Guidelines for Submission of Papers

Guidelines for Submission of Papers

Authors may submit their research for publication in the journal Symposia Melitensia under the following publication typologies:

  • Commentary: This position paper of between 1,000 and 1,500 words typically presents an argument or an academic opinion about a given issue. The commentary needs to convince the audience that the opinion presented is valid and warrants attention. 
  • Peer Reviewed Short Report: This short communication paper of between 3,000 and 4,500 words enables authors to communicate a brief report of data from their original research.  Through this paper the author/s will emphasise the importance of the issues discussed which may stimulate further research in the field.
  • Peer Reviewed Original Research Article: This paper of 5,000 to 7,000 words should include a detailed study reporting original research or a review paper. This paper needs to present an advancement and/or contribution to knowledge.

Those authors submitting a paper in a language other than English may submit their paper for consideration according to the above criteria for inclusion in the Supplementary Section of the journal Symposia Melitensia.

All documents need to be submitted in Word format and to follow the Harvard style sheet as described here.

In-text references

  • In-text references require the surname of the author and the year of publication. There is no comma between the Author’s Last Name and the Year: (Author’s Last Name Year).

    “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so” (Shakespeare 1992). OR In Hamlet, William Shakespeare (1992) conveys the ...

    If you need to include a page number, add it after the year: (Author’s Last Name Year, p. x OR pp. x-z).

  • When citing a work with two authors, include both names: (Smith, Brown 2014) OR Smith and Brown (2014).

    For three or more different authors include name of first author and type words “et al.”: (Borg et al. 2004).

  • When you want to cite more than one source at the same time, place citations in parentheses in alphabetical order by the first author’s surname. Make sure to separate the citations with commas: (Borg 2004, Camilleri 1999).

Final list of references/ bibliography

  • Author’s names should be written in uppercase letters, followed by the year of publication.

  • In Harvard style, the references list should be arranged in alphabetical order by author’s surname followed by initials.

    BORG, C., 2017.
    CAMILLERI, Z., 2013.

  • In case of two or more authors, cite the surname, followed by initial and use ‘and’ after the penultimate author in the list:

    GODWIN, P. and PARKER, J., 2012. Information literacy... .
    FREE, C., PHILLIPS, G., GALLI, L., WATSON, L., FELIX, L., EDWARDS, P., PATEL, V. and HAINES, A., 2013. The Effectiveness of Mobile-Health...

  • Books: Author(s) last name, Initial(s)., Year of publication. Title – written in italics. Place of publication: Publisher.

    GODWIN, P. and PARKER, J., 2012. Information literacy beyond library 2.0. London: Facet Publishing.

  • Chapter in a book: Chapter Author(s) last name, Initial(s)., Year of publication. Chapter Title. In: Editor's Initial(s) Surname, (ed./eds), Book Title - written in italics. Place of Publication: Publisher, page numbers of chapter.

    GODWIN, P. and PARKER, J., 2012. Information literacy beyond library 2.0. In: M. CAMILLERI, ed, Handbook of Education. London: Facet Publishing, pp. 12-20.

  • Journal articles: Author(s) last name, Initial(s)., Year of publication. Article Title, Journal Title– written in italics, volume number(issue number), page numbers.

    BURHENN, P.S. and SMUDDE, J., 2015. Using tools and technology to promote education and adherence to oral agents for cancer. Clinical journal of oncology nursing, 19(3), pp. 53-59.

Figures and tables should be placed as close to their reference point in the text as possible. All figures and tables must have titles and must be referenced within the text.

All submitted documents must be in black and white including hyperlinks as well as any images and graphs; the latter can only be included if their resolution is higher than 300dpi. All images must indicate their sources and/or copyright permission. Images must be inserted as picture files (.gif, .jpg, .bmp, .pct, .png, .psd). Papers should be submitted only as .doc or .rtf attachments and not in .pdf format. If the document is not in line with the above, it will be resent to the author/s.

All submissions are expected to reach the committee by email (symposiamelitensia@um.edu.mt).

  1. The email should indicate the publication typology, i.e. Commentary, Peer reviewed short report or Peer Reviewed original article.

  2. Each submission must include a title, name of author(s), email address(es) and institutional affiliation(s) together with an abstract of up to 200 words and 4 to 7 keywords written on the first page.

  3. The paper should start from the second page so that the rest of the document can remain anonymous. It should be written in such a way that the identity of the author is not evident.

  4. In the case of co-authored papers, one author should be nominated to act as the corresponding author.

  5. While authors are encouraged to suggest the names and email addresses of up to three referees, the editor reserves the right to consult other reviewers.


https://www.um.edu.mt/jc/about/ourpublication/symposiamelitensia/instructionstoauthors