Instructions for Authors
Manuscript Preparation, Style, and ReferencingArticle length
The paper is expected to be approximately 8,000–10,000 words in length and follow the Harvard style.
Files to submit and anonymous peer review
Peace & Democracy uses [double-blind / anonymous] peer review. Please submit two separate files:
Anonymous manuscript (main file)
The anonymous manuscript must not include author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, funding details, or any identifying notes.
Title page (non-anonymous)
The title page should include:
Manuscript title
Author names, affiliations, and emails
Corresponding author designation
Word count
Funding statement (if any)
Acknowledgements (if any)
Abstract (200 words) and keywords (5–6)
Manuscript structure
A standard manuscript should be organized as follows:
Title
Abstract (200 words)
Keywords (5–6)
Main text (with clearly numbered sections)
References
Supplementary materials / online appendices (optional)
Writing style and language
Manuscripts must be submitted in English as MS Word (doc or docx) files. Consistent spelling (US or UK) is required.
Write clearly and concisely; avoid unnecessary jargon and unexplained acronyms.
Define all acronyms at first use.
Use inclusive language where possible and be mindful of citation practices.
Formatting requirements (for review)
Unless otherwise stated by the editorial office:
Use a legible font (e.g., 12pt) and standard margins.
Number all pages consecutively.
Use footnotes sparingly and only for substantive comments (not for simple bibliographic citations).
Tables, figures, and graphics
For the review process, incorporate all tables and figures at appropriate locations within the text. If preferred, indicate the desired placement with a placeholder (e.g., '[Figure 1 here]') and provide the visual assets at the end of the document or as separate files.
Number tables and figures consecutively (Table 1, Table 2; Figure 1, Figure 2).
Provide concise titles and informative notes (variable definitions, sources, estimation details).
Figures must be readable in grayscale; if color is used, ensure adequate contrast.
Citations and references
Parenthetical format:
(Fearon and Laitin 2003). (Fearon and Laitin 2003, 75) or (Fearon and Laitin 2003, 75–76).
Multiple sources (separate with semicolons): (Fearon and Laitin 2003; Rueda 2005).
Three or more authors (use et al. in-text): (Hultman et al. 2013).
Same author(s), multiple years (separate years with commas):
(Iversen and Soskice 2001, 2019).
Reference list
Provide an alphabetical list of references by first author’s last name.
Every in-text citation must appear in the reference list, and every reference must be cited in the text.
List all authors in the reference list (do not use et al. in references).
Use and (not “&”) between author names in references.
URLs, and access dates
If a source is used online, include a stable URL (preferably a permalink).
Provide an access date when a publication date cannot be determined or when content is likely to change.
Reference entry templates
Journal article
Fearon, James D., and David D. Laitin. 2003. “Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War.” American Political Science Review 97(1): 75–90.
Book
Iversen, Torben, and David Soskice. 2019. Democracy and Prosperity: Reinventing Capitalism through a Turbulent Century. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Chapter in edited volume Hall, Peter A., and David Soskice. 2001. “An Introduction to Varieties of Capitalism.” In Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage, eds. Peter A. Hall and David Soskice, 1–68. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dataset (template)
Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project. 2025. V-Dem [Country-Year/Country-Date] Dataset v15. Gothenburg: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg. https://doi.org/10.23696/vdemds25.
Research transparency, data availability, and replication
Peace & Democracy supports open and reproducible research.
Data Availability Statement
All empirical papers should include a Data Availability Statement placed at the end of the manuscript (before the reference list), specifying where data/materials/code can be found and under what conditions they can be accessed.
Replication materials
For quantitative and computational research, authors of accepted manuscripts must provide data and code sufficient to reproduce all tables and figures in the article, subject to legal and ethical constraints. Replication packages should be deposited in a trusted repository (e.g., Dataverse/OSF/Zenodo) and include a persistent identifier (e.g., DOI).
Exceptions
If data cannot be shared (confidentiality, legal restrictions, human subjects risk), authors must explain the constraints and provide a justification; where possible, authors should provide metadata, redacted data, or synthetic substitutes.
Ethics, human subjects, funding, and conflicts of interest
Authors must:
Follow recognized research ethics standards, including for human participants (consent, confidentiality, risk mitigation).
Disclose funding sources and the role of funders (if any).
Disclose any relevant conflicts of interest.