General Formatting Requirements
On this page, you’ll find details about our general formatting guidelines, including our language requirements, how to lay out your manuscript, and how to present any illustrations or appendices that you wish to include. To find out how to format your in-text citations and bibliography, please see our Citations and Bibliographies page.
Language Requirements
All submissions must be typed in British or U.S English.
Font, Spacing, and Margins
Your manuscript should be in 12 point Times New Roman and double-spaced. Please use wide margins and justify your text.
Document Name
Please use the title of your work, followed by the month and year of submission, as the name for your document (i.e. Paper Title – February 2024)
Title Page
You should submit a separate title page, which includes author names, affiliation details, and contact information. If your paper has multiple authors, please specify who the corresponding author is.
Abstract and Keywords
If you are submitting a manuscript for potential inclusion in our Articles, Short Notes, or Commentaries sections, you should include an abstract of no more than 250 words. This abstract should be concise and provide information on the major findings of the paper. In general, the abstract should cover the following points:
- The purpose of the paper;
- The methodology used/approach taken;
- Your findings;
- The implications of these findings;
- The originality/value of the paper.
You should also include a list of up to six keywords covering the fundamental topics of the paper. This should be presented after the abstract.
Please note: Abstracts and keyword lists are not required in respect of book reviews or conference reviews.
Headings and Subheadings
The title of your paper should be in Times New Roman (14 pt), bold type, centred, and fully capitalised, i.e.:
YOUR PAPER TITLE
You should indicate the beginning of your abstract as follows (Times New Roman, 12 pt, bold type, centred):
Abstract
First-level headings should be in Times New Roman (12pt) bold type, left aligned, and numbered consecutively (1., 2.,3., etc.). For example:
1. INTRODUCTION
Second-level headings should be in Times New Roman (12pt) bold type and left aligned. For example:
This is a Second-Level Heading
Third-level headings should be in Times New Roman (12pt), italicised and left aligned. For example:
This is a third-level heading
Fourth-level headings should be in Times New Roman (12pt) bold type, italicised and left aligned. For example:
This is a fourth-level heading
Footnotes and Endnotes
Authors are expected to provide footnotes when necessary. However, citations should be included within the main body of the paper, as described below, rather than within footnotes. When utilising footnotes, please use consecutive superscript numbers outside of punctuation marks.
We prefer authors to use footnotes rather than endnotes. Therefore, endnotes should only be used if absolutely necessary, and must be identified in the text by consecutive superscript numbers outside punctuation and listed at the end of the paper.
The use of footnotes or endnotes should be consistent throughout the manuscript.
Figures, Illustrations, and Tables
All figures, illustrations, and tables to be included in your manuscript should be submitted electronically and should be of clear quality. Please ensure that each figure, illustration, or table is of a suitable size for inclusion in the journal.
Any figures, illustrations, or tables included must be complete, with necessary superscripts shown both next to the relevant items and with the corresponding explanations or levels of significance detailed beneath the figure, illustration, or table.
Figures and illustrations should be numbered consecutively, e.g. Fig. 1, Fig. 2. If any figure or illustration has sub-parts, please label these as Fig. 1a, Fig. 1b etc. Tables should be numbered consecutively e.g. Table 1, Table 2.
Please also include a brief descriptive title for each figure, illustration, or table in your manuscript. The figure, illustration, or table number and the title should be separated by a colon. The title should appear above the figure, illustration, or table, and should be italicised and left-aligned.
For example:
Table 1: Table Title
Make sure that you include full details of the sources used for any figure, illustration, or table that you include in your manuscript. This information should be presented below the figure, illustration, or table in Times New Roman (10 pt.).
If you are using figures, illustrations, or tables created by other authors, or based on data obtained from other sources, please ensure that you have obtained the appropriate permissions from the relevant authors or publishers. You should provide evidence that you have done so to the Journal of Tax Administration.
Appendices
Any appendices should be placed after the Bibliography. Please label your appendices alphabetically rather than numerically.
See also:
