Critical Conversations Submission Guidelines

Critical Conversations:  An Interdisciplinary Journal (CCIJ), is a peer- reviewed scholarly electronic publication to promote dialogue on topics of importance among scholars across disciplines, and to encourage reflection, scientific inquiry, discussion and positive action. The journal which is published electronically provides a platform for critical conversations through which science can inform practice and practice can inform science.

The CCIJ accepts three types of submissions:  1) original, theoretical, methodological, empirical, applied research and or public policy analyses; 2) commentaries on previously published articles; and 3) proposals for special sections or special issues.  Submissions undergo editorial and double-blind peer review ensuring quality in the Research and Theory section and in Applied Practice, a section for the dissemination and discussion of reflective and innovative practices. The peer reviewed Commentaries section reflects upon previously published articles from various perspectives. The journal should be of interest to a varied constituency including researchers from a wide range of disciplines, administrators, industry and government.

Special Issues or Topics

To propose a Special Topic Issue, contact CritConSubmission@tbr.edu.  A Special Issue may contain five or more articles depending on the content focus. Proposals for Special Issues should describe the scope and rationale for a special section or issue and its proposed contribution to the body of knowledge. A Special Topic Section may be proposed consisting of three to four articles with a specific content focus. A list of possible papers for inclusion and brief description along with proposed authors for each paper should be included.  Proposals are first reviewed by the editors and then circulated to the editorial board for review.   Evaluation criteria including length of time since the topic was last covered, the volume of new research in the area, and if the proposal reflects the content of the proposed area and the aims of the CCIJ.  If a proposal is accepted, the proposal author is responsible for recruiting authors, with possible suggestions for the CCIJ editors.  All manuscripts should be submitted at the same time as separate submissions so each paper may be circulated for review separately if elected by the editors.

Submission and Review

Submissions to the CCIJ are made via the online submission at critconsubmission@tbr.edu.   Each paper is reviewed by the editor(s) and, if appropriate for this publication, undergoes a double blind peer review.  Based on reviewer recommendations with input from the Editorial Board, the manuscript will be accepted, accepted with revisions, requested to revise and resubmit or rejected. A Comment is reviewed by the editor who accepted the original article.  Should a Comment be accepted, it may be accompanied by an invited response from the author(s) of the original article.  Comments are published in the earliest possible journal issue after the original article was published.  The manuscript will be considered to be the definitive version of the article. Proofs will be returned to the author who has final responsibility for the manuscript being complete and grammatically correct without spelling or typographical errors.

Manuscript Requirements

Prior to submission, manuscripts should be prepared using the following guidelines:  All articles must be submitted as a Word document in English.  Articles submitted for consideration to the Research and Theory and Applied Practice sections should not exceed 35 double-spaced pages in length including the cover page, abstract, references, tables and figures. Additionally, each article should include three bullet points immediately after the abstract which identify three critical points drawn from the article for potential readers.

Authors should prepare manuscripts according to the Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition).  Comments should be submitted within 6 months of the date of the issue containing the article to which they respond.  They should make reasonable and sustainable contributions to the discussion of the topic in the original article. Comments submissions should not exceed 1000 words (about 5 pages) in length.  Formatting instructions on the preparation of tables, figures, references, metrics, and abstracts appear in the Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association.  Titles should not exceed ten (10) words.  All manuscripts should be paginated, have a title page which includes title, author(s) in order of publication (full name, institutional affiliation and departmental affiliation at time of research, and location); corresponding author email address; acknowledgements, if any; a 75 word author(s) biography on a separate page, an abstract  including purposed, methodology, results, limitations and/or applications, if applicable, not to exceed 150 words submitted on a separate page; and up to eight (8) keywords  or brief phrases for search purposes. The sources of any quotes should be clearly references.  All authors are required to submit a professional quality photo.  All sources of external funding should be acknowledged.   Comments do not require either abstract or keywords and should contain no more than nine references.

Figures, Tables, and Photographs

All figures, tables and photographic images should be of high quality, legible and consecutively numbered.  They should be submitted in electronic format in a separate word document from the article or in a .pdf or .jpeg image format or PowerPoint files. The location of each should be labeled within the text of the article (e.g., [Insert Table ­­­X here]) with all explanations for the table clearly identified with within the separate file.

Intellectual Property

Articles submitted to the CCIJ should not have been published before in current or substantially similar form, or be under review for publication with another journal.  Upon final acceptance, authors must provide all necessary permissions to certify that their article is not an infringement of any existing copyright.  The editor(s) may electronically verify the originality of submissions. The source of all adopted and adapted work must be acknowledged in captions and the reference list permissions to certify that their article is not an infringement of any existing copyright.  The editor(s) may electronically verify the originality of submissions. The source of all adopted and adapted work must be acknowledged in captions and the reference.

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