Writing for BIOS Publications

The following notes have been prepared to help potential authors of material for publication in the Journal or the Reporter. The Notes for Contributors relate particularly to the Journal. The Reporter is a less formal publication but, where appropriate, the same guidance should be followed. 

NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS (2024)

1. Timetable

Journal

1.0 The Journal is an annual, scholarly, peer-reviewed publication. Contributors are encouraged to propose material that includes original research in areas relevant to the Aims of BIOS [http://www.bios.org.uk/]. Please contact the Publications Officer [publications@bios.org.uk] to suggest a topic for publication. By convention each issue of the Journal has a different editor. The Publications Officer will put contributors in touch with the editor of the year for their contribution. 

The Journal appears in the early autumn. 

1.1 Material must be submitted by 31 December of the year preceding intended publication.

1.2 Unless otherwise agreed in advance, page proofs must be returned within fourteen days of their submission to authors, and the right is reserved to infer approval if not so returned. Corrections can be made in electronic form or on a hard copy, in red ink and not in pencil. Standard proof-correction marks, a copy of which can be obtained online or on request from the editor/publisher, should be used throughout.

Reporter

1.3 The Reporter is published quarterly in February, May, August and November. Copy for inclusion in the next edition of the Reporter should be sent to the Editor by post or e-mail by the 15th of the month prior to publication. Photos should be in JPEG format and sent as separate attachments.

1.4 The Reporter is able to carry shorter articles on a broad range of relevant subjects, and contributors are strongly encouraged to contact the Editor (listed in the front of the Reporter) or the Publications Officer to offer material that they consider may be of interest.

2. Submissions

2.1 Text matter should be submitted as an MS-Word file, preferably as an attachment to an email or using a file-sharing website. 

2.3 All illustrations (music examples, tables, diagrams and photographs) should be supplied electronically, at high resolution, as separate PDFs, JPEG images, or TIFF files, and should NOT be incorporated in the Word text file. They should be clearly identified, with word-processed captions in a separate file. (The text matter should indicate where illustrations are to be included).

2.4 Permission for the reproduction of illustrations should be secured from the authority concerned and reproduction fees should be paid by the author. The appropriate wording or credit line should be included with the illustration captions, together with the photographer’s name, if known.

2.5 Whether or not an article is accepted for publication is a matter for the Publications Officer/Editor and we regret that correspondence cannot be entered into.

2.6 LENGTH: Journal articles should AVERAGE about 10,000 words. Please notify the Editor and/or Publications officer well in advance if you think your article will be significantly under or over this target. Illustrations are welcome; the word length for an article might be shorter if there are a lot of illustrations. A longer article is welcome, but has to be weighed by the editor against the length of the other articles. The final length of the BIOS Journal is 192-208 printed pages. The editor is responsible for the careful balancing act at the time of submission: if an article is late, it may be rejected if other articles have come in on time but are perhaps long. 

3. Annotations

3.1 FOOTNOTES/ENDNOTES. Please use the ‘insert footnote [endnote]’ function of MS Word. Notes must be placed at the end of each essay and not at the feet of the pages to which they respectively relate. (If the above-mentioned MS Word function is used, this is easy to arrange.) Numbers indicating notes should be placed after rather than before punctuation marks and ordinarily should not be enclosed in parenthesis. Do not use multiple numbers in a row in a single citation. 

Footnote numbers should be placed at the end of sentences where possible, and not in the middle; and also at the end of quotations, not before. 

Footnotes should be numbered sequentially, and not out of order (for example, even if text from an earlier footnote is relevant at a later point in the text, the earlier footnote number should not be re-used in the later place. It can be referred to in a new footnote, as ‘See note xy’, or as op.cit., or ibid.  (see below, 3.4)

All footnotes should end in a full-stop. 

3.2 Books are cited as follows: 

[author’s surname], [author’s first forename, or initial letter(s) of author’s forename(s)], [title in italics] ([place of publication]: [publisher’s name], [year of publication]), [page or pages referred to, without ‘page’ or ‘p.’ prefix]. Thus:

Thistlethwaite, N. J., The making of the Victorian organ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 295.

3.3 Articles are cited as follows:

[author surname], [author’s first forename, or initial letter(s) of author’s forename(s)], [article title enclosed in inverted commas], [journal title in italics, e.g., The Organ, or accepted abbreviation, e.g., JBIOS, BIOSRep, etc.] [volume number of journal, in Roman or Arabic numerals, as appropriate] [(year of volume)], [page span of article], [page referred to]. Thus:

Williams, Peter, ‘Playing and studying Bach–where next?’, JBIOS 24 (2000), 80–92, 81.

