Author Guidelines

The journal publishes two open issues every year: at least one thematic issue and a non-thematic issue. Before making a submission, please, make sure that you are familiar with the deadlines for the thematic issues and not-thematic issues submissions in the Announcements section.

You do not need to include a cover letter, but please include with your submission a short abstract (200–250 words) and an anonymised version of your article for blind review. We accept no fees for manuscript processing and we publish submissions only following the blind review process.

We do not require the initial submission to be formatted according to the journal style sheet but once your article is accepted, the post-blind-review submission should follow the Multicultural Shakespeare style sheet (see below). It is the Author's responsibility to format the article and proofread it thoroughly before submitting the final version. Following the journal style sheet and/or checklist considerably speeds up the publication process. You can download the journal style sheet via this link and the checklist here.

Multicultural Shakespeare style sheet

                                                                                                        Last updated 10 January 2025

As a general rule, Multicultural Shakespeare follows MLA style guidelines with some significant exceptions, as discussed below. If you have queries, please consult the MLA Handbook (9th edition, 2021) or contact your Editors. 

Text Formatting

General information: Provide the names of all the Authors; your institutional affiliation and official e-mail address should follow in a footnote after each respective Author’s name.

Example: *University of Lodz, Poland. anna.kowalcze@uni.lodz.pl

Your name should be accompanied by your ORCID identifying number if you own one. For more on ORCID use this link: About ORCID - ORCID.

Example: Anna Kowalcze-Pawlik 

                   https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7606-7127

Original research: We accept articles under no consideration elsewhere. If your article is a translation from another language or a substantial revision/reformulation/development of your earlier work, indicate it in the first footnote. Likewise, if your work is the outcome of research conducted within a specific grant scheme, provide the necessary information also in the first footnote, using the wording accepted or suggested by the institution.

Title and subtitles: Write the title of the article in bold font. The article’s main body can be divided into subchapters: they should also be in bold. All content words should be capitalised. It is not necessary to conclude headings with a full stop.

Abstract and keywords: Include an abstract (250–300 words) and 5-6 keywords that reflect the content of your article and will allow other researchers to find it in databases. The abstract should be concise, informative, and cover the article’s main points.

Length and formatting: The standard length of articles published in MS is between 6500 and 7500 words, including the footnotes which should be used for additional but necessary information only. Refrain from using endnotes.

• Use Times New Roman, 12 pt.
• The first line of each new paragraph should be indented, except where it follows a heading. We recommend dividing your text into subchapters with appropriate section titles in bold. Do not number the subsections.
• Leave additional spacing above and below section headings and above and below indented quotes.
• Any words or phrases which you want to emphasise should be italicised for emphasis.

Quotations/extracts: Any quoted material should faithfully follow the original, in both spelling and punctuation, even if it conflicts with the style of the rest of the publication. For quotations longer than three lines, preserve the form and spacing of the original. The longer quote should be indented from the left and the right margins, with space above and below, and quotation marks should be omitted. Use a smaller font (10 pt.) for a longer quote and include the page number in the parenthesis at the end of the quote. A short quotation of less than a line may be included in the body of the text in quotation marks as well as when it is longer but incorporated into the sentence.

Any notes or editorial comment within the extracts should appear in square brackets and any omissions should be indicated by an ellipsis in square brackets (followed by a full stop if it occurs and the end of a sentence).  

Diagrams should be referenced as though they were a quotation with the author and date given alongside and full details cited in the list of works cited.

Author-page Referencing: Publications should be referred to in the article’s main body as in-text citations following the manner described below. 

Formatting References

Italicized Titles: Italicize titles of books, plays, websites, online databases, films, games, theatrical productions, magazines, journals, etc.

Titles in quotation marks: Use double quotation marks “” for titles of works published within a larger work: titles of essays, poems, an article in a journal, a short story in a collection, a chapter in a book, a webpage on a larger website, etc. Single quotation marks ‘’ should be used only for quotes within the quotes.   

