AUTHOR GUIDELINES
The editors of The Robert Graves Review will consider scholarly articles on all aspects of the work and life of Robert Graves, as well as original poetry, and book reviews. Article lengths vary and should be appropriate to the topic. Please consult current and past issues for guidance. The Review will also publish short Notes highlighting some area of interest at the sole discretion of the Editor and are not peer reviewed. Articles and book reviews should conform to the Modern Humanities Research Association Style Guide: A Handbook for Authors, Editors, and Writers of Theses, 4th edn.
Please send completed essays by e-mail attachment in Microsoft Word to Michael Joseph at mjoseph@rutgers.edu.
We will not consider work that is under submission elsewhere or that has been published previously.
The Robert Graves Review uses a double-anonymous evaluation system: we will not share the identity of the author with the readers, nor the readers’ identities with the author.
We do not charge authors publication fees or article processing charges (APC).
Robert Graves Review online stylesheet, 3 June 2026
(emended 3 August 2025)
Beginning with the second number of the second volume, The Robert Graves Review will publish articles that adhere to the fourth edition of the MHRA Style Guide. Previous issues of The Robert Graves Review followed the Third Edition (2013). The Fourth Edition can be downloaded for free at https://www.mhra.org.uk/style/.
MHRA
Writers should thoroughly familiarize themselves with the style guide. Here are some of the major points:
Spelling: All spelling and punctuation follow the British style: humour not humor, anthologise, not anthologize, judgement, not judgment, etc. Because British and American styles have influenced each other, some formerly American spellings are now acceptable British spellings. To decide what we accept as British spellings, we use Word for Mac, which follows the decisions made by Microsoft. Microsoft licenses spellcheck dictionaries from Oxford University Press, for US users, the New Oxford American Dictionary; for U.K./Commonwealth users, the Oxford Dictionary of English. These dictionaries are descriptive: they record which spellings are in current usage, hence subject to change Microsoft’s software inherits what Oxford has marked as ‘preferred’, ‘variant’, or ‘archaic’.
Punctuation: A closing quotation mark precedes the endstop, except when the entirety of the quotation is separated from the rest of the sentence by a colon. In a quotation consisting only of standalone, the closing quote will follow the period. In quotations, as with spelling, we retain the punctuation used in the source.
(new) Previously we preferred an en dash set off by spaces to set off parenthetical statements, but with volume 2.2, we adopted the MHRA guideline and will use an em dash between spaces. We continue to use en dashes in number and date spans.
Within quotations, retain the spelling of the original source.
Endnotes: Endnotes are preferred to footnotes. Endnotes should generally contain only what is strictly necessary. They are intended primarily for documentation and for the citation of sources relevant to the text. They should not be used to provide additional bibliographical material on the general subject being treated, but which is not directly needed. Nor should they normally include extra expository material. Such material, if apposite and useful, is often better incorporated into the text or added as an appendix. Only after the most careful consideration should it be included in a note. If uncertain, please consult with editorial staff.
(new) Place of publication is no longer necessary in bibliographical citations. Formerly, (London: Cassell, 1945); now, (Cassell, 1945).
(new) When giving page numbers and spans for a journal article, p. and pp. are now required.
A quirk of earlier MHRA style was that it required ‘pp.’ for chapters in books but omitted it for journal articles. There was no special need for this distinction, which gave extra work to editors and proofreaders. Practice has been simplified by requiring ‘pp.’ for any run of pages, including journal articles (See https://www.mhra.org.uk/style/changes.html).
(new) Abbreviations for BC, BCE, AD, are represented in small caps. If your computer doesn’t produce small caps, please represent these date signifiers in a smaller font size (for 12 pt, use 10 ½). (See https://www.mhra.org.uk/style/changes.html.)
(new) Volume parts must now be included in citations, regardless of whether the pagination for the entire volume is continuous. Formerly, for the Robert Graves Review (which is paged continuously throughout the volume), a proper citation would include only the volume: The Robert Graves Review 1 (2025). Beginning in 2026, a citation for the same article should say The Robert Graves Review 1.1 (2025).
The Robert Graves Journal
Articles submitted to The Review should also observe the following:
Abstracts and Keywords: An abstract of the article and keywords are required. An abstract is a brief, self-contained summary of the article, which we precede with the word Abstract, in boldface. The purpose of an abstract is to provide a condensed overview of the entire paper, giving readers enough clarity to decide whether to read the full article. It also helps to support indexing in databases. An abstract must make sense on its own; a reader should grasp the main idea without having to read the full text. And the abstract should not be reproduced in the text.
Keywords follow the abstract, separated from the body of the abstract by one blank line. Keywords should represent the article’s central concepts or methodology. They should be words that appear in your abstract; they should be as specific as possible and aim for disciplinary specificity. Keywords are preceded by the word Keyword printed in boldface.
Abstract and keywords should be in 12-point Times New Roman.
