General Instructions 

Lähihistoria (Finnish Journal of Contemporary History) accepts submissions in the form of original research articles, review articles, essays, and other types of texts including opinion pieces, profiles, and interviews. Prior to writing your submission, please read these instructions in full. The instructions include information on formatting, referencing, illustrations and general advice on how to write a successful submission. 

All texts must be carefully proofread and correctly formatted prior to submission. We appreciate submissions written in a clear and concise manner: please pay careful attention to the readability of your submission (e.g. grammar and structure).

The journal will not consider for publication research or review articles, or any other texts, which are simultaneously undergoing peer review by another publication. 

Research and review article submissions must include an abstract (maximum 120 words) and 5–8 keywords. The abstract and keywords are submitted via the Journal.fi portal. When writing the abstract, please note that it should summarise your article’s main arguments, and be fully comprehensible as a standalone text. 

Essays and other types of texts, such as interviews, profiles and opinion pieces, require a lead or short introductory paragraph. Please provide a 1–2 sentence summary, which encapsulates the submission’s main rationale.

Formatting Instructions

All submissions should be formatted in Times New Roman, font size 12, align left, and line spacing 1,5. Quotes and citations over three rows in length should be indented. No special or abnormal formatting is permitted.

Lähihistoria uses endnotes. Endnotes should be provided in the shortened form. For example:  

Traverso 2016, 12.

Vahtikari, Kivilaakso & Latvala-Harvilahti 2021, 370.

If you reference the same source more than once in a row, you can use the abbreviation ibid. When citing the same source, but a different page, use ibid., page number (e.g. ibid, 370). When citing the same source and same page number, only use ibid.

When citing archival and other primary sources, prioritise findability and verifiability. Be consistent and use the same referencing throughout the text.

Bibliographies should be formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style.

Primary sources should be listed first, under its own heading. The bibliography should be listed second, following the primary sources. 

Examples of how to format the bibliography:

Book (one author): 

Ballinger, Pamela. History in Exile. Memory and Identity at the Borders of the Balkans. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2003.

Book (multiple authors):

Boddice, Rob, and Mark Smith. Emotions, Sense, Experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.

Journal article (one author):

Spohr Readman, Kristina. “Contemporary History in Europe. From Mastering National Pasts to the Future of Writing the World.” Journal of Contemporary History 46, no. 3 (2011): 506–530.

Journal article (multiple authors):

Smith, Laurajane, and Gary Campbell. "‘Nostalgia for the future’: memory, nostalgia and the politics of class." International Journal of Heritage Studies 23, no. 7 (2017): 612–627.DOI: 10.1080/13527258.2017.1321034

Edited book:

Höbel, Alexander, ed. Togliatti e la democrazia italiana. Roma: Editori Riuniti, 2017.

Chapter or other part of an edited book (one author):

Lim, Jie-Hyun. “Victimhood Nationalism in the Memory of Mass Dictatorship.” In Mass Dictatorship and Memory as Ever Present Past, edited by Jie-Hyun Lim, Barbara Walker & Peter Lambert, 36–61. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Chapter or other part of an edited book (two or more authors):

Vahtikari, Tanja, Tiina Männistö-Funk and Silja Laine. ”Valokuvan käytön ja tulkinnan menetelmät historiantutkimuksessa.” In Avaimia menneisyyteen - opas historiantutkimuksen menetelmiin, edited by Mirkka Danielsbacka, Matti Hannikainen and Tuomas Tepora, 229–249. Gaudeamus: Helsinki, 2022.

News or magazine article:

Lehmusvesi, Jussi. "Piispa syytti Kiasma-aktivisteja antisemitismistä, tutkijat pitävät termin käyttöä haitallisena." Helsingin Sanomat, 8. joulukuuta 2022. https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000009250748.html

Harding, Jeremy. "Where do we touch down?" London Review of Books. December 15, 2022.

 

Illustrations 

We request that authors consider already prior to submission  whether they wish to use illustrations and captions. Illustrations can be, for example, photographs, artwork, a page of a newspaper, a cartoon, a picture or an object. Thoughtful illustrations can elevate your article and enhance your argumentation.

All illustrations should be at least 300 dots per inch (DPI). All illustrations, including pictures and graphs, should be presented in a comprehensible and legible manner.

Illustrations should be submitted together with your article, as separate files. Please number your illustrations in bold and place them into the manuscript, in their correct places, according to the following example:

Illustration 1. Please insert appropriate caption here. 

Illustrations published in the journal follow the appropriate copyright laws and regulations. You must obtain permission from the copyright holder prior to submission. This also includes screenshots. Potential copyright clearance and any fees incurred in the process are the responsibility of the author, not the journal. If you use illustrations within the public domain, please make sure to check the licensing agreement(s) under which they fall. 

Author Information 

Add 1–2 sentences at the end of your submission, including your name and affiliation(s).

Writing a Peer Reviewed Article 

The publication of all research articles (and review articles, on a case-by-case basis) is subject to peer review by at least two reviewers, who are not members of the Lähihistoria editorial board. Peer review is usually carried out anonymously and using the double blind method. This means that the reviewers remain anonymous to the author, and the author’s identity is not revealed to the reviewers. On a case-by-case basis, articles can be subjected to open peer review, however in these cases the decision is made by the editorial board with the consent of the author and reviewers.

When preparing your research article, please consider the following:

• Research questions and clarity of argument
• Source material (including primary sources and how the submission fits into the existing research literature)
• Clearly defined methodological approach
• Readability and linguistic soundness of the submission, structural clarity including adequate signposting, thorough definition of key concepts
• Originality of argument and visibility of author’s own, independent thought and argumentation
• Formatting according to the journal’s instructions 
• Grammar, including spelling and sentence structure
• Original findings, scientific impact and where relevant social impact

Anonymising your submission for peer review:

Prior to submitting your article via the Journal.fi portal, please make sure to anonymise your text. Remove your name and any references within the text or endnotes, which might jeopardise your anonymity. Make sure that your name is not included in any metadata, including file name. You may make reference to your own prior publications, as long as this is done in a discrete manner, which does not reveal your author identity.

To remove all metadata from a Word file:

Open file > File > Info > Inspect document > select only “Document properties and personal information” > Click “Inspect” > click “Remove all” > click “Reinspect” > click “Inspect” > click “Close”. If personalised metadata is still included in the “Related people” field, right-click the information and choose “Remove”.