For Authors

PUBLICATION TIMELINES*

2011 Publishing Cycle

March: Demonstration E-Journal launched at AAS Meeting in Honolulu

December: E-journal #1

Annual Publishing Cycle (2012 onward) 

March: E-journal #2

May: Print journal (Vol. I, No. 1)

June: E-journal #3

September: E-journal #4

November: Print journal (Vol. I, No. 2)

December: E-journal  #5

* Cross-Currents operates on a rolling deadline for submissions. 

CRITERIA FOR THE PUBLICATION OF MANUSCRIPTS

Within the scope of the journal as stated in the Mission Statement, manuscripts should represent work that sheds new light on, or has significant implications for, current models used to understand aspects of East Asian history and culture.  Submissions will be reviewed in terms of their:

1. Originality
2. Importance to researchers in the relevant field
3. Rigorous methodology with conclusions justified by evidence presented
4. Written eloquence and clarity
5. Accessibility and interest to a general humanities readership

REVIEW PROCESS

Overview of the Review Process 

Our review process is designed to provide authors with respectful and constructive feedback in a timely manner.  The Managing Editor at Cross-Currents works in partnership with the journal’s editorial and advisory boards, which include prominent East Asia scholars representing a wide range of fields and regions, to ensure fair and objective decision-making.

Submitted manuscripts will be reviewed by the Managing Editor to confirm that the scholarship is within the scope of the journal and that the manuscript follows our submissions guidelines. The manuscript is then assigned to an academic editor with expertise in the relevant area (usually one of our editorial or advisory board members).  This individual will decide if it offers a significant contribution to the field.  Approved papers will then be sent out to 2-3 appropriate scholars for peer review.  The author may exclude any specific reviewers.  Such exclusions will be respected if doing so does not compromise the journal’s ability to thoroughly assess the paper.

When all reviews have been received and considered by the editors, a decision letter to the author will be sent.  The paper may be: accepted as is, accepted with minor revisions, eligible for re-submission with major revisions, or rejected.

Anonymity

In the interest of encouraging frank, critical feedback on all manuscripts under consideration for publication in Cross-Currents, all comments forwarded to authors will be anonymous.

Timely Review

We aim to respond to submissions in 8 weeks.  If you do not receive a response within this timeframe, please contact the Managing Editor at +1 510 643-0704 or email crosscurrents [at] berkeley [dot] edu.

SUBMISSIONS PROCESS

Manuscripts 

A complete manuscript submission to Cross-Currents includes the following three items:

1.     Cover Sheet

To submit a manuscript, please use our electronic cover sheet.  You will be asked to provide your name, institutional affiliation and contact information, as well as a title and abstract in the boxes provided.  The title should clearly convey the paper’s content.  The abstract (200 words) should include a statement of the paper’s hypothesis and/or objectives, the research methods and resources used, the conclusions presented, and the implications of those results. You will also be asked to indicate that they have not submitted a related or duplicate manuscript for publication elsewhere.  At the bottom of the form, you can upload your MS Word manuscript and any supporting files.

If electronic submission is not possible, please contact the Managing Editor by email, phone, or fax.

Managing Editor, Cross-Currents

crosscurrents [at] berkeley [dot] edu

Tel:  (+1) 510 643-0704 / Fax: (+1) 510 643-0762

Electronic text should use MS Word-compatible software; include a PDF file if using non-standard characters. 

2.     Manuscript

Cross-Currents encourages the submission of manuscripts from around the globe and aims to be inclusive of scholarly work that is not originally written in English.  As a step towards reaching a wide and international readership, we accept either:

1) a full English-language manuscript, or

2) a full manuscript in Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese accompanied by a substantial summary of the article in English.*

Please consult the Cross-Currents style sheet below for manuscript length and formatting requirements. 

* Non-English articles that are accepted for publication in the e-journal will be published in their original Asian languages, along with an English summary. If accepted for the print journal, however, authors of non-English articles are required to provide an English version of the paper. Cross-Currents also publishes non-English translations of English articles in the e-journal as supporting information and will include information on how to access the paper in its original language at the end of articles selected for the printed journal.

3.     Supporting Files (if applicable) 

We ask authors to submit essential supporting files and multimedia files along with their manuscripts.  All supporting material will be subject to peer review and should be smaller than 10MB in size. We will publish multimedia files with copyright clearance in the e-journal as supporting information and information on how to access these online resources will be embedded in the text or footnotes of articles selected for the printed journal. Please submit your supporting files at the same time that you submit your manuscript.

Low-resolution images and illustrations are acceptable for the review process; all images, tables and figures should be numbered and include titles or captions. Please note that in the event of publication, the author is responsible for acquiring high-resolution (300 dpi) images, along with permission to publish them.

Essays, Reviews, Editorials, and Debates

Essays are solicited or unsolicited opinion pieces, grounded in evidence, on a topic of broad interest to a general East Asian studies audience.  They may be up to 1,200 words long, with up to 12 references and 2 display items (images, charts, etc.).  Essays are selected by the Cross-Currents editors for their academic strength and timeliness and will be published in the electronic version of Cross-Currents only. Submit essays as PDF files to the Managing Editor by using our electronic cover sheet.  

Cross-Currents also welcomes scholarly reviews of recent publications and exhibitions.  Comparative reviews are especially welcome.  Email review proposals to the Managing Editor at crosscurrents [at] berkeley [dot] edu.

Editorials are written in house by members of the Cross-Currents editorial team.

The editors may occasionally commission online debates from two or more authors with differing points of view.  The usual format is that each author will have the opportunity to express their opinion on a topic of interest to Cross-Currents readers within 750 words, 10 references maximum, and one display item (image, chart, etc.).  Each piece will then be sent to the other participant who will be allowed 300 words to respond.  Authors should aim to produce a constructive criticism of their opponent’s views.

ONLINE FEEDBACK  

Once an article has been accepted for publication in Cross-Currents, authors have the option to nominate up to three additional individuals whom they would like to invite to provide open (non-anonymous) feedback on the article within a specified period of time.  We will contact the author’s “dream list,” with the understanding that these individuals may or may not wish to volunteer to participate in the process.  The author will then draw on these additional, comments at his/her discretion to help with the revision of the manuscript.

Once submitted, the final manuscript is copyedited by a professional copyeditor who will communicate directly with the author about any necessary corrections.  The article will be published online in the next quarterly edition of the Cross-Currents e-journal.

The e-journal offers logged-on readers the opportunity to add “Comments” about published articles. The Comments function (visible in the margin of the text), is intended to facilitate non-anonymous, community-building discussions concerning the content, conclusions, and implications of published articles.

RELATIONSHIP OF CROSS-CURRENTS E-JOURNAL TO PRINT JOURNAL  

The quarterly electronic and semi-annual print editions of Cross-Currents are related yet distinct publications. The print journal features articles, reviews and essays that have been selected by the Cross-Currents editorial board from the contents of previously peer-reviewed and published issues of our e-journal for their scholarly excellence and relevance to the journal’s mission.  The print journal may also seek to further cluster e-journal essays that treat related themes.  All work invited to be included in the print journal has, therefore, been through a two-tiered peer-review process and represents the finest contributions to the online journal.