Guideline for Contributors

On average Renditions receives some thirty unsolicited manuscripts a year. We welcome your contributions and the following notes are for your guidance. All contributors are asked to take note and follow the suggestions as far as possible.

I.	Publishing schedule
II.	Requirements
III.	House style
IV.	English usage
V.	Romanization and translation of Chinese names and terms
VI.	Chinese characters
VII.	Citations of Chinese sources and scholarly works

I.	Publishing schedule

Stage 1:	A submitted manuscript is refereed by anonymous academic reviewers with translation experience. It may be recommended for publication subject to revision. Note: average reporting time for unsolicited manuscripts is four months.
Stage 2:	The translator is advised of acceptance or rejection of the manuscript.
Stage 3:	Translator sends a revised translation after considering the referees' recommendations.
Stage 4:	Checking and editing by Renditions editors.
Stage 5:	Translator considers suggestions from the editors and sends in a final version.
Stage 6:	Final checking by the editors.
Stage 7:	Further minor changes, if any. Note: average time from acceptance of translations, through editing to actual publication, is eighteen months.

II.	Requirements

1.	A brief biography (not more than a hundred words) of the author and the translator should accompany the translation.
2.	Photographs and illustration material are welcome.
3.	In the case of some translations an introduction may be desirable in order to provide background, information on the author etc. Such introductions ought to be brief, from one paragraph to a couple of pages.
4.	Two copies of Chinese text and translation text should be provided to facilitate refereeing. These copies will not be returned to the translator unless a request is made at initial submission.
5.	Chinese characters must be provided for all personal names and titles of works mentioned in the introduction and notes, as well as brief biographies of author and translator.
6.	Permissions for all copyrighted material should be dealt with by the translator at the earliest possible stage.
7.	References and wording of quotations should be checked to ensure accuracy.
8.	All the material published in Renditions is copyrighted by The Chinese University of Hong Kong. However, authors and translators are entitled to reprint the material in a book of his or her own provided the Research Centre for Translation is given prior notice.
9.	Translators must provide full bibliographic data on the source text. Those data will be listed at the end of the issue along with the notes on authors and contributors. Romanization and Chinese characters must be provided for all cited work.

III.	House style

British spelling and punctuation are used throughout: see the Oxford English Dictionary for guidance.

The Renditions house style is based on New Hart's Rules (2005), The Chicago Manual of Style (2003), and the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors (2005). Translators of plays may get guidelines on formatting from the Renditions editor.

Please note that Renditions contributors may choose whether or not to use the 'Oxford comma' before 'and' and 'or' to separate the last item in a list, i.e. either 'x, y, and z' or 'x, y and z'. Cf New Hart's Rules, p. 71.

For guidance on syllable separation see the Oxford Colour Spelling Dictionary (1996).

For numbers and dates see The Chicago Manual of Style.

Please note:

	OK: not O.K. or Okay
	Mr, Mrs, Dr: no full stop

Quotations within paragraphs and the titles of short works (single poems, short stories, one-act plays etc.) should be enclosed within single quotation marks. Use double quotation marks for quotations that occur within quotations.

Dialogue between characters should be within single quotation marks, and each change of speaker should be indicated by a new paragraph.

Quoted matter from other works that is longer than a few lines should be given as indented material, without quotation marks.

Use square brackets [ ] for insertions into translated text, e.g. 'Lin'an [modern Hangzhou]'.

IV.	English usage

No particular translation style is required in Renditions, but the translation must be accurate and, unless otherwise stated, complete. Attention should be paid to the use of correct grammar and punctuation unless for stylistic reasons a more colloquial or other non-standard register is appropriate.

Nationally distinctive idioms (US, Australian, Scottish, etc.) are acceptable if used consistently within the translation item, as long as the meaning is transparent.

Where the source text has specialized terms, especially in regard to aspects of Chinese culture, generally accepted English equivalents should be used. Many such terms are widely known and provide local colour, e.g. catty, wok, cadre, Politburo. Hong Kong and Asian English terms may be used where appropriate at the translator's discretion, e.g. shroff, praya, tiffin, joss sticks.

