Publication Policies and Guidelines for Authors

For publication in “ADVANCING CORRECTIONS” JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL CORRECTIONS AND PRISONS ASSOCIATION (ICPA)

Advancing Corrections Journal (Print) ISSN: 2517-9233
Advancing Corrections Journal (Digital) ISSN: 2789-5246

Please read this document and note that manuscripts not conforming to our publication policies and guidelines for preparation of manuscripts may not be considered.

Aims & Scope of Advancing Corrections Journal

The International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) believes evidence must ground the development of professional and humane correctional services. However, we also recognize that evidence is of little value unless the meaning and relevance of the evidence is understood and put into action. Our semi-annual journal, Advancing Corrections, aims to resonate with practitioners and support use of evidence to inform practice, and improve or enhance service-delivery. The journal publishes peer-reviewed papers that are scholarly in content but that can be digested and appreciated by practitioners, managers, policy-makers, and other correctional professionals. In providing a forum for both researchers and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines (criminal justice, forensic, education, psychology, sociology, political science, economics, public health, and social work) we strive to publish papers examining issues from a unique, interdisciplinary, and global perspective. For each edition of the journal, we welcome papers addressing a particular ‘theme’ or topical issue in correctional practice. We believe this gives Advancing Corrections Journal a particular niche in the journal publishing world related to criminal justice.

The journal is published regularly, twice per year, usually in January and July, and is promoted and made available digitally on the ICPA Web site to the entire international membership of ICPA. In addition, several hundred copies of the print version are mailed to ICPA Professional Members, Corrections Agency and Private Sector Senior Executives around the world, as well as all authors and members of the Editorial Board.

Each edition of the journal is devoted to a particular Theme that is elaborated in an edition Call for Papers. Submissions to the journal should relate clearly to the theme of any particular edition. Manuscripts can be of a number of types, including descriptions of new quantitative or qualitative research and the implications for practice, evidence-informed discussions or reviews of an important issue related to the theme of the edition, descriptions of innovative programs or approaches, or an informed commentary on some aspect of the theme that the journal edition is addressing. For each edition of the journal, we endeavour to include ‘Featured Research Articles’ that relate to the chosen theme. These should be more scholarly, research-oriented contributions. We also welcome papers for a section we call ‘Views and Reviews’ where we want to profile think-pieces and evidence-informed reviews or commentaries on important issues. Finally, we also try to include some interesting ‘Practice Innovation in Corrections’ which, as the title suggests, hopes to highlight development in new and innovative practice, and as much as possible, internationally.

What Do We Publish?

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the Aims and Scope of Advancing Corrections Journal will be considered. There are no fees payable to submit or publish in the journal. As part of the submission process author/s are required to indicate that they are submitting their original work, that they have the rights to that work, that they have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by them, that they are submitting the work for first publication in Advancing Corrections and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere or has not already been published elsewhere (refer to the Authors’ section in the Publication Ethics Policy).

The journal welcomes articles that draw on qualitative or quantitative data, previous research literature and theories, as well as discussions shaped by practitioner experience. Articles should be no shorter than 2,500 words and no longer than 5,000 words, including all footnotes and references. Lengthier articles may be considered by exception but submissions that are considerably over the word count may be returned to authors for editing. A concise Abstract should be no longer than 200 words. Although tables, figures and photos are encouraged, they should be kept to a reasonable and relevant limit.

Publication Policies

1. Editorial Policies

Prospective authors are asked to familiarize themselves with the Peer Review Policy (Advancing Corrections Journal: Peer Review Policy) and Publication Ethics Statement (Statement of Publication Ethics for the Advancing Corrections Journal) for the journal.

Manuscripts will be submitted for evaluation (in a double-anonymous review process) to referees who are either on the Editorial Board of Advancing Corrections Journal or selected by the Editor for their particular field of expertise. Manuscripts may initially be altered or amended in the interests of stylistic consistency, grammatical correctness or coherence. The ‘refereeing’ process will be anonymous and the identity of referees will remain confidential. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two referees. Evaluators agreeing to referee articles are requested to provide constructive feedback on the work of their peers according to the journal’s Peer Review Policy.

For those submissions that are provisionally accepted for publication, authors are provided with a detailed summary of the revisions being requested. A detailed explanation is provided to authors should their manuscripts be rejected. All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible, and an editorial decision is generally reached within (e.g.) 6 weeks of submission. It remains the prerogative of the Editor (and/or other guest Editors for any particular edition) to accept or reject for publication any submission. These decisions are final and no debate or correspondence will be entertained regarding any decision made.

Manuscripts will only be considered for publication provided they have been properly edited and are ready for processing, namely: language edited, stylistically polished and carefully proof read in following the technical format and referencing guidelines as provided below. In submitting a paper author/s acknowledge that all content sourced from other authors and/or publications have been fully recognized and referenced according to the journal’s Publication Ethics Statement.

