SCGA publishes a diverse range of views and policy recommendations – all opinions expressed in our publications are those of the authors.
SCGA supports two types of in-house publications, which are typeset and prepared for printing. These publications follow a set format.
Publication Types
SCGA Insight (800-1700 words)
Insights are in-house SCGA publications intended as research-based but short outputs written for a policy and/or practitioner audience. They would not normally contain extensive academic references. The content should focus on Key Findings/Recommendations. These publications disseminate findings by projects and workshops supported by SCGA and other externally generated research. SCGA often produces Insights to accompany its Reports. Insights undergo a peer-review process managed by the Head of Operations.
SCGA Report (3000-10.000 words)
Reports are SCGA in-house publications of substantive research quality. They would normally present the state of the field and advances coming out of new research conducted by the author(s). They contain academic references and undergo a peer-review process managed by the Head of Operations. Reports would also contain Key Findings and Recommendations section, reflecting broader stakeholders compared to, for example, a journal article. Reports disseminate findings of major research projects funded by SCGA or other externally generated research. They are often accompanied by SCGA Insight summarising their key insights.
SCGA Showcase (100-200 words)
SCGA Showcase entries are summaries of recent policy relevant research on global affairs published by a researcher based in Scotland. They are a vehicle to publicise recently published articles or books with policy relevance. These summaries should be accessible to non-academic audiences and should include the following information:
- Article, book, or published report title; with link if available
- Key argument/question
- Why is this research important and how is it policy relevant?
- Key findings/conclusions
- What are the policy implications? (optional: any relevance to Scotland)
Showcase entries will be edited in-house to a standard format.
Format for Insights and Reports
Both SCGA Insight and SCGA Report follow an in-house format. They will be typeset for publication online and in print.
The general format of both types of publications is as follows:
- Cover page
- Front matter
- Summary
- Key findings and/or Recommendations
- Body/Text
- End matter
Cover page, front matter, end matter
Cover page, front matter and end matter will be prepared in cooperation with the Head of Operations. Author(s) should add front and end matter, as below (update all highlighted sections with relevant details of authors, organisations, thanks, etc). They should also provide the Head of Operations with any partner logos (e.g. funding bodies).
Summary
Each Insight/Report should contain a short summary (around 200 words). This will be included on the web page together with answers to the following three questions. The summary and key questions should be provided in a separate document.
- Why is the topic and the research question motivating the publication important/of interest?
- Who does it affect?
- What is the impact for Scotland?
Key Findings and/or Recommendations
Each Insight/Report should begin with a short key findings/recommendations section at the start. These should be short sentences listed as bullet-points.
Body/Text
Insight/Report content should be produced in a Word document. All text should be written in British English. Where relevant, please format all quotations in accordance with the Chicago style guide.
Subheadings are encouraged. For Reports, they be used to compile a contents page during production. Please include page numbers to assist with this.
Hyperlinks
We ask authors to hyperlink to online resources, including key publications affiliated to SCGA.
Referencing
Referencing for SCGA Insight is minimal, but allowed. SCGA Reports are fully referenced.
Please use an author-date style referencing system, preferably Chicago.
Please include a reference list (Chicago style) at the end of the report but before the end matter. Your references should be formatted as one alphabetically organised list.
End notes: In line with the Chicago style guide, you should not require footnotes or endnotes. Please liaise with the copy-editor if this is not possible for your report.
Photos
If you have any photos to include with your report, please send high-resolution files together with your content. Please name these according to the corresponding figure within the report. Please ensure you have the necessary permissions to use these photos.
Figures
Please indicate within the word document where you would like images/photographs/diagrams/graphs (figures) to be placed. Please include the figure title/ description as per the example report.
For questions, contact John Edward, SCGA Head of Operations at info@scga.scot