Specialized terms that are excessively technical or stylistically inappropriate, e.g. 'Yellow Thearch' for Huangdi 黃帝, are best avoided. If a translator insists on their use, they should be explained in an introduction or a glossary.

Translators are urged to avoid notes to translated fiction, poetry and drama. The preferred options are text expansion (if it can be done tactfully), introductions or glossaries.

V.	Romanization and translation of Chinese names and terms

Chinese terms should normally be romanized and in italics. Chinese terms that have become part of the English language need not be italicized, e.g. yin-yang, dim sum. If a translation or explanation is needed, it is best provided in an introduction, in a glossary, or in notes. Notes should be kept short.

The romanization system for general use is Hanyu Pinyin (HYPY). However, the general rule for romanizing the names of people and places is to follow personal and local preference; hence, Taipei (not Taibei), Chiang Kai-shek, Ngan Shun Kau (not Yan Chungou). Names of Chinese authors are spelled according to their own preference wherever feasible (not Lusun for Lu Xun). If no strong preference for a particular spelling is indicated, HYPY should be used.

Post Office spelling (Peking, Yangtze River) may be used if deemed appropriate.

Names of fictitious Chinese places and persons should normally be given in HYPY except where the context makes another system of romanization more appropriate.

Names of people, places and terms that are not Han Chinese should if possible be transcribed according to their own languages (Sanskrit, Manchu etc.). Example: Aisin Gioro, not Aixin Jueluo. However: Guanyin, not Avalokitesvara.

Designations of administrative units, such as province and county, should only be added after place names where this is useful to the reader. The unit should begin with a lower-case initial. In most cases they can be omitted, except where they occur as part of a two-syllable unit (Guanxian 灌縣).

Names of institutions and official titles should normally be translated rather than romanized. Translations should follow generally accepted practice, unless the translator feels a standard translation is so misleading as to be unacceptable. Example: translate zhixian 知縣 as (county) magistrate.

In introductions and other explanatory text, titles of books, journals and articles, on their first appearance, are given in HYPY followed by Chinese characters and English translation within round parentheses (but square brackets are used around the translations in bibliographic references in notes—see below). If mentioned subsequently, the English translation should be used. In translated texts book titles etc. should normally be translated into English. For word aggregation and other rules of HYPY spelling, follow the rules in Appendix 1 in John DeFrancis, ed., ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003) and the practice of that dictionary and recent dictionaries from Mainland China.

VI.	Chinese characters

Chinese characters are not added after romanized names or other terms in the translated texts. In introductions and notes, unlike the translations, Chinese characters (full-form) should be added immediately after romanization in the following cases:

	Romanized Chinese terms (in italics), e.g. menglongshi 朦朧詩 (obscure poetry). Chinese characters need not be added after Chinese terms that have become part of the English language.
	Names of people and deities, designations of emperors, and reign titles, e.g. Su Shi 蘇軾, Eileen Chang 張愛玲, Mazu 媽祖, Taizong 太宗, the Yongzheng 雍正 reign.
	Titles of books, journals, and shorter works.

Chinese characters normally need not be provided for place names, dynasties, and names of fictitious characters.

VII.	Citations of Chinese sources and scholarly works

Full source references should be given in notes. There will normally be no separate bibliography. Citations of Chinese books, journals and articles are given in HYPY followed by Chinese characters, and translation in square brackets. Names of well-known journals and names of publishers need not have Chinese characters. 'Chubanshe' may be left out in names of publishers.

Examples:

	Zhang Cixi 張次溪, ed., Qingdai Yandu Liyuan shiliao 清代燕都梨園史料 [Historical materials on opera circles in Qing dynasty Beijing], 2 vols (Beijing: Zhongguo xiju, 1988)
	Xi Chuan 西川, 'Guanyu shixue zhong de jiu ge wenti' 關於詩學中的九個問題 [On nine issues in poetics], Shanhua 山花 (1995:12).