Journal Style Guide

Elevate: A Buddhist Journal – Style Guide
1. Editorial Standards

  • Manuscripts must be original, unpublished work and should not be simultaneously
    under consideration elsewhere.
  • Authors may use either U.S. or U.K. English, but consistency must be maintained
    throughout the submission.
  • Please submit manuscripts in .doc or .docx format only.
  • Any accompanying images should be provided as separate .jpg files in high resolution
    and clearly labeled.

2. Punctuation and Conventions

  • The journal follows the Oxford (serial) comma.
  • Use standard decade and century forms: 1500s, 1960s (not “1500’s” or “sixties”).
  • Abbreviations such as e.g. and i.e. should be followed by a comma when used in running
    text. 
  • Use en dashes for ranges (e.g., 1–3, 1995–2001).
  • Use em dashes without spaces to indicate interruption or emphasis (—like this).

3. Abbreviations and Short Forms

  • Abbreviations should be written without full stops.
    Example: use “MA” and “PhD,” not “M.A.” or “Ph.D.”
  • When a text includes a long or frequently cited title, an abbreviation should be introduced at
    first mention and used consistently thereafter.
    Example: The Lotus Sutra Commentary Collection (LSCC) is referenced throughout as LSCC.
  • Language identifiers should follow the journal’s standardized shorthand system
    • Sanskrit: Sk.
    • Chinese: Ch.
    • Japanese: Jp.
    • Korean: Kor.
    • Tibetan: Tib.
      Example: a passage from a Sanskrit source (Sk.) is compared with its Chinese (Ch.)
      parallel in the manuscript.

4. Numbers, Dates, and Chronology.

  • Spell out whole numbers from one to ninety-nine; use numerals for 100 and above.
    Example: twenty-seven monks gathered, but 120 manuscripts were catalogued.
  • Always express percentages in numerals.
    Example: 42 percent of respondents agreed with the statement.
  • Use words for approximate or rounded quantities when clarity is preferred.
    Example: “nearly five hundred pilgrims attended the ceremony.”
  • Lowercase should be used for numbered textual divisions.
    Example: chapter three discusses ritual practice in detaill
  • Refer to historical periods in ordinal century form without superscript or capitalization.
    Example: the ninth century witnessed significant doctrinal developments.
  • Use BCE (Before Common Era) instead of BC.
    Example: the inscription dates to 268 BCE.
  • Write calendar dates in month–day format without ordinal endings.
    Example: April 12 (not April 12th).
  • Present numerical ranges in full form using an en dash.
    Example: 145–152 (not 145–52), 1990–1998 (not 1990–98).

5. Layout and Presentation

  • Begin each paragraph with an indentation, except the first paragraph of a section.
  • Use bold formatting for subheadings.
  • Initials in personal names should include spaces (e.g., J. P. Smith).
  • Titles of conferences should appear in quotation marks, not italics (e.g., “Buddhism and
    Human Rights”).
  • Professional titles (e.g., copy editor) should remain lowercase unless used in headings.
  • Footnotes should be used sparingly, and only for essential supplementary information.
  • Full author names should be given at first mention; thereafter, only surnames should be
    used.

6. Non-English Terms

  • Foreign or technical terms should generally be italicized, except for proper names.
  • Terms fully integrated into English usage should not carry diacritics (e.g., samsara, Pali).
  • Titles of scriptures should be italicized regardless of language or translation (e.g.,
    Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, Lotus Sūtra).

7. Transliteration: Sanskrit and Pali

  • Use full IAST diacritics for all technical terms and non-Anglicized names.
  • Examples of standard diacritical marks:
    • Long vowels: ā, ī, ū, ṛ
    • Retroflex consonants: ṭ, ḍ, ṇ
    • Palatal nasal: ñ
    • Anusvāra: ṁ
    • Visarga: ḥ

8. East Asian Languages (CJK)

  • Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters should be provided only at first mention of a
    proper noun or technical term (e.g., Mount Hiei (Hieizan 比叡山)).
  • Do not include characters for terms that are already widely used in English (e.g., qi, kami,
    Shinto), unless required for scholarly citation.
  • Use simplified Chinese characters by default unless a context specifically requires
    traditional script.
  • Japanese long vowels should be marked with macrons (e.g., Sōtō, Dōgen).
  • Romanization systems:
    • Chinese: Pinyin (without tone marks)
    • Japanese: Modified Hepburn
    • Korean: McCune–Reischauer

9. Citations and Bibliography

  • The reference section should be titled References.
  • Entries must be arranged alphabetically by author surname.
  • The journal generally follows Chicago Manual of Style, with the following adaptations:
    • Page numbers in citations use a colon (e.g., Tolkien 1947: 83).
    • Full author names are preferred whenever available.
    • Buddhist monastics are cited by personal name (e.g., Bodhi 2010).
    • Widely recognized figures may retain honorific forms (e.g., The Dalai Lama).

Sample References
Books
Williams, Paul. 2009. Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. London: Routledge.

Edited Volumes
Gombrich, Richard F., and Cristina Scherrer-Schaub, eds. 2012. Buddhist Manuscript Cultures:
Knowledge, Ritual, and Art. London: Routledge.

Journal Articles
Trainor, Kevin. 2016. “Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhist Traditions.” Journal of
Buddhist Studies 23 (2): 145–168.

Web Sources
Lopez, Donald S. Jr. 2018. “Buddhism and Modern Life.” Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.
https://tricycle.org/article/buddhism-and-modern-life/