Preparing your materials

Policy on prior publication

When authors submit manuscripts to this journal, these manuscripts should not be under consideration, accepted for publication or in press within a different journal, book or similar entity, unless explicit permission or agreement has been sought from all entities involved. However, deposition of a preprint on the author’s personal website, in an institutional repository, or in a preprint archive shall not be viewed as prior or duplicate publication. Authors should follow the Cambridge University Press Preprint Policy regarding preprint archives and maintaining the version of record.

Double-Anonymous Peer Review

Critical Pakistan Studies is a double-anonymous peer review journal. Double-anonymous peer review means that a manuscript’s author or authors do not know who reviewers are, and that reviewers do not know the names of authors.

Abstract, Keywords, and Biographical Note

The abstract, which summarizes a manuscript and its argument, has a 200-word limit. Contributors must also submit 3-5 keywords. The biographical note limit is 50 words.

Article Length

See Book Reviews for information on how to format single Book Reviews, Multi-Book Review Essays, and Book Forums.

The ideal length for a Research Article is: 8,000 to 10,000 words. However, with the editors’ collective pre-approval, a Research Article can be up to 12,000 words.

Forum Essays are suggested to be 1,500 words per author.

Preparing your article for submission

Research Article manuscripts should be compiled in the following order:

Cover page, including:
- Authors, including Corresponding Author designation, full contact details and affiliations, including country
- Abstract (200 words or less)
- Keywords (3-5 words)
- Biographical Note (50 words or less)
- Competing Interests statement
Main text
Acknowledgements
Financial Support
Table(s) with caption(s)
Figure caption(s)

Additional Instructions for Authors

Critical Pakistan Studies uses American-style spellings and grammar (e.g., “analyze,” not “analyse,” “color” not “colour,” “program” not “programme,” etc., etc.).
Footnote numbers and text should be in 10-point font, flush left with no space between the footnote number and text.
Paragraphs should be indented by 0.5 with no line space, except for first paragraph immediately following a heading, which should be flush left.
Use double inverted commas for short quotations and phrases within the main text, then single quotations marks for quotes-within-quotes.
Long quotations are not set in quotation marks. They should be located one line below and above the main text, single-spaced, be in the same font and size as the main text, and by indented by 0.5. All quotations must be acknowledged and fully referenced within a footnote.
Use the phrase “this article” instead of “this paper” or “this essay.”
Spell out centuries with a hyphen (i.e., “twentieth-century” rather than “20^th century).
Spell out all acronyms and initialisms at first mention. Use full names followed by last names; if required, initials do not need a space (i.e., M.A. Cook).
‘c.’ should always be spelled out (i.e., “circa”).
First level section headings should be 12-point Times New Roman, bold, flush left, no additional line space, and capitalized.

Dates use the American format of month, day, year (e.g., June 1, 2021).
Spell out the numbers 1–10 (i.e., “one,” “two,” “three,” etc., etc. but other numbers get written as numerals).
Spell out %: (i.e., “15 percent.”)

Language and Transliteration

Critical Pakistan Studies only accepts submissions in English. It uses American-style spellings and grammar (e.g., “analyze,” not “analyse,” “color” not “colour,” “program” not “programme,” etc., etc.). Spelling and grammar should be consistent throughout a manuscript. Spell out centuries with a hyphen (i.e., “twentieth-century” rather than “20^th century).

Proper names, titles, and geographic locations are not “foreign.” Contributors should not italicize or transliterate them. While the journal can print words and sentences in South Asian languages, contributors should not use diacritics.

Reference style

All citations in Critical Pakistan Studies are footnote style and at the bottom of each page. They run in numerical order from the start to the end of a submission. All citations must use the full reference in the first instance. If a required citation type is not listed below, consult the Chicago Manual of Style (chicagomanualofstyle.org).

Monographs
Matthew A. Cook, Annexation and the Unhappy Valley: The Historical Anthropology of Sindh’s Colonization (Leiden: Brill, 2016), 25.

Edited Books
Michel Boivin and Matthew A. Cook, eds. [or ed. for singular], Interpreting the Sindhi World: Essays on Society and History (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2010).

Chapters in Edited Books
Maya Khemlani David, “Code-Switching Among Sindhis Experiencing Language Shift in Malaysia,” in Interpreting the Sindhi World: Essays on Society and History, eds. [or ed. for singular] Michel Boivin and Matthew A. Cook (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2010), 108-132.

