Submissions

Author Guidelines

ART FRONTIER

Guidelines for Contributors

1. Journal Profile

ART FRONTIER is an international peer-reviewed art journal adopting a double-blind review system. It accepts original academic outputs covering global art history, visual iconography, cross-media creation, cultural heritage collection and art theory research. The journal publishes full-length research articles only. All arguments presented by contributors must be supported by physical artworks and visual primary sources. Manuscripts previously published, concurrently submitted to other journals, or purely translated works will not be accepted. Authors may refer to back issues of the journal to align their writing logic, and complete manuscripts should be delivered via the designated email address. Submitted works will be evaluated by the editorial team together with museum curators, cultural relic conservation specialists, art technology researchers and external academic experts.

2. Word Count & Illustration Standards

The total word count of manuscripts shall range from 4,000 to 8,000.

Mandatory image specifications: All visuals must be centered on the page with a resolution of 200–300 dpi. Figure captions are set in 10-point Times New Roman, left-aligned, and uniformly marked with the prefix Figure. Dimensions follow the sequence height × width × depth; vertical measurements represent height while horizontal measurements represent width for two-dimensional flat works. Centimeters serve as the preferred measurement unit, though inch notations provided by authors will be retained without revision.

3. Peer Evaluation Benchmarks

The editorial board and external referees assess all submissions against eight core evaluation criteria:

3.1 The content shall be accessible to both professional researchers and general readers with an interest in art history.

3.2 The research shall feature original perspectives, engage fully with existing academic literature, and raise research questions worthy of in-depth discussion.

3.3 The analytical framework shall adopt critical lenses or innovative research methodologies.

3.4 The writing shall maintain coherent logic, with plain-language explanations for technical terms and no obscure, redundant jargon.

3.5 The overall structure, layout of charts and images, and annotation system shall be clearly organized with distinct hierarchies.

3.6 All core arguments shall be built upon authentic artworks and visual source materials.

3.7 The research findings shall deliver tangible academic contributions to art history, iconography and museum studies.

3.8 The manuscript title and selected illustrations shall closely correspond to the core line of reasoning.

4. AI Usage Policy

The journal rejects any manuscripts whose full texts or all illustrative images are entirely generated by large language models or generative AI tools. AI programs may only be utilized for large-scale statistical data research. Contributors are required to fully disclose all usage scenarios and complete operational workflows of AI tools, and cite relevant AI resources in endnotes and references in accordance with The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition. Authors bear full legal and academic accountability for the authenticity and accuracy of all texts and visuals. Grammar and spelling correction software does not require disclosure. Submissions suspected of unauthorized AI application may be returned for revision or rejected without peer review.

5.Submission File Package & Anonymization Rules

All manuscripts shall be submitted as Microsoft Word (.docx) documents formatted per unified font standards below:

Manuscript Title: 14-point Times New Roman

Abstract, Keywords, Main Body Text, Author Affiliations and Author Biographies: 12-point Times New Roman

Figure Captions, Endnotes: 10-point Times New Roman

All text uses 1.5-line spacing with standard paragraph indentation. Abstracts are limited to approximately 150 words.

6. General Text Layout & Styling Standards

6.1 Heading hierarchy: Numbered tiered structure (Level 1: 1; Level 2: 1.1; Level 3: 1.1.1), with a maximum of three subheading levels. All Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 headings are set in bold. English headings follow title case for major words; prepositions and conjunctions remain lowercase unless placed at the start of a heading.

6.2 Keyword rules: No more than five discipline-specific terms separated by commas with no trailing punctuation. Abstracts and keywords adopt 12-point Times New Roman. Initial capitalization is only applied to proper nouns and artwork titles; all other words stay lowercase. Titles of books, journals and artworks are consistently italicized.

6.3 Paragraph formatting: The opening paragraph is unindented. Every subsequent paragraph starts with a four-character indent, and no blank lines are inserted between paragraphs. Main body text is 12-point Times New Roman; all Chinese text is typeset in 12-point Traditional Songti font.

6.4 Separate title page (to be removed for blind review files): Manuscript title is formatted in 14-point Times New Roman. All author names are written in uppercase letters; institutional affiliations are italicized and formatted in title case. Funding statements are placed beneath institutional information. Brief biographies for each contributor are attached at the end of the manuscript, limited to 150 words per person. Translator and editor names follow standard initial capitalization rules.

7. Figure Caption Template

Standard caption format: Figure Number. Creator’s Name. Italicized Artwork Title. Creation Medium, Dimensions, Country of Origin, Production Year. Holding Institution / Image Source.

Font & alignment rule: All captions use 10-point Times New Roman and are left-aligned.