BOOKS:

If the author's surname occurs in the sentence the page number is given in parentheses:

Example: In a popular study Brown (556) argues that ...

If, however, the name does not occur in the sentence, both the surname and page number are given in parentheses:

Example: More recent studies (Jonson 96; Stuart 214) show that ...

If you are using more than one book by the same author, provide the surname, the title in italics and the page. The original title should be shortened.

Example: … these cultural objects become the “practices that systematically form the objects of which they speak” (Foucault, The Archeology 49).

Similarly, if you are using more than one essay or article by the same author, provide their surname followed by the shortened title of the article in quotation marks and the page number.

If there are two or three authors, provide all surnames:

Example: It is important to realize that  “con-texts are themselves texts and  […]  they do not simply make up a background” (Barker and Hulme 236).

Example: […] (Rabking, Greenberg, and Olander vii).

If there are more than three authors use the surname of the first author followed by et al.:

Example: […] (Williams et al. 19).

If there is no author, provide the title and the page number:         

Example: Following the recent trends in cultural studies, the critic claims that… (The Times 5).

If you refer to a source quoted in another work, provide information on secondary source:

Example: A study by Heilbrun (qtd. in Jones 24) shows that...

You need to list the work you have used, i.e. Jones, in the works cited as well as the original work, i.e. Heilbrun.

If you cite from a work in a multiple volume, identify the volume and the page number:

Example: In the editorial commentary it is noted that the editors decided to print ―the revised text in so far as it    can be ascertained. (Wells 3: 12-33).

ONLINE SOURCES:

Web documents should be cited using the Author’s name (if there is one) and/or title in parenthesis:

Example: He finds it significant to point out that “[t]here is not a single role in any one of my plays that must be played by a physically intact white person” (Mee).

Example: Jerome McGann notes that  “we no longer have to use books to analyze and study other books or texts” (“Rationale of Hypertext”).

If the source includes fixed page numbers (not page numbers of a printout) or section numbering (e.g. paragraphs), cite the relevant numbers. Provide the appropriate abbreviation before the numbers.  

Example:  (Moulthrop, pars. 19-20).

In case of personal communications and other non-recoverable data, provide the name and surname of the communicator and as exact a date as possible.

Example: According to Mary Kreis, the socio-cultural conditions of the publication are of particular importance (personal communication, 22 March 2021).

NEWSPAPER/MAGAZINE ARTICLES AND ENCYCLOPAEDIA ENTRIES:

If you cite from a newspaper or a magazine article, provide the author’s surname if available, otherwise use the title of the newspaper/ magazine and page number:

Example: One of the critics claimed that Aldridge did not act in the English style (Breslauer Zeitung 18).

With encyclopedia entries, use the author‘s name or the editor‘s name and the page number (if given). Use the shortened encyclopedia title if neither the author‘s nor the editor‘s name is given or list the entry in double quotation marks.

Example: The Emperor Tamarin, native to the Amazon Basin, was allegedly named for its similarity to William II, the last German Emperor (Davis 89).

DRAMA EXCERPTS:

When citing from plays, use Arabic numerals separating them with a full stop with no space (Act. Scene.Line numbers):

Example: …perhaps the most quoted line comes from Caesar: “Et, tu, Brute!” (3.1.23).

For short poetry quotations, separate lines with / marks and list line numbers:

Example: “Fair Quiet, have I found thee here, / And Innocence, thy sister dear!” (“The Garden” 9-10).

For longer drama quotes, speech prefixes should be in capital letters with a full stop and one space before the dialogue.

Example: OLIVIA. Did he write this? 

                    FESTE. Ay, madam.

                    ORSINO. This savours not so much of distraction. (5.1.306-308).

Non-Latin Alphabet: All quotes, as well as titles in the works cited section, should be accompanied by a transliteration and a translation into English. Transliteration and translation of quoted passages should be provided in footnotes in the article’s main body and in square brackets following the titles in the works cited section.