3.4 The op. cit. and ibid. conventions are used to indicate, respectively, a previous (but not the preceding) citation under the author’s name, and a directly preceding citation. They are set in Roman, not italic, and the first letter is capitalized only when it begins the footnote. The word [sic], used in a quote when the original text has a misspelling or other error. It is italicized, and enclosed in square brackets. 

3.5 Websites and online articles are cited as follows:

[author surname], [author’s first forename, or initial letter(s) of author’s forename(s)], [article or webpage title enclosed in inverted commas], [publishing organization or name of website in italics], [publication date and/or access date if available], <URL>.

4. Numbers

In the context of continuous prose, numbers smaller than 10 should generally be given in words. Four-figure and larger numbers should have commas, e.g., 1,000, 10,000, etc., with the obvious exceptions of dates, library numbers, etc. Eighteenth century, nineteenth century, etc., are preferred to 18th century, 19th century, etc.

5. Measurements

5.1 Dimensions must be given in metres or where more appropriate in millimetres. Where articles relate to British organbuilding at a time when imperial measurements were universally employed, it may be more helpful to express wind pressures, etc., in inches, followed by their approximate metric equivalents, e.g., 10 inches (250mm).

5.2 In text the designation 8′ is preferred to 8ft, 8ft., 8-ft, 8-foot, 8-feet, and other variants. In stop-lists or specifications the foot-mark (‘) should be omitted.

6. Pitch

6.1 The Cs on a conventional five-octave keyboard are referred to thus: C – c – c¹ – c² – c³ – c⁴. The note a fifth above c¹ is thus g¹. The note a fourth below C is GG.

The compasses of an organ with manuals comprising the usual five octaves and a thirty–note pedalboard may be given as 

C – f¹ – c⁴.

6.2 Where there are solid reasons for using such descriptions as ‘Tenor C’, ‘Middle C’, ‘Treble C’, etc., they should be annotated appropriately, for the avoidance of ambiguity.

6.3 Where reference is made to a pipe rather than to a key forming part of a keyboard, care should be taken to avoid ambiguity. The longest pipe of a four-foot Principal is thus the c pipe, although played by depressing C. We do not wish to be unduly prescriptive in this area; authors are encouraged to recognise potential sources of ambiguity and to adopt their own elegant solutions.

7. House-style

The preceding paragraphs deal with several aspects of this; other aspects are as follows:

7.1 Abbreviations

Where the last letter is the same in both the abbreviated and unabbreviated forms, a full stop is not employed, e.g., Dr, Ltd, Mr, Revd, St, but Co., Prof., e.g., i.e., etc.

7.2 Ampersands

Their use should be restricted to business and commerce. So Norman & Beard Ltd, but Clutton and Niland, Mr and Mrs, etc.

7.3 Apostrophes

Where an apostrophe denotes possession, the owner’s name is followed by an apostrophe and an ‘s’, even where the owner’s name ends with an ‘s’, e.g., St James’s, Whitehaven; Howells’s Master Tallis’s Testament. 

7.4 Churches

‘Doncaster, St George’ is preferred to ‘St George’s, Doncaster’ ‘, ‘St George’s Church, Doncaster’ and other variants. Note the use of upper case in ‘Doncaster Parish Church’. Please ensure that a reference to a church is always specific and not capable of misunderstanding (e.g. Churchtown Church or Churchtown Parish Church).

7.5 Compositions

Where the title of a work is descriptive of the formal procedures used by the composer, italics are not employed, e.g., Sonata in E flat major, BWV 525; Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532; Introduction and Passacaglia in D minor, etc. Where, however, a title is fanciful, e.g., Pari intervallo, Le jardin suspendu, Les Anges, Choral, italics are employed, and this applies also to titles which are Italian terms, e.g., Adagio in E major, Moderato in F major, etc.

7.6 Dates

1 January 2000 is preferred to 1st January 2000; January 1st, 2000; and other variants.

7.7 Hyphens

Contributors are asked to note their use in compound adjectives, e.g., mid-nineteenth-century organ, twentieth-century repertoire, two-manual organ, etc. Organbuilder/building, stoplist, pedalboard, and drawknob are all single words, not hyphenated. Latin phrases such as ad hoc, non sequitur, magnum opus and multum in parvo should not be hyphenated.

7.8 Italics

It is not necessary to italicise such things as e.g., etc., ibid., i.e., op. cit., or non-English words and phrases which are part of the fabric of English, e.g., per annum, per cent, data, agenda, etc. Other non-English words should be italicised, and German nouns, such as Rückpositiv, Schwimmer, Kegellade, Orgelbewegung, etc., should always begin with a capital letter. By convention, the Latin circa (used in relation to dates, never in relation to quantities) is always italicised and usually abbreviated to c. Thus, c.1700 (with no space after the full point).

