic standards. It also gives contributors the credit they deserve for having a peer-reviewed publication. Each article is sent out for “blind review” to a scholar who has expertise in the subject matter. Every article is also reviewed by one of the editors. “Blind review” means the author’s name is not divulged to the reviewer. The identity of the reviewer is also kept anonymous. This process is meant to guarantee that an honest and impartial assessment can be made of the work submitted to the journal. The reviewer provides an assessment as to whether the article deserves to be published in JIATS, and the feedback that the reviewer offers is forwarded to the author with an eye towards improving the article.

Submissions are accepted in either Tibetan or English. Initial submissions can be sent to the editors as an MS Word or RTF (Rich Text Format) file in any standard academic style. Once an article has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication, the final article should be submitted to the Journal in JIATS/THL format and style as described in the THL/JIATS Style Manual. Authors should send submissions as attachments via email to the editor, David Germano (dfg9w@virginia.edu). An abstract of no more than 150 words should accompany every manuscript.

If you haven't previously done so, please also submit a short biodata narrative of no more than one-hundred words that includes your current academic affiliation, references to one or more publications (if applicable), and your current area of research. Biodata should also include links to home pages and should provide full contact information (address, email, fax and telephone numbers).

Types of Submission

The language of submissions is primarily English and Tibetan. The editors work with contributors to determine the proper venue within the Journal for their submission:

1. Articles are comprehensive essays on the order of 4000-5000 words. We will consider longer pieces.
2. Brief Communications have a more limited scope and are usually about 2000-3000 words in length.
3. Critical Editions of texts should follow accepted scholarly standards.
4. Translations of short texts of all types will be considered. Translations should be annotated, with full scholarly apparatus. Contributors should submit a copy of the Tibetan text together with their translation. The Tibetan text should ideally be in the form of a Word or RTF file in Wylie. When this is not available, a photocopy of a text can be submitted, preferably as a PDF file.
5. Book Reviews are of two types: (1) review essays (3000-4000 words in length), and (2) short reviews (1000-1500 words in length). These should contain no footnotes. Please submit reviews as an MS Word or RTF file (click here to see the Style Manual for Submissions). Ideally, submissions would use the Arial Unicode MS font (or another Unicode font such as Times Extended Roman) for diacritics, and THDL’s standard Word styles. However, if this poses difficulties, submit the review using any standard font and styles and we will convert it. If your review contains diacritic marks and you are not using a Unicode font, please also send a hard copy to the editor who solicited the review. Unsolicited reviews will be considered; however, contributors should contact the editors before submission to insure that the work they propose to review is not already being reviewed. Our policy at JIATS is to allow authors whose books are reviewed to offer a rejoinder; if they do, we allow the reviewer to have a last word with a second rejoinder. We of course reserve the right to accept or reject the author’s rejoinder as well as the reviewer’s rejoinder, and require that these be academic in tone and constructive. For the reviewer’s rejoinder, we also require that it not simply repeat the original review. The format for the header of book reviews is: “Ronald M. Davidson, Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002), 475 pp., 23 b & w, 4 maps. $62.50 hard; $24.50 paper”
6. News items should be forwarded to the editors for consideration. The inclusion of news items is at the discretion of the editors. Possible news items include announcements of conferences, dissertation projects, book projects, translations projects, job postings, and other issues in the field.