Spelling: The journal uses UK spelling but the Editors honour the Authors’ choices. When you choose to use another English spelling format, indicate it clearly to the Editors.

Abbreviations and contractions: abbreviations consist of capital letters and are usually expressed without full stops (GNP, USA). Contractions ending with the same letter as the original word do not take terminal full stops (Mr, Dr, St), but abbreviations where the last letter of the word is not included do take a full stop (ed., ch.) Thus ed. and eds are both correct. In the Works Cited, the months are not abbreviated.

Accents should be retained in foreign words.

Biblical references should be in Roman, not italic: Genesis 8:7.

Bold Type should be restricted to headings and table headings. Please do not use it for highlighting words within the text but use italics for emphasis.

Capital letters are used to distinguish the specific from the general. Please, avoid the overuse of capitalisation. Use only for proper names, organisations, titles, ranks, historical events, and geographical divisions.

Commas should be avoided before the final “and” or “or” in lists unless the concepts in the list are complicated and the comma aids clarity.

Dates should be written in the form 18 August 1990. Decades should be “the 1990s” without an apostrophe. Dates should also be elided to the decade: 1823-29, not 1823-1829 or 1823-9.

Ellipsis should be used to indicate the omission of a piece of text. The correct form is […] with a character space on either side.

Full points are not needed after headings, sub-headings or figure and table captions.

Italics should be used for book/journal/newspaper titles. They can also be used to add emphasis in running text (rather than bold), but for the sake of producing a “reader-friendly” text, please keep this to a minimum.

Quotation marks: double quotation marks should be used throughout, with single quotation marks for quotes appearing within quotes; revert to double quotation marks for a third level of quoted material. The closing quotation mark should precede any punctuation, unless the text quoted forms a complete sentence:

Example: He commented that it was “the best of times”.

Example: He commented: “It was the best of times.”

Spacing: full stops, commas, colons and semi-colons should be followed by one character space only.

Tables and figures should be numbered 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, and so on. In the text refer to Table 2.1 and Figure 3.2.

Dashes: Use em-dashes with no spaces before and after — to indicate added phrases; use en-dashes - for ranges: 123-45.

Example: Feste (Petra Svrtan), who in this adaptation is a woman—the master of ceremonies—hatches

Works Cited

The references are listed in alphabetical order of authors‘ names. Each reference should use the elements and punctuation given in the following examples for the different types of published work you may have cited.

Reference to a book by a single author:

Author‘s Surname, Name. Title. Ed. Full name of the editor (if any). Trans. Full name of the translator, writer providing an introduction or preface, name of series. Edition (if not the first). Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication. Number of volumes (if more than one).

Example:

Wilson, Frank R. The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture. New York: Pantheon, 1998.

Dostoevsky, Feodor. Crime and Punishment. Trans. Jessie Coulson. Ed. George Gibian. New York: Norton, 1964. 2.

Reference to a book by more than one author:

Example:

Kawachi, Yoshiko and Richard Metheson. Narrative Fiction. 2^nd ed. London: Longman, 1993.

Marquart, James W., Sheldon Ekland Olson and Jonathan R. Sorenson. The Rope, the Chair, and the Needle: Capital Punishment in Texas, 1923-1990. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994.

Moseley, David, et al. Ways forward with ICT. Newcastle: University of Newcastle Press, 1999.

Reference to an anonymous book:

Example: Encyclopedia of Virginia. New York: Somerset, 1993.

Reference to two or more books by the same author:

Repeat the name followed by a full stop and then provide the title.

Example:

Genette, Gérard. Seuils. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1987.

Genette, Gérard. “Introduction to the Paratext.” Trans. Marie Maclean. New Literary History 22 (1991): 261-272.

