Taylor & Francis
Prepare your manuscript for Anthropology Southern Africa.
Review the checklist, choose your article type, and turn your draft into a cleaner submission package.
Checked 2026-08-01
Article types
Review
Editorial
Research Article
Book Review
Systematic Review
Letter
Lectio
Readiness requirements
Review the key details below, or download the complete checklist with every stored source-backed requirement.
Abstract length
- Research Article: Format of manuscripts Research articles should be no longer than 8 000 words (including the abstract, all figures, references and notes).
- Abstracts and keywords: Articles and short communications require an abstract and keywords.
Keywords
- Each contribution must include between five and seven keywords.
- Each contribution must include six to eight keywords.
Reference style
- Articlo formats your supplied references to the journal's stored style and checks that citations match the reference list; source validity is not verified.
- Layout Manuscripts should be uploaded as two documents: • a complete manuscript with full author details (name, affiliation, email address, ORCID identifier if used, full acknowledgements and funding information if required); • a fully anonymised manuscript: delete all author details; remove identification of author(s) in the document properties; replace references by the authors in the reference list with the text “Author 1”, “Author 2”, etc., and adjust the associated in-text references; delete the acknowledgements and funding information.
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- Acknowledgements, notes and a reference list should be placed at the end of the article.
- In-text references: References to publications should be included in the text, not in footnotes.
- A declaration must be included within the submission stating: Confirmation the authors take full responsibility for the integrity of the whole content, including accuracy of references.
Figure and table rules
- Keep every figure and table numbered, captioned, and cited in the manuscript. Keep figures embedded; Articlo also extracts numbered source files for the package.
- Photographs and other figures should be submitted as separate files saved (in order of preference) in PSD, JPEG, or PDF format.
Funding statement
- Add or confirm the author-written Funding statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
- You should declare only the acquired funds and grants that are directly relevant to the work reported in your article; for example, This work was supported by the [Funding Agency #1] under Grant [number xxxx]; [Funding Agency #2] under Grant [number xxxx]; and [Funding Agency #3] under Grant [number xxxx].
Competing interests
- Include or confirm the competing interests required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.
Cover letter
- Include or confirm the cover letter required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.
Title page and author information
- Provide the author, affiliation, and correspondence details for the separate title page; Articlo creates the editable companion file.
- Include full contact details of the corresponding author.
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- Book Review: For articles, book reviews and short communications: the first page (in the case of articles, the title page) must contain the following, in sequence: - Title of the contribution: Titles must not be longer than 15 words, and must contain sufficient information for use in title lists or for coding purposes to store or retrieve information. - The surname and initials of every author. - The name and complete postal address of the university/institution of each author. - Current e-mail address of the first author if this differs from the first author’s institutional e-mail address.
Article structure and word limits
- 200 words must reflect the contents of the text faithfully and concisely, and be suitable for separate publication and indexing.
- 150 words must reflect the contents of the text faithfully and concisely, and be suitable for separate publication and indexing.
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- They should be given by the name of the author, the year of publication, and the page number, e.g.: “. as Sapir has noted (1921, 39).” Book Baderoon, G.
- Commentaries should be up to 3 000 words.
- Review: These instructions will ensure we have everything required so your paper can move through peer review, production and publication smoothly.
- Your research funder or your institution may require you to publish your article open access.
- Use our APC finder to view the APC for this journal.
- Authors are not expected to pay for their articles themselves, but should approach their university to do so on their behalf.
- Supervisors should do so on behalf of their postgraduate students.
- Submission: Papers should be in Microsoft Word compatible format.
- Abstracts of short communications must be limited to one or two sentences.
- A declaration must be included within the submission stating: Originality and accuracy of content has been confirmed by the authors.
- Authors must provide full methodological details and adhere to relevant reporting guidelines where applicable.
- Authors must retain the original and revised versions which must be shared upon request.
- The PLSP guidelines for authors must be followed at all times.
- Text: Pages must be numbered sequentially.
- All papers are submitted to at least two referees for evaluation.
- MS Office files (Word, Powerpoint, Excel) are also acceptable but do not embed these in your manuscript – send the original files.
Reporting guidelines
- Include or confirm the reporting guidelines required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.
Artificial intelligence disclosure
- Add or confirm the author-written Artificial intelligence statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
- Please include a statement disclosing whether and how generative AI has been used in the research and manuscript preparation process.
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- Use of AI tools as part of ethical research studies is permitted.
- A declaration must be included within the submission stating: The name and version number of the AI tool used.
- Systematic Review: Use of AI tools as part of ethically conducted literature reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analysis and bibliometrics studies is permitted.
- Use of AI tool assisted plain language summaries (PLS) of authors own work is permitted.
- Please read our guidance on using AI tools in your research and manuscript preparation to understand scenarios where their use may be permissible, and the required information that must be disclosed.
- A declaration must be included within the submission stating: Confirmation the authors have checked terms of use for the specific AI tool used, and therefore confirm suitability for publication.
Article type and manuscript length
- Book Review: Book reviews should not exceed 1 500 words and must include: name and surname of author, date of publication, book title, place of publication, publisher and ISBN number.
Language and text style
- Style guidelines Manuscripts should be written in clear English (UK spelling) with –ise endings.
- Authors are also responsible for the accuracy of language, grammar and syntax, etc., of their contributions and must be prepared to have the language editing of their contributions done independently if necessary.
Manuscript structure
- Headings should not be numbered or underlined, but main headings and secondary headings must be distinguished from each other, e.g. by case, bold, font, etc. Avoid footnotes, although endnotes may be used.
- Authors must retain full records of the methods undertaken, including full descriptions and records of the prompts used, which must be shared with the journal upon request.
Study reporting guidelines
- Authors must provide full methodological details and adhere to relevant reporting guidelines where applicable (e.g. CONSORT-AI, STARD-AI, GAMER, TRIPOD-AI, etc).
What your package checks
Paper: 8,000 words
Title page: separate file
Declarations: Funding, Acknowledgements, Artificial intelligence
Source transparency
This preparation guide uses published journal-specific author requirements. Journal instructions can change, so authors should complete a final review before submission.
Open official guideline source