Example: Figure 1. Li Tang. Winter landscape. Hanging scroll, ink on silk, 98.1×43.4cm. China, Southern Song dynasty. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.

8. Citation & Endnote Framework

All citation practices shall comply with The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017), supplemented by additional Chinese annotation rules adopted by bilingual academic journals. Endnotes adopt 10-point Times New Roman. Citations in the main text are marked with sequential Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) following the order of first appearance. Bibliographic entries must retain the same number sequence and shall not be sorted alphabetically. Authors must maintain consistent spelling throughout the manuscript (either British or American English). Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) or full URLs should be included where available to guarantee source accessibility.

8.1 General Principles

Endnotes are adopted uniformly throughout the full manuscript, numbered sequentially from the start to the end of the text, and formatted in 10-point Times New Roman.

Annotations retain the original language of cited sources without translation if the source language differs from the manuscript’s primary language.

A standalone reference list is not required.

All cited sources and their corresponding notes must be authentic, accurate and standardized.

Complete Chinese metadata shall be recorded for Chinese publications without official English translations.

8.2 Detailed Citation Rules

8.2.1 Monographs

Format: Serial Number. Author Full Name, Full Book Title, edited/translated/compiled by Editor/Translator Name, Edition Number, Volume Number, Publication Details (City, Publisher, Publication Year), Page Range.

Example: 1. Atul Gawande, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (London: Profile Books, 2014), 79–80.

8.2.2 Journal Articles

Format: Serial Number. Author Full Name, “Article Title,” Journal Title, Publication Information (Volume, Issue, Publication Date), Page Numbers. URLs must be attached for fully online journals.

Example: 2. Christopher Cowley, “Understanding Another’s Wrongdoing,” Philosophy and Literature 35, no. 1 (April 2011): 79.

8.2.3 Websites, Blog Posts and Social Media

Websites

Format: Serial Number. Author Name, “Article Title,” Website Name, access date, full URL.

Example: 3. Michael Barns, “An Overview of the Korean War,” Authentic History.com, accessed March 12, 2015, http://www.authentichistory.com/1946-1960/2-korea/1-overview/.

Blog Posts

Format: Serial Number. Author Name, “Article Title,” Blog Name, Host Media Platform, Publication Date, full URL.

Example: 4. Deb Amlen, “One Who Gives a Hoot,” Wordplay (blog), New York Times, January 26, 2015, http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/one-who-gives-a-hoot/.

Social Media Posts

Format: Serial Number. Author Name, “Post Title or Opening Sentence of the Post,” Social Media Platform, Release Date, full URL.

Example: 5. Junot Diaz, “Always surprises my students when I tell them that the ‘real’ medieval was more diverse than the fake ones most of us consume,” Facebook, February 24, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/junotdiaz.writer/posts/9724955.

8.2.4 Interviews and Personal Correspondence

Unpublished Interview Transcripts

Format: Serial Number. Interviewee Name, interview conducted by Interviewer Full Name, Month Day, Year, interview venue, archive location of transcript materials.

Example: 6. Benjamin Spock, interview by Milton J. E. Senn, November 20, 1974, interview 67A, transcript, Senn Oral History Collection, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.

Published Interview Articles

Format: Follow citation rules for journals, monographs and online publications.

Example: 7. Lydia Davis, “The Art of Fiction No. 227,” interview by Andrea Aguilar and Johanne Fronth-Nygren, Paris Review, no. 212 (Spring 2015): 172.

Personal Correspondence

Format: Serial Number. Sender Name, message sent to Recipient Full Name, message date.

Example: 1. Jane E. Correspondent, email message to author, April 23, 2017.

8.2.5 Academic Theses and Unpublished Manuscripts

Graduate Dissertations

Format: Serial Number. Author Name, “Thesis Title” (Master’s Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation, Affiliated University, Year), Page Numbers, permanent online URL.

Example: 8. Ilya Vedrashko, “Advertising in Computer Games” (master’s thesis, MIT, 2006), 59, http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39144.

Unpublished Draft Manuscripts

Format: Serial Number. Author Name, “Manuscript Title” (unpublished draft, completion date), file format description.

9. Post-Acceptance Procedures

Upon formal acceptance, authors are granted two rounds of proofreading opportunities: the first for editorially revised drafts, and the second for fully laid-out page proofs. Before finalization, authors must double-check all figure captions (10pt Times New Roman, left-aligned) and endnotes (10pt Times New Roman), citations and dimensional data for errors. Each author will receive complimentary printed copies after official publication. The journal retains permanent global print and digital publishing rights (both Chinese and English) for all submitted illustrations. Complete clauses covering copyright and open access licensing are available in the journal’s copyright agreement document.