Manuscripta Islamica

1. General Requirements

Manuscripta Islamica publishes original scholarship on Islamic manuscripts, manuscript cultures, textual transmission, codicology, palaeography, philology, critical editing, conservation, cataloguing, provenance, digitisation, and manuscript-related digital humanities.

Before submitting, authors should ensure that their manuscript falls within the journal’s Aims and Scope.

A submission must:

• present original research or a substantial original scholarly contribution;

• engage directly with manuscripts, manuscript collections, documentary evidence, textual transmission, or methods relevant to manuscript studies;

• identify a clear scholarly problem, corpus, method, argument, and contribution;

• not have been published in substantially the same form;

• not be under consideration by another journal or publisher;

• comply with the journal’s ethical, legal, and editorial policies.

All submissions must be made through the Manuscripta Islamica online submission system. Manuscripts sent only by email will not be processed.

2. Categories of Submission

Research Article

A full-length article presenting original research and a sustained scholarly argument.

Length: 8,000–12,000 words, including footnotes but excluding the bibliography, captions, and supplementary material.

Research Articles undergo double-blind peer review by at least two independent reviewers.

Critical Edition or Textual Study

A critical edition, textual reconstruction, comparative textual study, or detailed analysis of manuscript transmission.

Length: normally 8,000–15,000 words, including the critical apparatus and footnotes but excluding the bibliography. Authors should contact the editorial office before submitting work that substantially exceeds this limit.

Critical Editions and Textual Studies undergo double-blind peer review.

Manuscript Note

A focused contribution concerning a newly identified manuscript, scribal feature, colophon, provenance record, ownership note, textual variant, watermark, illumination, binding, marginal annotation, or other specific finding.

Length: 3,000–5,000 words.

A Manuscript Note must contain a clear scholarly finding and should not consist only of a descriptive catalogue entry. Manuscript Notes undergo double-blind peer review.

Digital Manuscript or Conservation Report

A research-based account of digitisation, digital cataloguing, handwriting recognition, multispectral imaging, digital editions, conservation methods, technical examination, or related digital and material practices.

Length: 4,000–7,000 words.

The article must explain its materials, procedures, limitations, and transferable scholarly contribution. These submissions undergo double-blind peer review.

Review Essay

A sustained critical discussion of several publications, catalogues, digital resources, exhibitions, or developments within a defined area of Islamic manuscript studies.

Length: 3,000–5,000 words.

Review essays are normally commissioned, although proposals may be submitted to the editors.

Book, Catalogue, Exhibition, or Digital Resource Review

Length: 1,000–1,500 words.

Reviews are normally commissioned by the editors and are assessed editorially rather than through the standard double-blind review process.

3. Language

Manuscripta Islamica publishes scholarly articles in English.

Authors should use clear academic English and avoid unnecessary technical language. British English spelling is preferred. Quotations retain the spelling of the original source.

Authors whose first language is not English are responsible for ensuring that the submitted manuscript is intelligible and suitable for scholarly review. Language editing does not guarantee acceptance.

Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, Malay, Jawi, Pegon, Ajami, and other primary-language materials may be included when relevant. Substantial non-English quotations must normally be accompanied by an English translation.

4. Submission Files and Double-Blind Review

Authors must upload at least two separate documents.

File 1: Title Page

The title page must contain:

• the full title of the article;

• the article category;

• the full name of every author, without academic titles;

• the order in which the authors should appear;

• department or unit;

• full institutional name;

• complete institutional postal address;

• city and postal code;

• country;

• institutional email address;

• ORCID iD;

• identification of the corresponding author;

• acknowledgements;

• funding information;

• conflict-of-interest statement;

• author contribution statement for multi-authored submissions;

• disclosure of any earlier version of the work;

• disclosure of any use of generative AI or AI-assisted technology.

The affiliation should normally be the institution at which the research was conducted. Where an author has moved, a present-address statement may be added.

An ORCID iD is required for the corresponding author at submission. All authors must provide an ORCID iD before publication.

