Submissions

Author Guidelines

 1. Submission of the manuscript

• Contributions may vary in length; research articles should not exceed 12,000 words.
• The author ensures that the article is original, contains no unlawful statements and avoids violating the rights of others. The author ensures safeguarding of human subjects and confirms that informed consent is obtained from research participants, if relevant.
• Articles must be written in English. The language should be clear, concise, and neutral, avoiding excessively long sentences.
• Submitted manuscripts must be either uploaded to the journal’s homepage or emailed to jef@ut.ee in Microsoft Word, RTF, or Open Office document file format.
• Please keep tables, figures, illustrations and text as separate files. Check to ensure that all tables, figures, notes, etc., are numbered consecutively without any gaps.
• Submitted research articles will be read by referees. Each paper should include a self-contained abstract in English of a maximum of 150 words, summarising the article’s main points, plus five keywords. The first page should contain the name, affiliation, address and ORCID of each author. 
• If generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) or any large language models have been used at any stage in the preparation of the manuscript, the author must clearly disclose this within the manuscript. The disclosure should include the full name of the tool used (with version number), how it was used, and the reason for its use. AI tools must not be credited as authors.
• If your manuscript contains any special characters or fonts, please be sure to submit a PDF file of your contribution to ensure the proper typesetting of these characters.
• Please check the references systematically to ensure that all works cited in the text are also listed in the reference section, and vice versa.
• Note that corrections made during the proof stage should be kept to an absolute minimum and should only include typesetting errors and any essential updates.

2. Notes and reviews

• JEF welcomes short contributions such as book reviews, conference reports, exhibition reviews, obituaries, interviews, fieldwork reports, and notes.
• The reviewed book must have been published within the last three years. Reviews should be between 1,000 and 2,500 words in length.
• Conference Reports provide insights into recent events relevant to JEF’s scope, summarising key discussions and trends. The event must have taken place within the four months prior to submission. Reports should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words in length.
• Other submissions may vary in length and style, depending on their purpose.
• All submissions must adhere to JEF’s general formatting and reference guidelines.

3. Headings

• No numbering is required. Give words only. In the case of multi-level headings, numbering may be added for clarity during the editing phase; all numbers will be removed during layout.
• Capitalise the first letter of the first word and of nouns and adjectives: e.g., “The Capitalisation of Titles in English” (not “The capitalisation of titles in English”).

 4. Quotations

• Short quotations (fewer than 40 words) should run-on in the text and be enclosed in double quotation marks. Single quotation marks enclose quotations within quotations.
• Longer quotations should appear as a separate block and should not be enclosed in quotation marks. The citation to the source should be placed at the end of the quote following the punctuation.
• Always give the page number(s) for quotations, including both direct quotations and paraphrased passages.

 5. Citations

Brief citations are used within the text as follows: 

• One author: (Toulouze 2010).
• Two authors: (Roper and Valk 1999).
• Three or more authors: (Järv et al. 2009), but please do list all authors in the reference entry.
• Several works by one author: (Leete 1997a; 1997b; 1999), give the older works before the newer.
• Works by different authors: (Runnel 2005; Jääts 2011), give the older works before the newer.
• Reprints: (Kreutzwald 1987 [1854]: 73).
• Page number ranges: (Lintrop 2004: 140–145); please do not drop digits (e.g., 140–5).
• Page citations in a work being reviewed in a book review: (p. 36), (pp. 133–136).
• If the name of the author is mentioned in text the date is given in parentheses: “Lotman (1973: 123–125) introduced the term…”; “In his article Krikmann (1997) argued that…”
• Use the word and to conjoin author names (do not use ampersand [&]).
• Give page numbers in full: do not use “f.”, “ff.”
• In case of several consecutive citations by the same author use (ibid.) if the later citation is in the same page; if not, use (ibid.: 14–15).
• When citing more than one work by the same author/editor published in the same year, please differentiate the works by using letters: (Pärt 2004a; 2004b; 2004c).
• When citing edited works, do not include the abbreviation “ed.” or “eds.” in the citation.

 6. Cross-references

• References to tables or figures within the article should include the capitalised word “Table” or “Photo” followed by a number: e.g., “cf. Table 3”.
• Do not cite page numbers within your own article.

7. Typeface, emphasis and punctuation

Italics should be used for:

• Words, phrases, and sentences treated as linguistic examples.

·       Foreign-language expressions. All expressions in languages other than English should be followed by a translation or explanation.

• Titles of books, published documents, newspapers and journals.
• Drawing attention to key terms in a discussion at first mention only. Thereafter, these terms should be set in Roman.
• Emphasising a word or phrase in a quotation, indicating [emphasis mine].
• Please keep the use of italics to an absolute minimum.

