About the Journal

The International Journal of China Studies is a biannual academic journal focusing on contemporary China in issues pertaining to the fields of political, social and economic development, trade and commerce, foreign relations, regional security and other domains of the social sciences in the context of, more specifically, today’s Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong or Macau. The journal is abstracted/indexed in Scopus, International Political Science Abstracts, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, Bibliography of Asian Studies, EconLit, eJEL, JEL on CD, Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory, Reference Corporation’s Asia-Pacific Database, ProQuest Political Science and Research Library, ABI/INFORM Complete, ABI/INFORM Global, PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) International, CSA (formerly Cambridge Scientific Abstracts) Worldwide Political Science Abstracts and NLB’s ISI (Index to Singapore Information). 

 

 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

GENERAL MATTERS

  1. Manuscripts submitted for publication in the International Journal of China Studies should focus on contemporary China and her relations with other countries and regions, in the context of regional and global development, and more specifically, issues related to the political, social and economic development, trade and commerce, foreign relations, regional security and science, medical and technological development of contemporary Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
  2. A manuscript submitted should be an original, unpublished work not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
  3. All manuscripts under consideration for publication will be refereed via a double-blind reviewing process.
  4. The contents of a published article in the International Journal of China Studies reflect the view of the author or authors and not that of the editors of the journal or the Institute of China Studies (ICS), Universiti Malaya.
  5. The editors of the journal do not accept responsibility for damage or loss of manuscripts submitted.
  6. Manuscripts submitted should be written in English with Microsoft Word in Times New Roman font, size 12 and with 1.5 line spacing, and should not exceed forty pages (or in the case of a book review, not exceeding three pages) inclusive of tables, charts and diagrams, notes, list of references, and appendices.
  7. The first page of the manuscript should consist of the title, author’s name & institutional affiliation and abstract. With the exception of manuscript title which should be in font size 14 and bold, all others should be in font size 12 and 1.5 line spacing. An abstract of 100 to 250 words and a list of three to five keywords should also be given. Within the same first page, a footnote (in symbol) should be used to provide a short note on the author, including name, position (e.g., professor, senior lecturer, etc.), institutional affiliation and e-mail address.
  8. In the multi-author case, the other corresponding author(s) should be identified individually in the text of first page of manuscript and footnote(s). Footnote(s) for each consecutive author should be designated and ordered in symbols (*, °, , ø, , etc.).
  9. Submissions of manuscripts that do not follow the format as detailed above, will not be considered for peer review and publication processes.
  10. Copyrights of accepted manuscripts will be transferred to the International Journal of China Studies.
  11. Authors must obtain permission to reproduce all materials of which the copyright is owned by others, including tables, charts, diagrams and maps, and extensive quoting should be avoided.
  12. Book review submitted should focus on new or recent publications, and the book title, author, city/publisher, year of publication and total number of pages should be shown above the review. Authors are advised to refer to our previous issues (since 2024 onwards) for the format of book review: https://umcms.um.edu.my/sites/institute-of-china-studies-v2/international-journal-of-china-studies-ijcs.
  13. All research article’s manuscripts and book reviews should be sent to IJCS via Universiti Malaya’s e-journal system: https://ejournal.um.edu.my/index.php/IJCS/login. Submission through email will not be entertained.
  14. Due to the high number of submissions to IJCS, the Editorial Board will not be able to respond to every email inquiry sent to IJCS’ journal manager at chinastudies@um.edu.my. It is advisable for author to communicate with the Editorial Board through the Universiti Malaya’s e-journal system for matters pertaining to their manuscripts.
  15. Once published in IJCS, the research articles and book reviews can be accessed via the journal’s website: https://umcms.um.edu.my/sites/institute-of-china-studies-v2/international-journal-of-china-studies-ijcs.