File 2: Anonymised Manuscript

The anonymised manuscript must include:

• article title;

• abstract;

• keywords;

• main text;

• footnotes;

• tables and figure captions;

• bibliography.

It must not contain:

• author names;

• affiliations;

• email addresses;

• acknowledgements;

• grant information that reveals the author’s identity;

• author biographies;

• identifying document properties or file metadata.

Self-citations should be written in the third person in the same form as citations to other scholars. Authors should not replace their names with “Author” unless revealing the citation would make identification unavoidable.

5. File and Text Format

Initial submissions must be uploaded in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx).

The journal does not require authors to use a designed article template at the initial submission stage. Authors should use a simple and reviewable document format:

• a standard Unicode font, preferably Times New Roman;

• 12-point main text;

• double line spacing;

• margins of approximately 2.5 cm;

• consecutively numbered pages;

• continuous line numbering where possible;

• automatically generated footnotes;

• clearly differentiated heading levels;

• no manual spacing with repeated tabs or spaces.

Arabic and other non-Latin scripts must be entered as searchable Unicode text, not as screenshots or image files.

Special fonts should be avoided. Where a specialist font is unavoidable, the author must identify it in the cover letter.

6. Title

The title should be concise, specific, and informative. It should identify the main object, corpus, problem, region, period, or argument where appropriate.

Titles should preferably not exceed 20 words.

Avoid:

• unexplained abbreviations;

• overly broad titles;

• promotional expressions;

• claims not demonstrated by the article;

• titles composed only of a general topic without identifying the research problem.

A subtitle may be used when it improves precision.

7. Abstract

All submissions must include an English abstract of 200–250 words.

The abstract should state:

• the scholarly problem;

• the principal manuscript, corpus, collection, or source base;

• the method or analytical approach;

• the central finding or argument;

• the article’s specific contribution to manuscript studies.

The abstract should be understandable without consulting the main article. It must not contain footnotes, bibliographical citations, undefined abbreviations, or unsupported claims.

8. Keywords

Authors must provide five to seven keywords or short phrases.

Keywords should support accurate discovery and indexing. Where relevant, they should identify:

• manuscript tradition;

• geographical area;

• language or script;

• text or intellectual tradition;

• material or codicological feature;

• method.

Avoid keywords that are excessively general, such as “Islam,” “history,” or “manuscript,” unless combined with more specific terms.

9. Organisation of the Article

Manuscripta Islamica is a humanities journal and does not require a rigid IMRAD structure.

A Research Article should normally contain:

1. an introduction;

2. logically organised analytical sections;

3. a conclusion;

4. acknowledgements and declarations, where applicable;

5. manuscript sources and bibliography.

The introduction should explain:

• the research problem;

• the object and corpus;

• the relevant scholarly discussion;

• the gap or unresolved issue;

• the method or analytical procedure;

• the main argument or contribution.

A separate literature review or methodology section is not mandatory. Authors may use one when it is necessary for the argument, particularly in digital humanities, scientific examination, conservation research, corpus analysis, or interdisciplinary work.

Section headings should reflect the actual content of the argument. Headings such as “Result” or “Discussion” should not be used merely to imitate a scientific article structure.

The conclusion should answer the research problem and state what has been established through the manuscript evidence. It should not simply repeat the abstract or provide unsupported recommendations.

10. Identification and Description of Manuscripts

Every manuscript discussed as primary evidence must be identifiable.

At its first appearance, a manuscript reference should normally include:

• city;

• repository or holding institution;

• collection, where applicable;

• shelfmark or call number;

• folio or page reference;

• line reference where necessary.

Recommended form:

City, Repository, Collection, Shelfmark, fol. 12r, lines 3–5.

A shortened repository name or siglum may be introduced after the first complete reference.

Use:

• “fol.” for one folio;

• “fols.” for more than one folio;

• “r” for recto;

• “v” for verso;

• “line” or “lines” where line references are required.

For example:

Repository Abbreviation, Shelfmark, fols. 12v–13r.

