This document provides details on typesetting and layout requirements pertaining to final manuscript submission to Irish Journal of Property, Land and Construction.

Formatting Requirements

• Begin the document with the title of the article, followed by the abstract, followed by 3-5 keywords, then the introduction and the remaining elements of the article
• Do not include page numbers, headers, or footers.
• Submit your manuscript, including tables, figures, appendices, etc., as a single file (Word or RTF files are accepted).
• Page size should be 21 x 29.7cm (A4).
• All margins (left, right, top and bottom) should be 2.5 cm, including your tables and figures.
• Do not indent paragraphs.
• 1.5 line space your text.
• Do not insert extra space between paragraphs of text.
• Font: 12 pt. Times or the closest comparable font available.
• If figures are included, use high-resolution figures, (the editors may need to contact you directly at a later time if images are of insufficient quality).
• Please Copyedit your manuscript – ensuring that it is produced to a very high standard of English
• Make sure that all citations are included in the bibliography, and all items in the bibliography are cited (this is the work of the author(s) NOT the editor(s).

Language & Grammar

All submissions must be in good English. If you need guidance, you could use Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, but other excellent guides (e.g., The Chicago Manual of Style) exist as well.

Except for common foreign words and phrases, the use of foreign words and phrases should be avoided. Whenever possible, foreign terms should be set in italics rather than underlined.

In general, UK English is preferred; but US English is also acceptable. However authors cannot mix both.

Please ensure your Article has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'.

Article Length

It is normally expected that Manuscripts should be between 4000-6,000 words in length. However, because this journal publishes electronically, page limits are not as relevant as they are in the world of print publications. We are happy, (once you clear it with the editors) to let authors take advantage of this greater "bandwidth" to provide longer articles, and all authors are encouraged to include material that they might otherwise have to cut to get into a print journal – images, tables, links to audio files / websites etc. This said, authors should exercise some discretion with respect to length.

Use of Colour

The font for the main body of text must be black.

We encourage authors to take advantage of the ability to use colour in the production of figures, maps, etc., however, you need to appreciate that this will cause some of your readers' problems when they print the document on a black & white printer. For this reason, you are advised to avoid the use of colours in situations where their translation to black and white would render the material illegible or incomprehensible (try printing in B&W yourself to test this).

Please ensure that there are no coloured mark-ups or comments in the final version, unless they are meant to be part of the final text. (You may need to "accept all changes" in track changes or set your document to "normal" in final mark-up.)

Emphasized text

Whenever possible use italics to indicate text you wish to emphasize rather than underlining it. The use of colour to emphasize text is discouraged.

Font faces

Except, possibly, where special symbols are needed, use Times or the closest comparable font available. If you desire a second font, for instance for headings, use a sans serif font (e.g., Arial).

Font size

The main body of text should be set in 12pt. Avoid the use of fonts smaller than 6pt.

Headings

Headings (e.g., start of sections) should be distinguished from the main body text by their fonts: use the same font face for all headings and indicate the hierarchy by increasing / reducing the font size. There should be space above and below headings.

Titles

Whenever possible, titles of books, movies, etc., should be set in italics rather than underlined.

Footnotes

Because the recommended referencing is Harvard Style (ISA – see below), in most instances, Footnotes should not be necessary. However, where used, Footnotes should appear at the bottom of the page on which they are referenced rather than at the end of the paper. Footnotes should be in 10 pt. Times or closest comparable font available, they should be single spaced, and there should be a footnote separator rule (line).

Footnote numbers in the text must follow, rather than precede, punctuation. Excessively long footnotes are probably better handled in an appendix. All footnotes should be left-justified (i.e., flush with the left margin).

Tables and Figures

To the extent possible, tables and figures should appear in the document near where they are referenced in the text. Large tables or figures should be put on pages by themselves. Avoid the use of overly small type in tables. In no case should tables or figures be in a separate document or file. All tables and figures must fit within the prescribed 2.5cm margins on all sides (top, bottom, left and right) in both portrait and landscape view.

References

Please ensure that all References are in the correct format for this journal (Harvard Style ISA – see: http://www.isa-sociology.org/publ/sociopedia-isa_harvard-style-guidelines.pdf).

Please ensure that all citations are included in the bibliography, and all items in the bibliography are cited.

It is the author's obligation to provide complete references with the necessary information. References should appear directly at the end of the document - after the last sentence of your submission, please insert a line break - not a page break - and begin your references on the same page, if possible. References should be left justified.

General Guidelines on Writing a Paper

For guidelines on writing academic papers, please refer to the following document TBC.