Journal Articles
Michel Boivin, “La Danse Dans Les Cultes Musulmans Du Domaine Sindhi,” Revue d’Histoire du Soufisme 4, no. 1 (2005): 179-187.

Ph.D. Dissertations
Lachman Mulchand Khubchandani, “Acculturation of Indian Sindhi to Hindi: A Study of Language in Contact,” Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1963 (http://repository.upenn.edu/di... [accessed December 17, 2020]).

Master Theses
Mamta Sachan Kumar, “Trade of the Times: Reconceiving ‘Diaspora’ with the Sindhi Merchants of Japan,” M.A. thesis, National University of Singapore, 2010 (http://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/... [accessed December 17, 2020]).

Websites
Lou Gopal, “Manila Nostalgia,” December 5, 2019 (http://www.lougopal.com/manila/?p=3590).

Repeated citations can then utilize “short” forms. Common short type citations are:

Monographs (author cited once)
Cook, 25.

Monographs (with multiple citations by a single author)
Cook, Annexation, 25.

Edited Books (Editor[s] Cited Once)
Boivin and Cook, 20.

Edited Books (with Multiple Citations by an Ed)
Boivin and Cook, Interpreting, 20.

Chapters in Edited Books (Author Cited Once)
David, 108-132.

Chapters in Edited Books (with Multiple Citations by a Single Author)
David, “Code Switching,” 108-132.

Journal Articles (Author Cited Once)
Boivin, 179-187.

Journal Articles (Multiple Citations by a Single Author)
Boivin, “La Danse,” 179-187.

Online Lecture
Partha Mitter, “The Virtual Cosmopolis,” April 5, 2023 ( [accessed July 27, 2023]).

Website/page
L’Armée de l’Inde 4.- La Musique (The Indian Army-The Music), Cliché J. Bosnian, Marseille, circa 1914. Collotype, divided back (https://www.paperjewels.org/po... [accessed October 7, 29023]).
Newspaper Article
“Indians in France: Concert by the Pathans,” The Times of India (August 12, 1915).

Online Newspaper (no author/staff writer)
Staff Writer, “Off the Record?: COAS Bajwa Met dozens of TV Anchors, Social Media Continues to Speculate, ” Naya Daur (https://nayadaur.tv/28-Apr-202... [accessed December 14, 2023]).

Online Newspaper (with author)
Shahbaz Rana, “Govt frees AWT from Income Tax” The Express Tribune (https://tribune.com.pk/story/2... December 14, 2023]).

YouTube
Zee News, “Pakistan’s Top Business Leaders Meet Army Chief General Bajwa,” YouTube Video, 02:18, October 3, 2019 ( [accessed December 14, 2023]).

Interview
Haji Zaman Ali (of Tehsil Kahuta) in interview with author, June 16, 1990 (Rawalpindi, Pakistan).

When using the same citation repeatedly in a row, the reference should read “Ibid.” If it remains the same, but is elsewhere in a text, a page number should be added (e.g., “Ibid., 179-187”). Critical Pakistan Studies does not utilize “op. cit.” abbreviation for citations.

How to prepare your materials for anonymous peer review

Instructions for anonymizing your manuscript prior to peer review can be found here.

English language editing services

Authors, particularly those whose first language is not English, may wish to have their English-language manuscripts checked by a native speaker before submission. This step is optional, but may help to ensure that the academic content of the paper is fully understood by the Editor and any reviewers.

In order to help prospective authors to prepare for submission and to reach their publication goals, Cambridge University Press offers a range of high-quality manuscript preparation services, including language editing. You can find out more on our language services page.

Please note that the use of any of these services is voluntary, and at the author's own expense. Use of these services does not guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted for publication, nor does it restrict the author to submitting to a Cambridge-published journal.

Artwork, Figures, and Other Graphics

Tables, figures, and images must be cited in the text, for example (see Table 1). They should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals, captioned, and tables should appear in an editable format at the end of the article (in the case of figures, they should be submitted as separate figure files). They should not be interspersed in the text. For detailed information on figure preparation, please see the Cambridge Journals Artwork Guide.

Reproduction of copyright material: Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. A copy of the paperwork granting permission should be provided to the Cambridge production editor. You may be asked to pay a permissions fee by the copyright holder; any permissions fees must be paid for by the author. For an example of a permissions request form please see the Cambridge Journals Artwork Guide.