Authors should follow the repository’s official form of the shelfmark and should verify every shelfmark before submission.

Where relevant to the argument, the article should provide sufficient codicological information, which may include:

• date or estimated period;

• place of production;

• provenance;

• material support;

• dimensions in millimetres;

• number of folios;

• quire structure;

• number of lines per page;

• script;

• ruling;

• ink and pigments;

• illumination;

• binding;

• colophon;

• copyist;

• patron;

• ownership, reading, or waqf notes;

• seals and stamps;

• catchwords;

• watermarks;

• condition;

• digital identifier or IIIF manifest.

Authors are not required to describe every feature in every article. The information supplied must be sufficient to support and evaluate the article’s claims.

11. Private Collections and Provenance

Research involving privately held manuscripts must state:

• how the author obtained access;

• whether the owner or custodian authorised examination and publication;

• the known provenance of the object;

• whether identifying information has been withheld and why;

• whether reproduction permission has been obtained.

The editors may request supporting documentation.

Manuscripta Islamica may decline to publish material whose ownership, provenance, legal status, or conditions of access cannot be reasonably established. Articles must not facilitate illicit trafficking, commercial promotion, or the concealment of unlawfully removed cultural objects.

Commercial value, sales listings, and dealer information should not be included unless they are directly relevant to a documented provenance investigation.

12. Transcription and Critical Editing

Authors must explain their transcription or editorial conventions.

The article should state whether a transcription is:

• diplomatic;

• semi-diplomatic;

• normalised;

• reconstructed;

• critically edited.

Editorial additions, deletions, uncertain readings, lacunae, damaged passages, abbreviations, superscript text, marginal additions, and line or folio divisions must be represented consistently.

Where an article presents a critical text, the author should:

• identify all witnesses;

• explain the selection and relationship of witnesses;

• distinguish manuscript readings from editorial reconstruction;

• describe the apparatus;

• explain normalisation;

• identify previous editions;

• state how Qurʾanic, hadith, poetic, or other cited materials were verified.

Automatic OCR or handwriting-text-recognition output must not be presented as an established transcription without direct checking against the manuscript image or physical object.

13. Transliteration

For Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish, Manuscripta Islamica follows the IJMES Translation and Transliteration Guide.

The principal conventions include:

• Unicode characters must be used;

• technical terms should be fully transliterated and italicised;

• accepted English loanwords should not be italicised or supplied with unnecessary diacritics;

• ʿayn and hamza should be distinguished;

• long vowels should be written ā, ī, and ū;

• personal names, place names, organisations, and titles are normally written without diacritics, while ʿayn and hamza are retained where applicable;

• Arabic tāʾ marbūṭa is normally rendered as “a” and as “at” in an iḍāfa construction;

• initial hamza is omitted;

• the definite article is written al- and is not assimilated to sun letters;

• one transliteration system must be used consistently throughout the article.

For Ottoman Turkish, authors may use the IJMES system or modern Turkish orthography, provided that the chosen system is appropriate to the research and used consistently.

For Jawi, Pegon, Ajami, and other writing traditions, authors must state the transliteration or normalisation system they use. Where modern spelling is supplied, it must be clearly distinguished from diplomatic transcription.

14. Quotations and Translations

Short quotations may appear within quotation marks. Longer quotations should be presented as indented block quotations.

All quotations must be checked against the cited source.

Quotations in Arabic or another non-English language should be accompanied by an English translation when the meaning is necessary to the argument. The original text may be placed in the main text or a footnote, depending on its analytical relevance.

Authors must identify the translator when using a published translation. When the translation is the author’s own, use a statement such as “translation by the author.”

Silent alteration of a published translation is not permitted. Any modification must be identified.

Qurʾanic references should normally use the form Q 2:255. Authors must identify the English translation used or state that translations are their own.

15. Figures, Manuscript Images, and Illustrations

Figures are expected when visual evidence is necessary to support the argument.