7.9 Quotations

Short quotations in the text should be placed within ‘single’ quotation marks. Quotations within a quotation should be in “double” quotation marks. Lengthy quotations should be set apart from the main body of text by means of indenting, and an extra line space before and after. Extracts treated in this way do not need to be enclosed in quotation marks (and therefore any quotations within them should be in single quotation marks).

7.10 Captions and referrals to illustrations: 

which terms should be used and when (and which not to be used)

• Figure (Default)
• Plate (Not used) 
• Illustration —(not used–use Drawing instead) 
• Drawing (for a hand-drawn picture)
• Example (used for typeset musical excerpts)
• Table (self-explanatory)
• Usage in a caption:
  • Abbreviated (Fig. or Figure) 
  • Capitalised or lowercase? capitalised 
  • colon, fullstop, em-dash, etc.?: If used as a label, followed by a colon. If used in a sentence, by a comma. For example: “Fig. 1: organ in St Mary’s Bishopbashopbop”; OR “in Fig. 1 we see the difference in treatment of facade pipes…” 

Usage in a cross-ref:

• Full or abbreviated (Fig. or Figure) (see Fig. 1) 
• Capitalised or lowercase: capitalised
• In a picture caption, when referring to an organ, the first is preferable to the second: ‘The organ of Christ Church, Oxford. Rieger 19xx (author’s photo).’ Or ‘Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Rieger organ (19xx). Photo by author.’ Consistency within the article is the most important consideration. 

8. Stoplists

8.1 Each department should be set out in a column with its heading in capitals, e.g., GREAT. It is not necessary to add the word organ. If the compass is known, it should be placed next to the heading. Within each department, stops should be listed in ascending order of pitch, with flues first and reeds second.  Within each pitch category e.g., 16′, 8′, 4′, etc., the order is diapasons (or principals), flutes, strings and undulants.

Thus: 

SWELL (C – g³) PEDAL (C – f¹)

Open Diapason 8 Open Diapason 16

Stopped Diapason 8 Bourdon 16

Dulciana 8 Violone 16

Vox Angelica 8 Flute 8

8.2 Mixture compositions, where known, should be given; thus, Mixture, 15.19.22 is preferred to Mixture III, Mixture 2′, Mixture 3rks, and other variants. Where a mixture includes duplicated ranks, or the number of ranks increases from bass to treble, authors should make this clear.

8.3 Tremulants and other accessories should be listed after the stops of the department to which they relate. Couplers may be listed in a separate column.

8.4 Compasses, pitch, and wind-pressures should be given, where known.

8.5 Notwithstanding paragraphs 8.1 to 8.4, organbuilders’ house-styles for stop-lists should be scrupulously adhered to, as should any idiosyncrasies of spelling, e.g., Salcional, Sesquialtra.

9. Further information

Those with further questions about house style should either consult recent volumes of the Journal, or contact the BIOS Publications Officer.

For questions of general English usage please refer to Hart’s Rules, or New Hart’s Rules: The Oxford Style Guide  (2014) 

10. Copyright

Material offered for publication should be unique to BIOS. The original content of each essay remains the copyright of the Author. The layout and appearance of the published version, in the form of the BIOS Journal, is the copyright of the British Institute of Organ Studies, and should not be reproduced without permission. The layout and appearance of material in the Reporter is the copyright of BIOS. 

If Authors wish to use or publish the whole or part of their essays elsewhere they should inform the Publications Officer of this, and make reference to the first publication of their paper (with JBIOS volume number and date) in the new edition.

GUIDANCE FOR REVIEWERS

BIOS is pleased to review books and recordings in its annual Journal and quarterly Reporter. Publishers who would like to see material reviewed are encouraged to contact the Review Editor (david.knight@smvl.org.uk). The Review Editor is always pleased to receive suggestions of publications for review. To avoid any embarrassment, for example by two reviews of the same publication being produced, reviewers are asked to follow the simple guidance below. It is the decision of the editors of the Journal/Reporter and the Review Editor where a review appears.

• Check with the Review Editor if the title is already under review, and confirm that a review by BIOS is appropriate.
• There is a preference for reviews of say 500 words or so, rather than a longer review article. If a publication strongly recommends itself for a longer piece, agree this in advance with the Review Editor.
• Priority will be given to material that is most closely related to the aims of BIOS.
• Each review should include biographical data. For books the author’s full name, title, date and place of publication, ISBN, extent and retail price. An analogous approach should be taken to printed music and CDs.

Dr Katharine Pardee
Publications Officer
August 2024