Author Guidelines

All manuscripts must be original (hence, not under consideration anywhere) and submitted to the editor in MS word format via e-mail: filosofiatheoretica@unical.edu.ng or filosofiatheoretica@gmail.com. The entire work can range from 2000 to 6000 words maximum excluding citations with a concise title and a 150 word abstract. Authors are not to place page numbers or paper title (on each page) on the manuscript; we no longer accept endnotes and footnotes. Articles (or parts of articles) in languages other than English will no longer be considered. All submissions must list the author's current affiliation and contact points (location, e-mail address, etc.). In regards to style the Calabar School of Philosophy Documentation Style (download a copy here CSP STYLE GUIDE pdf) is the only acceptable reference style. English should be US. Camera ready manuscripts will receive first preference in the publishing cycle. Any manuscript not well proof read will not be considered. All manuscripts are peer-reviewed and those considered acceptable by the editors will be published after recommended corrections free of any charges.

THE CALABAR SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY STYLE GUIDE FOR WRITERS AND RESEARCHERS

MANUAL ISSUE NO. csp/i-m/10-M/001/14
NOTICE: This is an Interim Manual and will become invalid by May 10th 2015
This Interim Manual is issued This Day May 10 2014 by order of the Governing Board of CSP

Documenting Sources at the End of Work
Every complete research ends with a proper list of the works consulted in the research. This goes by many names in different documentation styles such as “References”, “Bibliography”, “Works Cited”, etc. In the Calabar School of Philosophy research manual it is called Relevant Literature. Under Relevant Literature a researcher making use of this manual is expected to list using Arabic numerals and in alphabetical order all the works cited or mentioned which could be considered relevant to the project. Normally, many scholars mention some works without ultimately citing same in drawing some inferences or explanations. Such works must be listed under relevant literature or the references to them removed from the body of work. This does not include the author names mentioned but whenever titles of works are mentioned even if in passing, such must be listed under Relevant Literature.

The listing of works under Relevant Literature must be automatically imputed using Microsoft numerical service in the word program. Also the title Relevant Literature must be in bold letters, Initial Caps and centered. 

N/B: In listing works under Relevant Literature, the second or subsequent lines are NOT to be indented; they are to continue on the same margin with the first line. Do NOT manually input serial numbers. Entries in the Relevant Literature MUST be justified using word services e.g. ctrl+j. 

Spacing of Entries
All entries under the Relevant Literature MUST be in single line spacing. However, the space between one entry and another MUST be double line spacing.

Books
1. SURNAME, Firstname. (The Title of the Book in Initial Caps enclosed in a
Parenthesis), Year. Publisher: City of Publication. E-book.

N/B: At the end of every documentation, the source of the work must be stated as E-book for all e-books; Audiobook for all audiobooks; Paperback for all printed books whether dust, hard or softcover; Mediawork for all electronic files whether music, movies, documentaries, Newsfiles, etc. Web for all website materials which do not fall under the other categories.

Articles in edited Volumes
2. SURNAME, Firstname. “The Title of the Article in Initial Caps enclosed in Double Inverted Commas,” (The Title of the Book in Initial Caps enclosed in a Parenthesis, FIRSTNAME, Surname Ed. ), pp23‒34, Year. Publisher: City of Publication. E.g. Paperback.

Co-authored Works
3. SURNAME, F, SURNAME, F and SURNAME, F. (The Title of the Book in Initial Caps enclosed in a Parenthesis), Year. Publisher: City of Publication. E.g. Audiobook.

Articles in a Journal/Periodicals, etc.
4. SURNAME, Firstname. “The Title of the Article in Initial Caps enclosed in Double Inverted Commas,” (The Title of Journal in Initial Caps enclosed in a Parenthesis), pp23‒34, Month, Year. Vol 2. No 1. E.g. Paperback.

Web sources with Publisher
5. SURNAME, Firstname. “The Title of the Article in Initial Caps enclosed in Double Inverted Commas,” (The Title of the Web Publisher e.g. Encyclopedia of African Studies Online in Initial Caps enclosed in a Parenthesis), N.P if there is no page number, Month and Year of Publication. Month and Year of Retrieval. Web.

In citing web sources, websites MUST not be included.

Web sources without Publisher
6. SURNAME, Firstname. “The Title of the Article in Initial Caps enclosed in Double Inverted Commas,” N.P if there is no page number, Month and Year of Publication. Month and Year of Retrieval. Web.

Books by the same author: When listing two or more books by the same author, simply use em-dash “—“ for subsequent listing of the same name.

N/B: The Calabar School of Philosophy Research Guide does not permit citation of sources without authors i.e. anonymous works. This is because writers are people who have the power to inform or explain to their readers or, critique or change their communities, this is a serious endeavor and such people must be available to take responsibilities arising from the abuse or misuse of this power. Many anonymous materials are available online. There are also sites that host anonymous materials such Wikipedia, The CSP Guide does not permit referencing of such materials and sites.

Documenting Sources within texts
There are two ways of making in-text citations that are important for our purpose here.

