To contribute a research article to Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, submit your manuscript for review through the ScholarOne Manuscripts portal on our Cambridge Core website. Please refer and adhere to the style and image guidelines when preparing your manuscript.

Your submission should also include the following items:

• a short abstract (up to 100 words)
• a short bio (up to 100 words) of all contributors
• five keywords

Publication Categories

The journal welcomes submissions in one of three peer-reviewed research categories, as detailed below (click on arrow to expand):

Research Article

Original pieces of research up to 10,000 words. Each submission goes through at least two double-blind peer reviews before publication.

Research Note

Shorter research pieces of approximately 3,000 words based on original research and recent scholarly publications. Their goal is to expose our readership to the most recent scholarship in the field and connect it with larger current debates in Japanese or Asian studies. Each submission goes through at least one single-blind peer review before publication.

Analysis

Analysis by experts in their fields connecting issues of current relevance to established scholarly literature to help readers more deeply understand these debates and events. Can be approximately 3,000 words. Each submission goes through at least one single-blind peer review before publication.

The journal also publishes Online Exclusives on our website in the following category (click on arrow to expand):

Reflections & Insights

Author perspectives on issues spanning current events, research topics, and pedagogy, of approximately 3,000 words. Each submission goes through editorial review before publication. Submissions should be sent directly to [email protected] and not submitted through the ScholarOne Manuscripts portal.

Peer Review

All submissions are peer reviewed by the editorial team and specialists in the field, with differing processes depending on publication category as detailed above. Research Articles go through at least two double-blind peer reviews, while Research Notes and Analyses go through at least one single-blind peer review. Reviewers should have no conflict of interest, should advise authors of relevant published work and offer suggestions for strengthening their contributions, and should treat reviewed articles confidentially. Communication between authors and the journal are handled via the journal editors during the review process and following publication. Our peer review process is recognized by Ulrich’s Global Serial Directory.

Special Issues

APJJF also welcomes Special Issues. Special Issues are guest edited collections of articles on a single theme. Contact the editors at [email protected] with proposals for special issues including a brief introduction along with an outline and precis of the proposal.

After a proposal for a Special Issue is accepted, the guest editor(s) is responsible for communication with APJJF coeditors and curating the issue in terms of meeting deadlines, vetting and ensuring the quality of manuscripts, confirming that each adheres to the APJJF style guide, and finally submitting all completed manuscripts to the APJJF coeditors. After submission of all manuscripts, the guest editor(s) will collaborate with APJJF coeditors to identify external double-blind peer-reviewers. If the issue includes translations of non-English scholarship, please consult APJJF coeditors prior to submission.

Translation

One goal of APJJF is to make the Japanese intellectual world more visible and accessible to English-reading audiences. If you would like to suggest an original or previously published article or essay in Japanese to be translated into English, please send your proposal (including rationale) and the original text to [email protected]. The editorial team will determine next steps and be back in touch.

Copyright

Copyright of all published articles remains in the possession of the author. APJJF publishes all content under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. For details, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.

Reprinting

Articles at Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus are published under a Creative Commons license. Permission is granted to forward electronically to others and to post Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus texts for non-commercial purposes following Creative Commons guidelines, provided they are reproduced intact and the source indicated and linked. To publish Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus content in electronic, print or other forms, including course use, contact us at [email protected]. We request that requests be made to the editors at the same address to reprint articles from the Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus and that reprints include the source of the original publication and a hot link or bibliographical citation of the original author, title and journal.

Archiving

All articles published at the journal since its inception in 2002 and including current issues, are available online at no charge.

Publication Timeline

Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus is published monthly, that is, 12 issues per year.

We take pride in the speed and rigor of our peer-review process. From date of acceptance, articles will normally be published within 1-2 months, depending on how much time is necessary for review, editing, and production.

Authors can expect to reach a large global audience with concentrations of readers across the Asia-Pacific, including East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific, North America, Europe, and beyond. As a contributor to APJJF, you will find yourself in the company of authors rigorously addressing the most urgent issues in contemporary and historical affairs in the region and globally.