STYLESHEET

  1. Check carefully grammar and spelling before submitting the article.
  2. Use British English, but alternate –ize spelling is permissible. Also note that a billion = 1,000,000,000 and a trillion = 1,000,000,000,000.
  3. Make headings and subheadings identifiable, and try to avoid sub-subheadings.
  4. A list of references should be compiled, and notes should be placed under a “Notes” heading. Notes and the list of references should be placed at the end of the article.
  5. Use full point for decimal and commas for numbers 1,000 and above. A zero must always precede decimals less than 1.
  6. Use “per cent”, not “%”, except in tables and charts.
  7. For dates, use day-month-year format (e.g., 1st January 2010), and spell out the months to avoid ambiguity.
  8. Do not use apostrophes for decades (e.g., 1990s, not 1990’s or ’90).
  9. For short phrasal quotations, full points and commas fall outside a closing quotation mark. However, where the quote is a complete sentence, the full point falls inside the closing quotation mark.
  10. Long quotations, if unavoidable, should be indented, using no quotation marks. The author should take note of the copyright implications of long quotations.
  11. Use unspaced hyphens, not dashes, in pages and year spans, and write all page numbers and years in full (e.g., 245-246; 1997-1998).
  12. Use British “open” style for abbreviations, with no full points in the following: Dr, PhD, Ltd, Mr, Mrs, US, EU, m, km, kg, ft, eds, vols, nos, but retain full points in ed., vol., no., p., pp., i.e., viz., e.g., etc., ff., et al., ibid., cit..
  13. Use full capitals only for abbreviated names: UN, EU, USA. Only capitalize the first word and important words (verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives and adverbs, but not definite and indefinite articles, prepositions and conjunctions) in headings and book titles. Use “State” (except in quotations if the original is not so capitalized) to refer to the central body politic of a civil government and “state” to refer to other senses of the term, including a country or a political territory forming part of a country (except when the term begins a sentence).
  14. A non-English term or word should be italicized but the s-ending (if added) in its anglicized plural form should not be italicized, but note that names of institutions, organizations and movements, local or foreign, and names of currencies, local or foreign, should not be italicized. Quotations from books or direct speech in a non-English language and set in quotation marks (followed by an English translation in square brackets) should not be italicized. Quotations translated by the author of the manuscript into English should be so indicated.
  15. Each section and sub-section of manuscript should be in title case in that the first letter of each major word should be in capital letter as necessary. Prepositions such as on, beside, with, between, toward, to and others, are not applicable in this rule.

REFERENCING STYLE

  1. It is the responsibility of each author to ensure that all the citations throughout the text appear in the reference list except interviews and certain types of primary sources which are not required to be part of the reference list.
  2. Use the APA/ACS style for in-text citation with list of references at end of text, with commas, e.g., (Lin, 1998: 24), for in-text citation. For the reference list, each reference’s indentation must be in the form is hanging.
  3. Examples of referencing style in English language, are as below:

Research Articles

Shleifer, A. and R. Vishny (1994), “Politicians and Firms”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 109, pp. 995-1025.

Single-Authored Book

Steiner, Jürg (1974), Amicable Agreement versus Majority Rule: Conflict Resolution in Switzerland, rev. ed., Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Book Chapter

Moscovici, Serge (1985), “Innovation and Minority Influence”, in Serge Moscovici, Gabriel Mugny and Eddy van Avermaet (eds), Perspectives on Minority Influence, Paris: Maison des Sciences de l’Homme and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 9-51.

News Article

Bin, G. (2021, July 5), “China’s Belt and Road Initiative Should Stop Financing new Coal Power”, Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/22f97b67-a1ff-477b-981cee54d5c895d5.

  1. The title of a book or article etc. in a non-English language should be shown in the original language or its Roman transliteration and followed by a translation into English in square brackets. Note that the title of a book or journal which is in italics in the original language or its Roman transliteration should not be italicized in the English translation unless an English translation of the book or journal has been published.
  2. Examples of referencing style in non-English language, are as below:

Research Article (Either 1 of below)

Hu, J. Y., Zhao, S. B., Wang, X. Z., Fa, Z. and Yan, J. (2017), “一带一路下的经贸合作研究 [Study on Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone Under the Concept of One Belt and One Road]”, 发展研究 [Development Research], No. 1, pp. 8-12.

Li, J. Y. (2016), “Heilongjiang Zhichi Chanye Hezuoqu Fazhan De Caizheng Zhengce Yanjiu Xueshu Jiaoliu)”, [Research on Financial Policy to Support the Development of Industrial Cooperation Zone in Heilongjiang Province]”, Xueshu Jiaoliu [Academic Communication], No 8, pp. 146-151.

Book (Either 1 of below)

Zhao, H. J. (2021), “Zhongguo Jingji Qiji: Zhengfu Zhili de Zuoyong) [Chinaʼs Economic Miracle: The Role of Governance]”, Beijing: Peking University Press.

News Article (Either 1 of below)

Zhao, Y. P. (2022, September 9), “中间合作‘金名片’愈发亮眼 共建‘一带一路’”, [The Golden Card of Cambodia-China Cooperation Shines Brighter (Jointly Building the Belt and Road)]”, 人民日报 [People’s Daily].

Li, Y. Q. (2019, Januray 30), “Zhongjian Wushi Hezuo de Yangban—Xihanukegang Jingji Tequ) [Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, A Model of Practical Cooperation Between China and Cambodia]”, Zhongguo Ribao [China Daily].

Research Report

Kyoritsu Comprehensive Research Institute (OKBKRI) (2019), “Tounanajia no Kougyoudangchini Okeru Gaikyou to Seito [Overview and System Related to Industrial Parks in Southeast Asia]”. http://www3.keizaireport.com/report.php/RID/162378/?mkako.

Authors are advised to refer to our previous issues (since 2024 onwards) for more examples of referencing style: https://umcms.um.edu.my/sites/institute-of-china-studies-v2/international-journal-of-china-studies-ijcs.