At initial submission:

• figures may be embedded at an appropriate point in the anonymised manuscript;

• every figure must be cited in the text;

• figures must be numbered consecutively;

• each figure must have a caption;

• low-resolution review copies are acceptable provided that the relevant detail remains legible.

After acceptance:

• each image must be supplied as a separate file;

• photographs and manuscript images must normally be at least 300 dpi at final publication size;

• line drawings should normally be at least 600 dpi;

• TIFF, JPEG, or PNG formats are accepted;

• filenames should correspond to figure numbers;

• authors must not submit images obtained through screenshots when a direct high-quality file is available.

Each caption must identify, as applicable:

• repository;

• collection;

• shelfmark;

• folio;

• relevant textual or visual feature;

• photographer or digitising institution;

• copyright holder;

• licence or permission statement.

A caption should not make an ownership or attribution claim that cannot be documented.

Authors must provide concise alternative text for every figure. The alternative text should explain the information needed to understand the figure rather than repeat the caption.

Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to reproduce copyrighted or restricted images in an open-access publication. Permission must cover online publication under the journal’s licence. Proof of permission may be requested before acceptance.

The journal will not publish an image if the required legal permission has not been obtained.

Routine adjustments to brightness, contrast, orientation, or cropping are permitted when they improve legibility and do not alter the evidence. Any substantial enhancement, reconstruction, colour alteration, multispectral processing, or digital manipulation must be explained.

AI-generated reconstructions must not be presented as images of an original manuscript.

16. Tables

Tables must:

• be numbered consecutively;

• be cited in the main text;

• have a concise title;

• use editable text rather than an image;

• contain clear column headings;

• identify abbreviations in a note;

• state the source of data where relevant.

Tables should supplement rather than duplicate the prose discussion.

Large catalogues, transcription tables, datasets, or concordances may be submitted as supplementary material.

17. Footnotes, Citations, and Bibliography

Manuscripta Islamica uses the Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition, Notes and Bibliography system.

Citations must appear in footnotes, not parenthetical author-date references or endnotes.

The first citation of a work should provide full bibliographical information. Subsequent references should use the author’s surname, a shortened title, and the relevant page number.

Do not use:

• ibid.;

• idem;

• eadem;

• op. cit.;

• loc. cit.;

• passim as a substitute for precise references.

Footnote numbers should normally appear at the end of a sentence after punctuation.

Every source in the bibliography must be cited in the article. Sources cited only in the bibliography should be removed.

DOIs should be supplied in the form:

https://doi.org/xxxxx

Authors must verify names, titles, volume and issue numbers, page ranges, publication dates, shelfmarks, URLs, and DOIs.

The journal does not impose an artificial minimum number of references. The bibliography must nevertheless demonstrate adequate engagement with:

• relevant manuscript and archival sources;

• primary textual materials;

• current and authoritative scholarship;

• major earlier studies;

• scholarship from the regions and languages relevant to the article.

Authors are not required to cite Manuscripta Islamica. References to the journal should be included only when directly relevant.

Manuscript Sources

Manuscripts should normally be listed separately before the secondary bibliography.

Recommended form:

City. Repository. Collection. Shelfmark.

Where a manuscript is available digitally, include a stable institutional URL, persistent identifier, or IIIF manifest where available.

Footnote Models

Manuscript, first citation:

City, Repository, Collection, Shelfmark, fol. 12r, lines 3–5.

Manuscript, subsequent citation:

Repository Abbreviation, Shelfmark, fol. 12r.

Book, first citation:

Firstname Surname, Title of Book (Publisher, Year), 45–47.

Book, subsequent citation:

Surname, Shortened Title, 46.

Journal article, first citation:

Firstname Surname, “Title of Article,” Journal Title volume, no. issue (year): page cited, https://doi.org/xxxxx.

Chapter in an edited volume:

Firstname Surname, “Chapter Title,” in Book Title, ed. Firstname Surname (Publisher, Year), page cited.

Unpublished thesis or dissertation:

Firstname Surname, “Title” (PhD diss. or master’s thesis, Institution, Year), page cited.

