The Asian Vision Institute (AVI) is an independent, multi-disciplinary think tank based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We publish a variety of publications online, including our flagship magazine-Mekong Connect.

AVI welcomes unsolicited submissions for our online publications. Manuscripts for AVI commentaries, Policy Briefs, and Perspectives can be sent via email attachment, as a Microsoft Word file, to the Editor for consideration at [email protected].

For citation and referencing style, please prepare your manuscript according to author-date bibliography system (from page 4) of the Chicago Manual Citation Style 16^th Edition, which can be downloaded here.

Please also include a one or two sentence summary of your manuscript that will serve as a caption on social media.

Materials accepted for publication will need to be brought into line with the following conventions.

A. AVI publication categories and their word limits

1. A typical length for AVI Commentary articles should be between 800 – 900 words.

• Style as an analytic op-ed;
• Focus should be on policy implications (i.e. policy avenues or recommendations); and
• Topics pertinent to Cambodia/Mekong/ASEAN/Asia.

2. Manuscripts for AVI Policy Briefs should be approximately 2,000 words. This limit includes tables, references, figure captions, and footnotes.

• Should include an executive summary section in both English and Khmer;
• Focus should be on providing more in-depth contexts than commentaries; and
• Topics pertinent to Cambodia/Mekong/ASEAN/Asia.

3. Manuscripts for AVI Perspectives should be approximately 4,000 words. This limit includes tables, references, figure captions, and footnotes.  

• Should include an executive summary section in both English and Khmer;
• Focus should be on providing an original argument and an insightful analysis of topical issues; and
• Topics pertinent to Cambodia/Mekong/ASEAN/Asia.

B. Formatting the manuscripts

Font

Use Times New Roman font in size 12 with 1.5 spacing.

Margins

Margins should be 2.5cm (1 inch).

Title

Use bold for your article title, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.

Headings

Please follow this guide to show the level of the section headings in your article:

1. First-level headings (e.g. Introduction, Conclusion) should be in bold, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
2. Second-level headings should be in bold italics, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
3. Third-level headings should be in italics, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
4. Fourth-level headings should be in bold italics, at the beginning of a paragraph. The text follows immediately after a full stop (full point) or other punctuation mark.
5. Fifth-level headings should be in italics, at the beginning of a paragraph. The text follows immediately after a full stop (full point) or other punctuation mark.

C. Spelling 

Please follow British spelling conventions as found in the Oxford series of dictionaries with the exception of material in a direct quote, which should follow the original source.

D. Capitalization 

For titles of books or articles written in languages using the Roman alphabet, capitalize the first word of the title plus the first word after a colon or semi-colon, as well as any proper nouns. In transcribing from languages written in non-Roman scripts, capitalize only proper nouns. When in doubt, do not capitalize. 

E. Italics 

Words of non-English origin should be italicised and followed by their English translations in square brackets. Do not italicise terms that have been incorporated into the English language. Avoid italicising words for emphasis. 

F. Inverted Commas/Quotation marks 

Use double inverted commas to indicate quoted material within a quotation. All punctuation used in connection with phrases inside inverted commas must be placed according to the sense: if the punctuation marks are part of the material quoted, they should be placed inside the quotation marks; otherwise they should be placed outside the closing quotation marks. 

G. Quotations 

1. Fragmentary quotations must fit grammatically into the text in terms of syntax, verb tenses, personal pronouns, etc. 
2. Block quotations or extracts of more than forty words should be set off from the text by indenting them a few spaces in from the left-hand margin. Inverted commas are not placed around block quotations, and paragraph indentation for the first sentence of the quotation is unnecessary. If, however, the quotation consists of two or more paragraphs, the second and any subsequent paragraphs should begin with a paragraph indentation. Use font size 10 for block quotations. 

H. Brackets 

Use square brackets [ ] to enclose explanatory matter inserted into a verbatim quotation, or matter inserted to complete the meaning of a translation and intended to read as part of the translated text. The translation of the title of a book or article in a foreign language, if given, should be placed in square brackets after the original title. 

I. Ellipses 

For ellipses within a sentence use three full stops … and for ellipses at the end of a sentence use four full stops …. 

J. Numerals 

Numbers of less than two digits should be spelled out except in technical or statistical discussions involving their frequent use, or in footnotes where space saving is recommended. Fractional quantities are also expressed in figures. ‘Per cent’ is written as two words, and the symbol % should not be used, except in Tables. 

For dates in the main body of the text, use the following patterns: 

11 March 1999 

eighteenth (not 18th) century 

1990s (not 1990’s) 

the fifties 

K. Diagrams, Illustrations, Tables, Maps 

All figures and tables should be numbered consecutively. Titles should be put right above the figures and tables to identify them briefly. (Mixing of different kinds of information in one column is to be avoided; for example, put dollar amounts in one column, percentages in another, and so on). The source(s) of the information presented in a figure or table should be indicated immediately below it. Italicise the source(s) with font size 10.

L. Appendices 

Each appendix should start on a new page; appendices should be arranged in alphabetical sequence (Appendix A, B, C, …) and each should be given a title. 

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If you wish to be added to our mailing list in order to be notified of and receive the soft versions of our online publications, please send your details and organisational affiliations to [email protected]