1. Frequency of Publication

AJAMES is issued biannually; the first volume is issued in July and the second in January.

2. Manuscript Submission Qualifications and Requirements

As a rule, only the registered members of the Japan Association of Middle East Studies may submit manuscripts to AJAMES. However, non-members who possess the qualifications set forth in article 10 may also submit their manuscripts to AJAMES.

AJAMES accepts only unpublished manuscripts.

3. Language

Submitted manuscripts may be in any language. If an author submits a manuscript in his/her non-native language, the author is responsible for ensuring that a native speaker of the language proofreads the manuscript before submission.

4. Categories and length of manuscripts

All submitted manuscripts must meet one of the following descriptions and corresponding length requirements.

4.1) Article: It makes a sufficiently original and significant contribution wherein the author develops and presents his/her arguments (16,000 words maximum in English or an equivalent word count in other languages or 32,000 characters maximum in Japanese).
4.2) Research Note: It focuses on intermediate or tentative arguments presenting new interpretations or findings, discussions on facts and methodological issues, or hypotheses (10,000 words maximum in English or an equivalent word count in other languages or 20,000 characters maximum in Japanese).
4.3) Review: It annotates specific research and makes new contributions in the author’s area of research (10,000 words maximum in English or an equivalent word count in other languages or 20,000 characters maximum in Japanese).
4.4) Source Remarks: It annotates and presents descriptions of primary source materials (10,000 words maximum in English or an equivalent word count in other languages or 20,000 characters maximum in Japanese).
4.5) Research Trend Analysis: It is based on ongoing research and clarifies the trend in relevant research or presents issues related to relevant research (4,000–8,000 words in English or an equivalent word count in other languages or 8,000–16,000 characters in Japanese).
4.6) Book Review: It clearly presents the content of a specific study as well as the reviewer’s opinions (1,000–2,000 words in English or an equivalent word count in other languages or 2,000–4,000 characters in Japanese).
4.7) Doctoral Thesis in Middle East Studies: It is a summary, prepared in a foreign language, of a doctoral thesis submitted by an Association member (1,000–2,000 words in English or an equivalent word count in other languages).
4.8) Special Feature: Collection of manuscripts consisting of a general statement and multiple manuscripts (Articles, Research Notes, etc.).

All length requirements indicated above include main texts, titles, summaries, footnotes, references, tables, diagrams, etc.

5. Submission Procedure

5.1) The submission deadlines for AJAMES are 1st December and 1st June.
5.2) Manuscripts must be sent as email attachments along with an official AJAMES Registration Form (downloaded from the Japan Association of Middle East Studies webpage) containing the name, affiliation, title, contact number, manuscript category (see article 3), and other necessary information.
5.3) To facilitate our strict anonymous review (see article 7), please remove the author’s name, affiliation, title, acknowledgement, and other identifying information from the manuscript to be submitted.
5.4) If the manuscript is an Article or a Research Note (including Articles and Research Notes for Special Features), please also submit the following information:
5.4.1) Title and summary prepared in a language other than that of the main text (length requirement: 800 characters minimum in Japanese or 500 words minimum in English or an equivalent word count in other languages)
5.4.2) Abstract in English (approximately 200 words)
5.5) If uncommon characters and/or fonts that most printeries do not use frequently appear in the manuscript, we will ask the author to prepare and submit a printable copy after the manuscript is accepted. Please contact the editorial committee for the best suited printable style.

6. Format

6.1) The manuscript should be typed horizontally.
6.2) Manuscripts should be structured in the following order: title, name of author(s) (to be included in the final draft before publication), table of contents, main text, footnotes, acknowledgements (as needed), and references (as needed). Sections of the main text should be numbered using Roman numerals (I, II, III), subsections using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3), and subheads under subsections using Arabic numerals in parentheses ((1), (2), (3)).
6.3) Manuscripts that are Articles or Research notes (including Articles and Research Notes for Special Features) should also include the title in a second language, separate from the main text.
6.4) Transcriptions of Arabic or Persian to Latin alphabets are up to the author and he/she should ensure that they adhere to the international standards accepted by various encyclopedias and IJMES.
6.5) The author should indicate the pages on which tables and diagrams appear in their manuscripts. As a rule, tables and diagrams are published as they are prepared and submitted by authors. They should be numbered serially and titles, pages, sources, footnotes, and other information should be added by the author, as deemed necessary.
6.6) AJAMES lists footnotes and references. For details on how footnotes, references, and other information should be listed in our publications, please refer to the “AJAMES Manuscript Manual” (the manual can be downloaded from the Japan Association for Middle East Studies webpage).

7. Manuscript Review Procedure

Submitted manuscripts are reviewed by referees designated by the editorial committee on its own account. Decisions regarding acceptance for publication and specific volumes of publication are made through anonymous reviews by referees in accordance with official standards and criteria. Some such criteria are listed as follows:

7.1) The manuscript complies with the conditions set forth in AJAMES’ “Guideline for Contributors.”
7.2) The manuscript meets the goal and quality standards of this publication.
7.3) The manuscript title appropriately reflects the content of the manuscript.
7.4) The manuscript is sufficiently original, based on prior research, and significantly contributes to the Association.
7.5) The manuscript is in a suitable structure and has an adequate line of arguments, text representations, citations, transcripts, and footnotes.
7.6) The manuscript summary is written in a language different from the main text, an English abstract appropriately summarizes the content of the manuscript, and the manuscript length meets the requirements set forth by AJAMES.

Authors receive a written notification of acceptance or non-acceptance, and information regarding the volume in which the accepted manuscript is to be published. After the review, we may ask authors to modify their manuscripts as deemed necessary. Regardless of its acceptance or non-acceptance, the submitted manuscript will not be returned to or withdrawn by the author.

8. Proofreading

Authors are asked to proofread only the first draft to correct typographical errors and other minor mistakes and to not make major additions or changes in the manuscript. The editorial committee will be responsible for the second and further proofreading.

9. Article Copies

The author is presented with 50 copies of his/her published manuscript.

10. Manuscript Submission by Non-Members of the Association

10.1) Non-members of the Association may also submit manuscripts if the following requirements are met:
10.1.1) The author is a resident of a country other than Japan or has a non-Japanese nationality
10.1.2) The author has never published Articles or Research Notes in AJAMES
10.2) If the author’s manuscript is accepted for publication, the author must promptly pay the publishing fee of 5,000 JPY to the Japan Association of Middle East Studies. (No fee will be charged if the manuscript is not accepted for publication.)
10.3) Members of academic associations belonging to the AFMA (Asian Federation of Middle East Studies Associations) are eligible to submit manuscripts without meeting the requirements set forth in 10.1) and are exempt from the publishing fee set forth in 10.2) should the manuscript be accepted for publication.
10.4) As a rule, manuscripts submitted by non-members must be in English.

11. Supplementary Note

Papers published in AJAMES are also available on the electronic library operated by the National Institute of Information of Japan. Therefore, the Japan Association of Middle East Studies assumes that authors who submit manuscripts to AJAMES also consent to their online publication.