Reference to a book/publication by a corporate body:

Name of issuing body. Title of publication. Ed. and editor‘s name (if relevant). Place of publication: Publisher, Year. Report Number (if relevant).

Example: UNESCO. General Information Programme and UNISIST. Paris: Unesco, 1993. PGI- 93/WS/22.

Reference to a book with an editor:

Example: Lilburn, Tim, ed. Poetry and Knowing: Speculative Essays and Interviews. Kingston, Ontario: Quarry Press, 1995.

Reference to a multivolume work:

Example:

Plato. Dialogues of Plato. Ed. and trans. Benjamin Jowett. 4 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1871.

Plato. Complete Works. Ed. John M. Cooper and D. S. Hutchinson. Vol. 1. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1997.

Reference to a book in a series:

Example: Zamora, Margarita. Reading Columbus. Latin American Literature and Culture 9. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.

Reference to a republished book:

Example: Atwood, Margaret. Surfacing. 1972. New York: Doubleday, 1998.

Reference to a contribution in a book / an anthology or compilation:

Contributing Author‘s Surname, Name. Title of contribution in parenthesis. (Date when article first appeared, if relevant). Title of book. Ed. or Eds. if relevant. Initials. Surname, of author or editor of publication. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication. Page number(s).

Example:

Foucault, Michel. “What is an Author?” Language, Counter-Memory, Practice. Trans. Donald F. Bouchard and Sherry Simon. Ed. Donald F. Bouchard. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1977. 124-127.

Kavanagh, James H. “Shakespeare in Ideology.” Alternative Shakespeares. Ed. John Drakakis. London, New York: Routledge, 1996. 144-165.

Reference to a contribution in a book / an anthology or compilation:

Example:

Foucault, Michel. “What is an Author?” Language, Counter-Memory, Practice. Trans. Donald F. Bouchard and Sherry Simon. Ed. Donald F. Bouchard. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1977. 124-127.

Kavanagh, James H. “Shakespeare in Ideology.” Alternative Shakespeares. Ed. John Drakakis. London, New York: Routledge, 1996. 144-165.

Reference to an article/entry in a reference book:

Example: “Culture.” Compact Oxford English Dictionary. 3^rd ed. 1989.

Reference to an Introduction, Preface, Foreword or Afterword:

Example:

Drakakis, John. “Introduction.” Alternative Shakespeares. Ed. John Drakakis. London, New York: Routledge, 1996. 1-25.

Greetham, David C. “Foreword.” A Critique of Modern Textual Criticism. By Jerome McGann. Charlottesville: University of Chicago Press, 1992. ix-xix.

Reference to an article in a journal with continuous pagination

Author's Surname, Name. Title of article in inverted commas. Title of journal Volume number and (year): page numbers.

Example: Busa, Roberto. “The Annals of Humanities Computing: The Index Thomisticus.” Computers and the Humanities 14 (1980): 83-90.

Reference to an article in a journal  that pages each issue separately:

Example: Evans, Robert. “Structuralism and Semiotics.” Modern Literary Theory 23.2 (1997): 47-68.

Reference to an article from a monthly periodical:

Example: Dezeuze, Anna. “Wall of Silence.” Art Monthly, June 2007: 1-6.

Reference to an article from a magazine / weekly periodical:

Example:

Single, Peter. “English Theatre of the Past.” New Republic, 12 June 1999: 27–36. 

Heilpern, John. “Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing.” The New York Observer, 17 January 2000: 19.

Reference to an article in a newspaper:

Example:

Brantley, Ben. “The Prince In Us All.” The New York Times, 1 June 2001: E1+.

“Waiting for the Fall.” The New Yorker, 27 June 1988: n.p.

Reference to a conference paper:

Contributing Author's Surname, Name. “Title of contribution.” Title of conference proceedings, including date and place of conference. Ed. or Eds. (if applicable). Full name of the editor. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication. Page numbers.     