Website or digital resource:

Author or Institution, “Title,” publication or revision date, URL. Include an access date when no publication or revision date is available.

18. Supplementary Material and Research Data

Authors are encouraged to preserve and share research materials where legal, ethical, and custodial conditions permit.

Supplementary material may include:

• extended manuscript descriptions;

• transcription files;

• textual variants;

• datasets;

• catalogues;

• TEI/XML files;

• code;

• image-processing documentation;

• IIIF manifests;

• audio or video;

• conservation documentation.

Data should preferably be deposited in a recognised institutional or disciplinary repository that provides a persistent identifier.

Every Research Article must include a brief Data Availability Statement. Where data cannot be shared, the statement should explain the reason, such as repository restrictions, copyright, confidentiality, cultural sensitivity, or preservation concerns.

19. Acknowledgements, Funding, and Conflicts of Interest

Acknowledgements should appear only on the title page during peer review. They will be inserted into the article after acceptance.

Authors must disclose:

• research funding;

• grant numbers;

• institutional or technical support;

• access provided by libraries, archives, collectors, or communities;

• financial or non-financial conflicts of interest;

• relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research.

Where no specific funding was received, authors should state:

“This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.”

Where no conflict exists, authors should state:

“The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.”

20. Authorship and Contributions

Authorship is limited to individuals who made substantial intellectual contributions to the research and who accept responsibility for the published work.

All listed authors must:

• approve the submitted version;

• approve the final version;

• agree to the order of authors;

• consent to publication;

• take responsibility for their contribution;

• disclose relevant conflicts of interest.

Individuals who provided administrative, linguistic, technical, financial, or general support but did not meet the authorship criteria should be named in the acknowledgements, with their permission.

For multi-authored submissions, a contribution statement using the CRediT roles is recommended and may be required by the editors.

Generative AI systems cannot be listed as authors.

21. Originality and Previous Dissemination

A submitted manuscript must not be under review elsewhere.

Material derived from a thesis, dissertation, conference paper, working paper, project report, catalogue entry, or preprint may be considered when:

• the relationship is disclosed in the cover letter;

• the journal article has been substantially revised;

• the article presents a distinct and complete scholarly argument;

• copyright restrictions have been resolved;

• the earlier version is cited where appropriate.

Translation of an article previously published in another language is normally treated as prior publication and will not be considered unless the editors approve an exceptional republication arrangement in advance.

22. Plagiarism, Textual Overlap, and Research Integrity

All submissions may be screened using similarity-detection software.

Similarity reports are interpreted contextually. A numerical similarity score does not by itself establish plagiarism and does not guarantee that a manuscript is acceptable. Editors will examine the location, source, extent, and nature of any overlap.

Plagiarism, concealed text recycling, fabricated citations, falsified evidence, invented shelfmarks, manipulated images, and unsupported manuscript attributions are prohibited.

Directly reused wording must be clearly quoted and cited. Paraphrased ideas must also be attributed.

Authors remain responsible for the accuracy and existence of every source, manuscript, quotation, translation, image, date, and bibliographical record included in the article.

23. Research Ethics and Cultural Responsibility

Research involving interviews, oral histories, living communities, private owners, religious custodians, or restricted cultural materials must comply with applicable institutional and national ethical requirements.

Authors should obtain informed consent where required and state the relevant ethical approval, exemption, or consent procedure.

Research on sacred, restricted, endangered, communally owned, or culturally sensitive manuscripts should respect reasonable conditions imposed by custodians and communities. Authors should explain material restrictions when they affect access, reproduction, description, or data sharing.

24. Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

Generative AI may not be credited as an author and may not replace the author’s scholarly responsibility.

Basic spelling, grammar, and reference-management tools do not require disclosure.

The use of generative AI or AI-assisted technology must be disclosed when it contributes to:

• translation;

• drafting or substantial rewriting;

• OCR or handwriting-text recognition;

• transcription support;

• coding;

• data extraction;

• image processing;

• classification;

• statistical or computational analysis.

Permitted use requires direct human supervision and verification against the original sources.