The first is when the name of an author is mentioned by the writer e.g. According to Chimakonam African logic is undergirded by the principle of trivalence (2012, 34). Here, there is no need to include the author’s name once again in the parenthesis. A simple rendering of the year and page would suffice.

The second is when the name of an author is not mentioned e.g. African logic is said to be undergirded by the principle of trivalence (CHIMAKONAM 2012, 34). Here, the writer MUST include the SURNAME of author in capital letters followed by the year + comma and the page number.

This applies in all verbatim, paraphrasing or indented quotes in the body of work.

N/B: The surname of an author can ONLY be written in Capital letters within the parenthesis and NEVER in the work. In all other usage in the body of work, the name MUST be written in the format of Initial Cap.

Name Usage
The first mention of author name in a work by a writer MUST be complete and in the format of Firstname Surname e.g. According to Jonathan Chimakonam African logic is undergirded by the principle of trivalence (2012, 34). Subsequently, only the Surname MUST be mentioned and when included in the parenthesis MUST be in upper case letters.

Web Sources
Because most web sources are encoded in html program pagination is a trivial concern. Thus web sources without page numbers are to be cited in-text as follows (CHIMAKONAM 2012, Web. N. P) where N. P means No Page number. In that same order, N. D would mean No Publication Date. N. D can be used ONLY where absolutely expedient. This is because websites contain programs that automatically register date of each publication. It is therefore not expected that some web sources may not have date of publication.

Books by the same author
When there are two or more works by the same author, writers should indicate the difference simply by inserting lower case alphabets as superscripts against the author name e.g. CHIMAKONAMa , CHIMAKONAMb . When there are two or more works by the same author in the year, writers should simply insert lower case letters on the publication year e.g. 2007a, 2007b.

Indentation
Indented or block quotes are verbatim quotations that are too large to be buried within the work. Usually, the rule for this limit varies from one research manual to another but the common index falls within 30 and 40 words. In the Calabar School of Philosophy Style Guide, we adopt 35 word limit. Any quotation above 35 words must be indented.

Indentation Margin
Margins help to indicate when a quote is indented. In the CSP Style Guide, we adopt 1.5pt spacing top and 1pt bottom and 1cm or one tab left. The right MUST be flushed i.e. unindented.

Indented Citation
To make an indented citation, a writer MUST initiate it with a colon e.g. Chimakonam thus states:
An angry question has been asked: why is it that in the post-colonial era most acclaimed African intellectuals, scientists, technologists and inventors do not excel in creative inventiveness like their Western counterparts? If he is a scientist, he is, just on paper; if he is a technologist, he is, again on paper; if he is an inventor, he is, still on paper. He neither produces theories for school boys around the world to study nor inventions for mankind to cherish. (2012, 1)
In the CSP guide, the citation parenthesis MUST be outside the period as shown above. Also, the indented quote MUST be in single line spacing and the text after the indented quote MUST not be a paragraph but a continuation of author’s explanations of the point for which the indented quote was evoked.

Verbatim Quotes
Verbatim quotes are author’s own words. Writers make enormous use of this for emphasis or to strengthen their arguments. In the CSP Style Guide, verbatim quotes not exceeding 35 words MUST be enclosed in double inverted commas and buried within the work. Quotes within such quotes MUST be in single inverted commas.

Font, points and Signs
Formatting generally has to do with technical structures of a work which include size, points, margin, space, etc., and the usage of certain signs. In the CSP Style Guide, we adopt the standard double line spacing for research papers, theses and dissertations. Time New Roman or Arial is the preferred font whereas point 12 or 14 is the standard depending on the project. If it is a thesis or a dissertation point 14 can be used but for research papers point 12 is adequate.
Also, the use of signs such as hyphen “-“, en-dash “‒” and em-dash “—“ MUST be accurate. In the CSP Style Guide, Hyphen is to be used for compound words e.g. world-view. En-dash on the other hand is to be used to indicate a range of values e.g. pp.2‒5. While em-dash is to be used as thought breaker e.g. it is conclusive that African logic is trivalent in structure—has three determinate truth-values. 

English Version
Only American English is now allowed in the CSP Style Guide.

Non-English Words
All non-English that are non-African words MUST be italicized but African words may or may not be italicized—the writer may work according to his discretion.

Italics, inverted commas and exclamation mark
The use of italics, inverted commas and exclamation mark for emphasis are minimized in the CSP Style Guide—writers are encouraged to use them sparingly. 

Page Numbering
In the CSP Style Guide, we adopt top right corner format of Arabic numeral for research papers, theses and dissertations.

This is an abridged form of The Calabar School of Philosophy Style Guide; an
expanded book edition is in progress.

Contact:

The Convener
Calabar School of Philosophy (CSP)
Box 3684, Unical
Calabar
Cross River State
Nigeria
csp.info@unical.edu.ng
www.csp.unical.edu.ng

© 2014 The Calabar School of Philosophy (CSP)
All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system for commercial purposes (except for personal research use) without permission in writing from the publisher.