Single quotation marks should be used:

• For the translation of non-English words, e.g., cogito ‘I think’.
• When the word or phrase is used in a figurative of indirect meaning. (Please keep the use of quotation marks in this function to an absolute minimum.)
• Inside double quotation marks.

Double quotation marks should be used:

• In all other cases, i.e., direct quotations in running text.
• Please always use “rounded” quotation marks not "straight" ones.

Dashes:

• Spaced EN-dashes are used as parenthetical dashes (“text – text”). Please do not use double hyphens.
• Unspaced EN-dashes should be used between inclusive numbers, e.g., 153–159.

Spacing:

• Type one space (not two) after periods, commas and colons.

Capital letters:

• CAPITAL LETTERS and SMALL CAPS should not be used for emphasis.

8. Tables, figures and illustrations

• Information presented together in rows and columns should be labelled as “Tables”.
• Graphs, line drawings, and the like should be labelled as “Figures”.
• Photographs should be labelled as “Photos”.
• Photographs and scanned images should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi, and/or 1200 x 1800 pixels.
• A maximum of 15 illustrations is permitted per manuscript.
• Images must be properly captioned and attributed. Permission is required for third-party materials and for photographs of individuals.
• The publication is printed in black and white. Information presented in graphics or photos that are colour originals should thus be meaningful without colour.
• Tables and photos should be numbered separately, but consecutively, throughout the text.
• Table captions should appear directly above the table; figure captions should appear directly below the figure.
• Do not end the text immediately preceding the insertion point for a table/figure/photograph with a colon, as the exact positioning of these elements cannot be determined until after the manuscript has been typeset.

 9. Appendices and Endnotes

• Appendices should be placed at the end of the article, before the Endnotes.
• Endnotes should be inserted using the text editor’s Endnote function and placed at the end of the article.
• Notes should be numbered consecutively throughout the text.
• Note numbers in the running text should be set as superscript and should directly follow punctuation marks (where applicable), with no blank space: e.g., text text text.⁷ 

 10. References

• All works cited in the running text must be listed in the Reference section.
• The Reference section should include only those works that were cited in the text.
• Whenever possible, please give the full first names of authors and editors, e.g. Kis-Halas, Judit. 2000, or Västrik, Ergo-Hart, ed. 2002.
• Where there are several authors or editors, the first name is given in the form “Surname, First Name” and all other names in the form “First Name Surname, First Name Surname”, e.g. Leete, Art; Anzori Barkalaja and Liivo Niglas, eds. 1998.
• Entries should show the full title and subtitle of each work.
• Page numbers of articles in journals or edited works should be inclusive.
• Reference entries for multiple works by the same author/editor or group of authors/editors should be listed chronologically, with the oldest publication at the top and the newest at the bottom.
• The reference entries for authored works and edited works by a single author should not be mixed together, but rather grouped separately.
• If the work cited is in Cyrillic, please give the author’s name in the citation and in the References section in Latin script. You can add a reference entry in Cyrillic after the Latinised version in square brackets. We prefer the BGN/PCGN system for transliteration. See also examples below.

Please do

• provide both the place of publication and the name of the publisher: e.g. Tartu: Tartu University Press;
• abbreviate “edition” in reference entries as “edn.” (to differentiate from “ed.” for “editor”).

Please do not

• abbreviate the names of journals, book series, publishers or conferences;
• use “et al.” in entries in Reference, all author/editor names should be listed;
• use EM-dashes to replace repeated author/editor names;
• use line returns within individual reference entries. The right- and left-hand margins will be set during technical production;
• provide URLs in the running text or Endnotes; all electronically published sources should be listed in the References section and proper reference entries should be constructed following the samples below.

11. Sample reference entries

Book (authored work):

Briggs, Charles L. 1986. Learning How to Ask: A Sociolinguistic Appraisal of the Role of the Interview in Social Science Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139165990.

Chistov, Kirill Vasil’yevich. 1986. Narodnyye traditsii i fol’klor: ocherki teorii. Leningrad: Nauka. [Чистов, Кирилл Васильевич. 1986. Народные традиции и фольклор: очерки теории. Ленинград: Наука.]

Book (edited work):

Barag, Lev Grigor’yevich; Ivan Pavlovich Berezovskiy, Konstantin  Pavlovich Kabashnikov and Nikolay Vladimirovich Novikov, comp. 1979. Sravnitel’nyy ukazatel’ syuzhetov. Vostochnoslvayanskaya skazka. Leningrad: Nauka. [Бараг, Лев Григорьевич; Иван Павлович Березовский, Константин Павлович Кабашников, Николай Владимирович Новиков, сост. 1979. Сравнительный указатель сюжетов. Восточнославянская сказка. Ленинград: Наука.]