The following uses are prohibited:

• generating fabricated or unverifiable references;

• generating manuscript descriptions without examining the evidence;

• presenting unverified AI transcription as an established reading;

• generating the article’s central scholarly argument in place of authorial analysis;

• generating or altering research data;

• reconstructing damaged text or images without clearly identifying the reconstruction;

• presenting synthetic manuscript images as documentary evidence;

• concealing the use of generative AI.

Where disclosure is required, include the following section before the bibliography:

Generative AI Usage Statement

“During the preparation of this article, the author(s) used [name and version of tool] for [specific purpose]. All outputs were checked against the original sources and revised by the author(s), who assume full responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the article.”

25. Peer Review and Editorial Decisions

Research Articles, Critical Editions, Manuscript Notes, and Digital Manuscript or Conservation Reports are normally evaluated through double-blind peer review by at least two independent specialists.

The review process is described on the journal’s Peer Review Process page.

The editors may reject a manuscript before external review when it:

• falls outside the journal’s scope;

• lacks a clear scholarly problem or original contribution;

• does not engage adequately with manuscript evidence;

• contains serious factual, ethical, or bibliographical problems;

• does not meet the minimum language or presentation standard;

• does not comply with the submission requirements;

• is substantially identical to previously published work.

Possible decisions include:

• accept;

• minor revision;

• major revision;

• revise and resubmit for further review;

• decline.

The final publication decision rests with the responsible editor, based on the manuscript’s scholarly merit, reviewer reports, ethical compliance, and suitability for the journal.

26. Revised Submissions

A revised submission must include:

1. a clean revised manuscript;

2. a version showing tracked changes;

3. a point-by-point response to every reviewer and editor comment.

The response document should reproduce each comment and explain:

• what was changed;

• where the change appears;

• why a requested change was not adopted, where applicable.

A revision request does not constitute acceptance.

27. Proofs

After acceptance and copyediting, the corresponding author will receive a proof for final checking.

Proof corrections should be limited to production errors, factual errors, and minor necessary clarifications. Substantial rewriting or the addition of new evidence is not normally permitted at proof stage.

Authors should return corrected proofs within the deadline specified by the production editor.

28. Copyright, Open Access, and Publication Fees

Authors retain copyright and grant Manuscripta Islamica the right of first publication.

Published articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0), as explained on the journal’s Copyright and Licensing page.

The CC BY 4.0 licence applies only to material for which the author or journal holds the necessary rights. Third-party manuscript images, photographs, maps, or other materials may be subject to separate rights statements.

Manuscripta Islamica does not charge submission fees, article processing charges, or publication fees. See the journal’s Article Processing Charges page.

29. Submission Preparation Checklist

Before submitting, the corresponding author must confirm that:

• the manuscript falls within the journal’s Aims and Scope;

• the manuscript is original and is not under review elsewhere;

• all authors have approved the submission;

• the title page and anonymised manuscript have been uploaded separately;

• the anonymised manuscript contains no author-identifying information;

• the article complies with the relevant word limit;

• the abstract contains 200–250 words;

• five to seven keywords have been supplied;

• every manuscript is identified by repository and shelfmark;

• folio, page, line, quotation, date, and shelfmark references have been checked;

• the transcription and transliteration systems are stated and applied consistently;

• footnotes and bibliography follow Chicago Notes and Bibliography style;

• all cited references appear in the bibliography;

• every DOI and URL has been checked;

• all figures and tables are cited, numbered, and captioned;

• reproduction permission has been obtained or is being obtained for restricted material;

• the provenance and legal conditions of privately held objects have been disclosed;

• funding and conflicts of interest have been declared;

• generative AI use has been disclosed where applicable;

• a Data Availability Statement has been included;

• the manuscript has been proofread before submission.

Submissions that do not satisfy these requirements may be returned to the author before editorial assessment.

30. Submission and Enquiries

Submit manuscripts through the online submission portal.

For editorial or technical enquiries, use the journal’s Contact page.