FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Does Monumenta Nipponica give special emphasis to certain areas of Japanese studies?
No. MN welcomes contributions from all areas of Japanese studies, both premodern and modern.
Q: Can manuscripts be submitted for consideration at any time?
Yes. The journal welcomes submissions of article manuscripts at any time. The editors read and consider all manuscripts promptly upon receipt, and those potentially suitable for publication are sent out to referees for a full, double-blind review.
Q: Will I know at the time of submission when my article will appear in the journal if it is accepted?
No, and unfortunately this is difficult to predict. We accept submissions on a rolling basis, and articles are not slated for publication in a particular issue of the journal until they have been accepted for publication and editing is under way.
Q: What is the usual time lag between submission of a manuscript and completion of the review process?
MN’s double-blind, peer review process is generally completed within several months.
Q: Can I submit my manuscript to MN and to another journal simultaneously?
No. MN does not review manuscripts that are under consideration for publication elsewhere. For further details, see our “Instructions for Article Authors.”
Q: An early draft of a manuscript I wish to submit to MN for consideration is available on academia.edu. Will MN still consider it?
No. MN will not consider manuscripts that appear online in substantially the same form, even if the versions are not identical.
Q: Does MN publish translations?
Yes. Translations are one of the journal’s hallmarks, with several hundred published as of 2022. We do not, however, publish translations as stand-alone pieces. All translations must be accompanied by a critical introduction drawing on primary and secondary sources in both Japanese and other languages.
Q: What is a “review article”?
From time to time, MN publishes so-called review articles. These pieces, generally somewhat shorter than full-length articles, provide a survey of some of the leading scholarship concerning a particular topic or subfield; as such, they form a hybrid category between articles and book reviews.
Q: According to your “Instructions for Article Authors,” MN “recommends that submissions be under 20,000 words.” Does this constitute either an upper or a lower limit on length?
No. Submissions of varying lengths are given full consideration, provided they consist of an in-depth analysis of their subject matter and make extensive use of a wide range of primary and secondary sources selected from scholarship in Japanese and in English or other languages.
Q: Should I include kanji in my manuscript at the time of submission?
Yes. Including kanji at the outset for Japanese and other East Asian names and terms is helpful.
Q: Does MN welcome contact from scholars wishing to review particular books in their area of specialty?
No. MN does not accept unsolicited offers to review particular books. Publishers should send information about books to be considered for review to the MN office.
Q: Does MN accept advertising?
Yes. Details are available here.