Bowman, Marion and Ülo Valk, eds. 2012. Vernacular Religion in Everyday Life: Expressions of Belief. Sheffield; Bristol, CT: Equinox Publishing.

Contribution in an edited work:

Alver, Bente Gullveig. 1992. Ethical Issues in Folkloristic Research. – Folklore Processed. In Honour of Lauri Honko on His 60th Birthday 6th March 1992. Studia Fennica. Folkloristica 1, edited by Reimund Kvideland in collaboration with Gun Herranen, Pekka Laaksonen, Anna-Leena Siikala and Nils Storå. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 52–61.

NB Entries for articles in edited works should always include full bibliographical information for the edited work. Please do not abbreviate the entry (using the reference above as an example: “In Kvideland et al., 52–61”).

Bryceson, Deborah Fahy and Ulla Vuorela. 2002. Transnational Families in the Twenty-first Century. – The Transnational Family: New European Frontiers and Global Networks, edited by Deborah Bryceson and Ulla Vuorela. Oxford; New York: Berg Publishers, 3–29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003087205-2.

Shumov, Konstantin Eduardovich. 2003. Studencheskiye traditsii. – Sovremennyy gorodskoy fol’klor, edited by Sergey Yur’yevich Neklyudov. Moskva: Rossiyskiy gosudarstvennyy gumanitarnyy universitet, 165–179. [Шумов, Константин Эдуардович. 2003. Студенческие традиции. – Современный городской фольклор, отв. ред. Сергей Юрьевич Неклюдов. Москва: Российский государственный гуманитарный университет, 165–179.]

Book also published electronically:

Valk, Ülo. 2007. Inglid eesti rahvausundis. – Artikleid usundi- ja kombeloost. Sator 6, edited by Mare Kõiva. Tartu: EKM Teaduskirjastus, 77–96. http://www.folklore.ee/rl/pubte/ee/sator/sator6/4ylovalk.pdf (accessed December 3, 2012).

NB Publication date is the year of online publication or year of the latest update. The date on which the URL was accessed should be provided in parentheses at the end of the entry.

Journal article:

Propp, Vladimir Yakovlevich. 1964. Zhanrovyy sostav russkogo fol’klora. – Russkaya literarura 4: 58–76. [Пропп, Владимир Яковлевич. 1964. Жанровый состав русского фольклора. – Русская литература 4: 58–76.]

Journal article also published electronically:

Brunvand, Jan Harold. 1963. A Classification for Shaggy Dog Stories. – Journal of American Folklore 76 (299): 42–68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/538078.

NB When citing sources with DOIs, it is not necessary to include the date of access.

Journal article in special issue:

Klein, Barbro. 1993. Fences, Fertilizers, and Foreigners: Moral Dilemmas in the Swedish Cultural Landscape. – Journal of Folklore Research (Special Issue: Foreigners and Foreignness in Europe: Expressive Culture in Transcultural Encounters) 30 (1): 45–60.

Zechner, Minna. 2008. Care of Older Persons in Transnational Settings. – Journal of Aging Studies 22 (1): 32–44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2007.02.002.

Reprint:

Mauss, Marcel. 1979 [1934]. Body Techniques. – Marcel Mauss: Techniques, Technology, Civilization, edited by Nathan Schlanger. New York; Oxford: Durkheim Press; Berghahn Books, 77–95.

Thesis/dissertation (unpublished):

Collett, Joan Elizabeth. 2003. Empowering the Unempowered: A Narrative Approach to Deconstructing Spirituality with Women Experiencing Abuse. A Master Dissertation. University of South Africa. http://uir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/1843 (accessed April 4, 2012).

Several works by one author/editor with the same publication year:

Zamyatin, Konstantin. 2012a. From Language Revival to Language Removal? The Teaching of Titular Languages in the National Republics of Post-Soviet Russia. – Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe 11 (2): 75–102.

Zamyatin, Konstantin. 2012b. Nationalities Policy of Russia. – Russian Federation 2012: Short-Term Prognosis, edited by Karmo Tüür and Viacheslav Morozov. Tartu: Tartu University Press, 62–66.

Internet sources (homepages, databases, e-publications):

Mikkelson, Barbara. 2005. Wedding Cake. http://www.snopes.com/weddings/customs/cake.asp (accessed January 30, 2013).

Manuscripta Castreniana. No date. https://sgr.fi/manuscripta/files/original/9ad8b2687ddf4ac2abea166170701a87.png (accessed September 10, 2025).

Kolobayev, Andrey. 2009. “Russkaya mechta” Willy-amerikantsa. – Svobodnaya pressa. [Колобаев, Андрей. 2009. «Русская мечта» Вилли-американца. – Свободная пресса.] http://svpressa.ru/society/article/14818/?f=1 (accessed March 1, 2013).