Paragraphs: The initial paragraph and paragraphs following subdivisions should be flush left. All other paragraphs are indented one half inch.
Long Quotes or Blockquotes: Blockquotes should be indented one inch. They should not be marked in any other way (no change of colour or background colour) and set off by one space from lines above and below it.
Typeface and Weight Specifications: The Robert Graves Review publishes its print version in Times New Roman. However, beginning with the 2025 issue, the online journal will appear in Cardo, a typeface with notable similarities to Bembo, the roman letter cut in 1495 by punchcutter Francesco Griffo for the Venetian printer Aldo Manuzio also known as Aldus Manutius.
Please submit text in 12-point Time Roman
Endnotes appear in 11 point (not 10-point)
Blockquotes appear in 12-point, same as text.
Abstract and keywords appear in 12-point.
Subdivisions should be in boldface and in upper and lower case, unless these are quotations, in which case the subdivision should reflect the original source; Subdivisions should be separated from the previous text by two blank lines and from following text by one blank line
At the end of an article, the author should supply a biographical note that contains their name and a short biographical description. These are normally brief for identification purposes.
Quotations: The Robert Graves Review abides by laws and accepted practices governing intellectual property rights. While there is wide variation in the field, here are a few practical guidelines:
The United Kingdom & many Commonwealth countries recognize the concept of ‘Fair Dealing’. Under the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, ‘fair dealing’ allows quotes for criticism, review, reporting current events, research or private study, provided:
The amount quoted is proportionate, and
Proper acknowledgement is given (author and source), and
The use is noncommercial, and
It is fair in context (not excessive).
To adhere to this principle, please observe these restrictions. When quoting work in the public domain, there is no restriction on length of quotation. When quoting from other scholarly writing, there is no fixed word count, but small excerpts are allowable. If quoting more than one paragraph, permission is required. When quoting from a commercial work, for example a poem or a monograph, quotations of 250 words or fewer do not require permission. Longer quotations will only be allowed with explicit permission from copyright holder.
For context, Yale University Press warns that while up to 300 words of prose may fall under ‘fair use’, anything over that, or complete units of text, normally requires permission.
The University of Chicago Press offers a ‘rule of thumb’ that short prose extracts (no more than 200–300 words) and poetry lines (3–4 or even fewer) may qualify as fair use but longer excerpts generally require permission.
UBC Press publishes guidelines indicating authors should seek permission for prose excerpts over 300 words or poetry excerpts exceeding a stanza or 5% of the poem.
The Robert Graves Review Policy on the Use of Generative AI and Large Language Models
(adopted 10 August 2026)
The journal's publication-ethics standards are informed by the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Authors
Authors are responsible for ensuring their work is their own, that it is accurate, and it does not use the work of others without permission or attribution. Generative Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models can be used to augment human judgement rather than replace it.
Authors may use Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (CHatGPT, Claude, etc.) in the preparation of manuscripts, provided such use is transparent, responsible, and ethical. Use must be restricted to:
language editing
grammar improvement
reference formatting
minimal help refining research questions (“brainstorming”)
At the time of submission, authors must fully disclose their use of all content (whether text, images, data, or other) created by a GenAI tool within the acknowledgements section of the manuscript, and specify the name of the GenAI tool, the version used, and the general purpose of its application.
Failure to disclose the use of generative AI where disclosure is required constitutes a breach of the journal's publication-ethics standards and may result in rejection of the submission.
Similarly, misuse of GenAI tools, including the submission of papers that are entirely or largely generated by GenAI, will be considered unethical conduct and may result in rejection or retraction of the article.
In preparing a manuscript, authors must not upload any work they intend to publish with The Robert Graves Review, in full or in part, into any generative AI tool that does not permit them to opt out of re-use or training.
Avoid using tools that grant the provider rights to reproduce or repurpose your content.
The default setting on GenAI tools is to train, so turn off data training before uploading material into an AI tool. This is typically done by opting out through settings, as most offer data controls to prevent, or at least reduce, the use of your conversations for model training.
Ensure the terms of service do not restrict your own ability to re-use either the content you enter into the tool or its outputs.
Use of AI Tools by Reviewers
Reviewers must not use GenAI tools to generate reviews or input manuscript content into GenAI platforms without explicit authorization. If a reviewer wishes to use GenAI for non-content related tasks (e.g., grammar improvement of their review), they must ensure that no confidential information is shared and must disclose such use to the editor.
Editorial Use of GenAI Tools
Editorial staff may use GenAI to support non-decision-making tasks such as plagiarism detection, formatting checks, and language editing. However, GenAI tools will not be used to make acceptance or rejection decisions. All editorial judgements will be made by qualified human readers to ensure accountability and adherence to ethical standards.
Policy Review and Updates
This Policy will be reviewed regularly and updated as necessary to reflect technological advancements and evolving best practices in academic publishing.