Example:

Silver,  Karen. “Responses  to  Texts.”  9th  International  Online  Information  Meeting,  3-5 December 1990, London. Ed. David Raitt. Oxford: Learned Information, 1991. 323-330.

Halio,  Jay  L. “New  Trends  in  Shakespeare  Editing:  King  Lear.”  Proceedings  of  the  Fifth International Conference New Trends in English and American Studies, 2-7 April 1990, Kraków. Eds. Marta Gibińska and Zygmunt Mazur. Kraków: Universitas, 1992. 35-44.

Reference to an unpublished dissertation:

Author's  Surname,  Name.  “Title  of thesis.”  Diss.  Name  of institution to  which submitted, Year.

Example: Aguter, Alan. “The Idea of Story and Discourse.” Diss. Texas University at Austin, 1993.

Reference to a film, video, podcast, etc.:

Title. Subsidiary originator (optional but director is preferred). Name and Surname. Material designation. Place of production: organization, year.

Example:

Macbeth. Dir. Orson Welles. Film. Republic Pictures, 1948.

Birds in the Garden. Video. London: Harper Videos, 1998.

TV programs, series:

Television episode or radio segment “Title”. Program’s title/Series title. Credit (By, Perf., Dir., Host, etc.). Network/transmitting organisation and channel. Local station/ Call Letters (if any), Local Station (if any). Day Month Year.

Example:

“Dangerous Animals.” Close to Nature. Prod. Nancy White. PBS. WNET, New York. 12 August 1999.

“Yes, Prime Minister.” The Ministerial Broadcast. BBC2. 16 January 1986.

Blair, Tony. Interview. Six O’clock News. BBC1. 29 February 1997.

Archival material:

Author (if necessary). Item/Title, date. Collection title, collection number or identifier, box number, folder number, location. For digital collection material: linked url.

Example: Elizabeth I. Letter to William Cecil, Lord Burghley, 11 April 1572, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, MS Ashmole 1729, art. 7, fol. 13.

Theatre production:

Title. Directed by, Company, Date seen, Theatre, City, Country.

Example: Hamlet. Dir. Declan Donnellan, Cheek by Jowl. 16 December 2024, Teatrul Naţional “Marin Sorescu”, Craiova, Romania.

Theatre programme:

Surname, First Name. “Title.” Programme for Production Title. Directed by, Company, Theatre, City, Country, Year.

Example: Donnellan, Declan, Nick Ormerod. “Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Programme for Hamlet. Dir. Declan Donnellan, Cheek by Jowl. Teatrul Naţional “Marin Sorescu”, Craiova, Romania, 2024.

Personal interview:

Surname, First Name of the interviewee. If no title, use the description Personal Interview. Conducted by, Date.

Example: Parr, Philip. Personal interview. Conducted by Anna Kowalcze-Pawlik, 14 October 2024.

REFERENCES TO ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS

Reference to individual work/document from the Internet:

Author (if known). “Title of Page or Document.” Title of the Site or Larger Work. (if applicable). Name of any Associated Institution. Date of electronic publication, last update, or date of posting.  Linked url link: http://address/filename followed by a full stop. Accessed date.

Example:

“Tiger‘s   winning streak   ends   at Doral”.” ESPNET   SportsZone. 24   March   2008. http://www.espn.com/gen/top/0108716001.html. Accessed 2 January 2024.

Tapper, Jake. “Fighting for the White Male Voter.” 24 March 2008. ABC News. 28 March 2008. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Vote2008/story?id=4511882&page=1. Accessed 2 January 2024.

Reference to personal electronic communications (e-mail):

Sender‘s  Surname,  Name.  “Subject  of  Message.”  Day  Month  Year when received. E-mail to the author [OR] Personal e-mail. Day Month Year.

Smith, Susan. “Experiments.” 12 January. 2002. Personal e-mail. 24 May 2002. Boyle, Anthony T. “Re: Utopia.” E-mail to Smith, Richard. 21 June 2003.