Author Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in our publication.

Peer Review
Categories for Submissions
Author’s Checklist
Writing Standards for Submission

 

Peer Review

CAJ is a double-blind peer-reviewed professional journal. Following an internal review, all feature articles (if approved for the next stage) are reviewed anonymously by two external evaluators / subject matter experts. The feedback and recommendations regarding the suitability of a manuscript for publication in CAJ are submitted to the Editor-in-Chief, who will contact the author with the final decision on the manuscript and/or offer recommendations for changes to make the article publishable.

The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to make editorial changes in style or wording if they do not affect the intent or content of the manuscript.

The Commander Canadian Army has delegated the authority to approve manuscripts for publication in CAJ to the Editor-in-Chief. Therefore, serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces and civilian employees of the Department of National Defence are not required to obtain prior clearance from their chain of command when submitting an article to CAJ.

Categories for Submissions

When submitting your manuscript, please identify which of our four categories you believe the article is most appropriate for:

• Feature Articles,
• Note to File,
• Army Biographies, or
• Book Reviews.

Feature Articles

Feature articles in CAJ are normally between 4,000 and 6,000 words in length (including endnotes). Articles should be an expression of mature professional thought and/or informed debate on the art and science of land warfare; the dissemination and discussion of doctrinal and training concepts; or other related ideas, concepts and opinions. 

Note to File

The “Note to File” section contains short articles between 1,500 and 2,500 words in length (including endnotes). Images, graphics or maps may be included as appropriate but are not required.

Army Biographies

The “Army Biographies” section is intended to highlight the life and times of unique Canadian soldiers. Articles may be a summary of an individual’s lifelong contribution, such as that of Major-General Sir Samuel Steele, or focus on an individual’s unique achievement, such as that of Private Leo Major, DCM and Bar. Clearly, the individual’s rank is not as important as their deeds or the contribution they made to the Canadian Armed Forces. Articles should be a maximum of 2,000 words in length and include a photograph of the subject and at least three high-quality (300 dpi) images (photos or maps) with captions, credits/source, and permissions as applicable, to be included in the publication.

Book Reviews

Reviews should be in Word format with no special characters or symbols. They should be 1,000 to 1,200 words in length (including any endnotes). All reviews must use the following title layout:

            TITLE OF THE BOOK
            AUTHOR’S LAST NAME, FIRST NAME, Place of Publications, Name of the Publisher, Year, Total Pages, Cost
            ISBN of the Book

Example:
            PEGASUS BRIDGE: BENOUVILLE D-DAY 1944
            FOWLER, WILL, Oxford, Osprey Publishing, 2010, 64 pages, $22.00
            ISBN: 978-1-84603-848-8

Practices to follow for book reviews:

• Select books to review that are recently released and on topical and relevant subjects.
• Content – A review should highlight the book’s significance and value in the context of the existing literature on the subject. It should also include a brief summary of the scope, purpose and content of the book and note the main argument(s) therein. A good review focuses on the book and its treatment of the subject covered. 
• Effectiveness – The most effective book reviews will place the publication within a broader context of existing literature and make note of issues that should be brought to the reader’s attention. They will also highlight the book’s strengths and weaknesses. 
• Evaluation – Reviews should go beyond basic description to provide a non-partisan, balanced review of the book. Consider the work’s stated purpose: Was it met? What are the book’s strengths? Its weaknesses?
• Professionalism – A review should focus on the book itself and should not be employed merely to criticize the author. It may make some mention of the author (position, professional background, and education) but should avoid backhanded compliments or outright personal attacks. Whether the evaluation is positive or negative, express criticism in courteous, temperate, and constructive terms.
• Audience – Keep in mind the audience for whom you are reviewing. Provide a bit of background to help situate the reader. 

Author’s Checklist

To ensure that there are as few delays as possible in bringing your submission to print, we ask you to review the following checklist and ensure that all of the required information is included when you send us your work.

• Language: Manuscripts may be submitted in either of Canada’s official languages. Translation will be undertaken by CAJ.
• Format and Style: Manuscripts must be submitted in Word format (Times New Roman, font size 12) and conform to standard academic style. Spelling authorities to follow are the Canadian Oxford Dictionary or Le Petit Robert.
• Abstract: The manuscript must include an abstract (maximum length 150 words).
• Name of the Author: Include your full name and rank (if applicable). For serving or retired members of the Canadian Armed Forces, include your post-nominals,[1]  if any.
• Citations: CAJ follows the Chicago Manual of Style. Use endnotes rather than footnotes.
• Placement of Images, Figures and Tables: Clearly identify any locations in the text where images accompanying the text would be best placed. Use “[insert image here]” to identify the placement for images. A suggested caption must be included for each image.
• Image Quality and Submission: Images and maps must be submitted separate from the manuscript (not embedded in the text) and scanned at a minimum of 300 dots per inch (dpi).
• Image Attribution: a source or credit for each image must be clearly identified.
• Author’s Biography: The manuscript must include a brief biography of the author at the end of the manuscript (maximum length 100 words).

Writing Standards for Submission

• All manuscripts must be written in the third person voice. If the author wishes to include a personal example, they must use “the author” rather than “I.” 
• Do not use terms that only an army specialist is likely to understand without explanation. CAJ reaches a wide audience of military and civilian personnel, as well as members of the public.
• Please avoid using long sentences. We recommend that authors break any sentence longer than 37 words into two parts. 
• Abbreviations and acronyms are unavoidable. However, the first time they are used in the text, they must be written out in full and followed by the abbreviation in parentheses.
• Use standard Canadian spelling when writing in English (for example: armour, organization, manoeuvre).
• Keep the Introduction paragraph short, preferably 80 to 100 words. Begin with an opening sentence and then establish the broader topic covered in the article. The next few sentences should aim to narrow the topic of discussion and offer a brief background on what the reader can expect in the article. Finally, include the thesis statement that communicates the main argument(s) presented in the article. In other words, the thesis statement is the bottom line up front (BLUF) sentence that highlights the main claims/arguments made in the article. 

All articles commissioned by CAJ are considered works for hire and as such are copyrighted by CAJ. CAJ in turn grants authors the right to re-publish their articles in other publications after they have appeared in CAJ, provided that proper acknowledgement is given to CAJ as the original publisher. 

 

Submissions

All submissions may be sent directly to thearmyjournal@forces.gc.ca.

 

[1] Post-nominals will be displayed in accordance with Canadian Forces Honours Policy Manual, ch. 7.