Editorial Policy

The Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society (JRNSHS) began publishing in 1998 as a successor to both the Nova Scotia Historical Review and the Collections, which date back to 1878.

The Journal's mission is to foster the publication of excellent scholarship on the history of Nova Scotia, including special attention to genealogy. Published every fall, the Journal offers works from both academic and community historians, written in English or French. It is available in print and online via Érudit, to Society members and to the broader community. The content of the Journal includes book reviews, research notes, genealogy articles, and papers that have been read at the Society meetings, and other submitted articles.

The editorial board of the Journal invites submissions of scholarly articles on all aspects of the history of Nova Scotia. Authors should communicate with the editor and the managing editor at editor@rnshs.ca.

Submissions should:

• meet the professional standards of academic journals;

• make a significant contribution in fact or interpretation;

• demonstrate original research and knowledge of relevant scholarly literature.

All manuscripts are subject to independent peer review to ascertain that all works published are of value to the membership and follow the publication guidelines.

Manuscripts that have been published elsewhere, or that are being considered for publication elsewhere, are ineligible for submission.

All authors who have presented at the meetings of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society are encouraged to submit their manuscript for publication and will be given preference. Papers that have not been read before the Society will be considered on a space-available basis in the same manner as those which have been presented.

Les manuscrits rédigés en français sont également les bienvenus.

Article manuscripts should not exceed 8,000 words in length, exclusive of endnotes. Shorter articles that address a single primary source or research question in a more tightly focussed manner may be considered for publication under “research notes.” They will be subject to the same review process as a full-length article.

Genealogical manuscripts must confirm with the genealogy editor about the requirements and policy for Genealogical Articles. This editor can be reached at genealogyeditor@rnshs.ca.

Proposals for book reviews are also welcome, as well as expressions of interest from prospective book reviewers, both generally and in relation to particular books. The book review editor can be contacted at bookrevieweditor@rnshs.ca. The Journal does not accept unsolicited reviews. Book reviews may not exceed 500 words in length.

Publication Procedure

• The annual deadline for all submissions is April 30.

• All submissions must be prepared in accordance with the Journal style guide, below and on our website (https://www.rnshs.ca).

• Submissions must be in Microsoft Word, formatted as described below, and they should be accompanied by a short biography (up to 200 words).

• Manuscripts for articles and research notes must include a short abstract (up to 300 words).

• If applicable, illustrations must be placed in the text, preferably in black and white, along with information about each illustration.

• The Journal's policy asks for two double-blind peer review assessments for research articles and research notes.

• The author is expected to revise the manuscript in accordance with the peer reviewers’ and editors’ comments and to return the revised version within an agreed timeline.

• The author must confirm to the editors in writing that all necessary permissions have been obtained for illustrations and, where applicable, for long quotations.

• Once a submission is approved for publication, the print layout version will be sent to the author in a PDF format for final approval.

• Authors receive a free copy of the Journal and a pdf of their published work.

Prospective Contributors Are Responsible For:

• submitting the document, in Microsoft Word or in RTF (rich text format), prepared in accordance with the Journal STYLE MANUAL, for peer review to the editor (editor@rnshs.ca);

• revising the text in accordance with reviewers’ comments and re-submitting;

• approving the text as edited;

• proofreading the article as formatted by the Editor and returning the corrected and proofs within the specified time;

• providing an approximately 200-word abstract and short biography.

• submitting all illustrations in a scanned format (300 dpi) (preferably black and white; colour will be used at the discretion of the Editorial Board) with captions and instructions as to approximately where each illustration should appear in the paper.