Competing Interests

All authors must include a competing interest declaration in their title page. This declaration will be subject to editorial review and may be published in the article.

Competing interests are situations that could be perceived to exert an undue influence on the content or publication of an author’s work. They may include, but are not limited to, financial, professional, contractual or personal relationships or situations.

If the manuscript has multiple authors, the author submitting must include competing interest declarations relevant to all contributing authors.

Example wording for a declaration is as follows: “Competing interests: Author 1 is employed at organisation A, Author 2 is on the Board of company B and is a member of organisation C. Author 3 has received grants from company D.” If no competing interests exist, the declaration should state “Competing interests: The author(s) declare none”.

Ethics and transparency policy requirements

Please review our ethics policies prior to submission.

Authorship and contributorship

All authors listed on any papers submitted to this journal must be in agreement that the authors listed would all be considered authors according to disciplinary norms, and that no authors who would reasonably be considered an author have been excluded. For further details on this journal’s authorship policy, please see this journal's publishing ethics policies.

Author affiliations

Author affiliations should represent the institution(s) at which the research presented was conducted and/or supported and/or approved. For non-research content, any affiliations should represent the institution(s) with which each author is currently affiliated.

For more information, please see our author affiliation policy and author affiliation FAQs.

Acknowledgements

Authors can use this section to acknowledge and thank colleagues, institutions, workshop organizers, family members, etc. that have helped with the research and/or writing process. It is important that any type of funding information or financial support to be listed under ‘Financial Support’ rather than Acknowledgements so that it can easily be tagged and captured separately.

Financial Support

Please supply all details required by any funding and grant-awarding bodies as a separate section of your manuscript, as follows:

For single agency grants: "This work was supported by the [Funding Agency] under Grant [number xxxx]."

For multiple agency grants: "This work was supported by the [Funding Agency 1] under Grant [number xxxx]; [Funding Agency 2] under Grant [number xxxx]; and [Funding Agency 3] under Grant [number xxxx.]"

Where no specific funding has been provided for research, please provide the following statement:

"This research received no specific grant funding form any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors."

ORCID

We require all corresponding authors to identify themselves using ORCID when submitting a manuscript to this journal. ORCID provides a unique identifier for researchers and, through integration with key research workflows such as manuscript submission and grant applications, provides the following benefits:

Discoverability: ORCID increases the discoverability of your publications, by enabling smarter publisher systems and by helping readers to reliably find work that you have authored.
Convenience: As more organisations use ORCID, providing your iD or using it to register for services will automatically link activities to your ORCID record, and will enable you to share this information with other systems and platforms you use, saving you re-keying information multiple times.
Keeping track: Your ORCID record is a neat place to store and (if you choose) share validated information about your research activities and affiliations.

See our ORCID FAQs for more information.

If you don’t already have an iD, you will need to create one if you decide to submit a manuscript to this journal. You can register for one directly from your user account on ScholarOne, or alternatively via https://ORCID.org/register.

If you already have an iD, please use this when submitting your manuscript, either by linking it to your ScholarOne account, or by supplying it during submission using the "Associate your existing ORCID iD" button.

ORCIDs can also be used if authors wish to communicate to readers up-to-date information about how they wish to be addressed or referred to (for example, they wish to include pronouns, additional titles, honorifics, name variations, etc.) alongside their published articles. We encourage authors to make use of the ORCID profile’s “Published Name” field for this purpose. This is entirely optional for authors who wish to communicate such information in connection with their article. Please note that this method is not currently recommended for author name changes: see Cambridge’s author name change policy if you want to change your name on an already published article. See our ORCID FAQs for more information.

Supplementary materials

Material that is not essential to understanding or supporting a manuscript, but which may nonetheless be relevant or interesting to readers, may be submitted as supplementary material. Supplementary material will be published online alongside your article, but will not be published in the pages of the journal. Types of supplementary material may include, but are not limited to, appendices, additional tables or figures, datasets, videos, and sound files.

Supplementary materials will not be typeset or copyedited, so should be supplied exactly as they are to appear online. Please see our general guidance on supplementary materials for further information.

Where relevant we encourage authors to publish additional qualitative or quantitative research outputs in an appropriate repository, and cite these in manuscripts.

Author Hub

You can find guides for many aspects of publishing with Cambridge at Author Hub, our suite of resources for Cambridge authors.