Apart from scientific shortcomings or inconsistencies, the following evaluative criteria will be generally considered at each stage of the editorial review process:

The paper addresses a significant and useful issue or topic (timely, important, in need of addressing) and it is consistent with the theme of the Edition;
The paper addresses (unpacks) issues logically, consistently and convincingly;
The paper demonstrates an adequate understanding of the literature in the field;
The paper demonstrates a critical self-awareness of the author’s own perspectives and interests;
Conclusions are clearly stated and they adequately tie together the elements of the paper;
The standard of writing (including spelling and grammar) is satisfactory and the style of writing is practitioner-oriented;
Sources consulted are sufficiently acknowledged (included in a list of references).

2. Publication Ethics

Prospective authors are asked to familiarize themselves with the Publication Ethics Statement for the journal (Statement of Publication Ethics for the Advancing Corrections Journal).

Manuscript submissions should be accompanied by a statement that the paper is the original work of the author(s) and that it has not been submitted elsewhere (or published elsewhere) in the same version as submitted to Advancing Corrections Journal.

All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis. All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section.

Advancing Corrections encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests.

We encourage reviewers to check articles with duplication-checking software should they suspect any plagiarism. If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in Advancing Corrections.

Submission of Manuscripts

Manuscripts should be submitted using the electronic Jotform provided for the Journal. A copy can also be forwarded directly to Dr. Frank Porporino, the Editor-in-Chief of the Advancing Corrections Journal ([email protected]).

Papers that are submitted for consideration should adhere to the following minimum standards and technical and formatting requirements. Authors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the standards for referencing that have been published by the American Psychological Associations version # 7.

All parts of the manuscript, including referencing, should follow standard American Psychological Association (APA) format;
The paper should be double-spaced, with margins of at least one inch on all sides and with manuscript pages numbered consecutively. Suggested page length is from 7-20 pages, double-spaced (about 2,500 to no more than 6,000 word-count). Each paper should be summarized in an abstract of not more than 200 words.
The title of the article (in uppercase) and each of the authors’ full first names and surnames, designation, and institutional affiliation should appear on the first page. A short biographical note with address and e-mail contact should appear at the end of the manuscript after the References.
Font: Times New Roman 12
Page numbers: are also Times New Roman 12 font and centered in the footer section of each page.
Spelling: Please make use (choose this as your default option) of the North American spellcheck and NOT the UK one.
Use of quotes and italics: Long quotes are placed in a separate paragraph and must be indented from both sides.

ICPA wants to encourage authors to include references with their papers in order to allow readers to do follow-up reading on the topic in question. Manuscripts, including figures, tables, and references, must conform to the specifications described in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (https://apastyle.apa.org/)

Examples for Referencing:

Journal: Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G., & Steer, R.A. (1988). An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 893-897.

Book: Wechsler, D. (1987). Wechsler Memory Scale- Revised. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

Contribution to a Book: Chow, T.W., & Cummings, J.L. (2000). The amygdale and Alzheimer’s disease. In J.P. Aggleton (Ed.) The amygdale: A functional analysis (pp. 656-680). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Other Documents: African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. (1999). Available at: http://www.umn.edu/humanarts/africa/afchild.htm (accessed [or retrieved] on: 14 January 2005).
Mashaba, S. 2008. State intensifies war against drug abuse. Sowetan, 23 June: 5. Available at: http://www.sowetan.co.za/PrintArticle.aspx?ID=1147429 (accessed on: 25 June 2008).

Illustrations:

Illustrations submitted (line drawings, halftones, photos, photomicrographs, etc.) should be clean originals or digital files. Digital files are recommended for highest quality reproduction and should follow these guidelines:

300 dpi or higher;
sized to fit on journal page;
EPS, TIFF, or PSD format only;
submitted as separate files, not embedded in text files.

Tables and Figures:

Tables and figures should not be embedded in the text, but should be included as separate sheets or files. A short descriptive title should appear above each table with a clear legend and any footnotes suitably identified below. Figures should be completely labelled, considering necessary size reduction.

If you have any questions regarding submission of your manuscript, please contact the ICPA Head Office at [email protected].

Revision of Manuscripts

Once reviewed, submitted manuscripts may be:
(a) Published in the journal essentially as submitted;
(b) Published with minor revisions;
(c) Returned to the Author(s) for major revisions, or
(d) Not published in their current form (In this instance, a summary of the reasons would be provided to author(s).

In the case of (b) or (c) above, authors would be asked to make appropriate revisions (within about 3 weeks) and summarize the nature and extent of those revisions in a Note to Editor. The editor could then accept the revised manuscript or ask for more revisions.

After Publication

As a requirement of the manuscript submission to the journal, the author(s) is asked to agree to give ICPA an exclusive licence agreement where the Author(s) retains copyright in the work but grants the publisher the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish.

Author/s may subsequently use the final published version in the following ways:

In relation to their own teaching or training efforts, provided that any electronic distribution maintains limited access;
To share on an individual basis with research or practitioner colleagues, provided that such sharing is not for commercial purpose
Included in any electronic Institutional Repository or database;
In a book authored or edited by the Author, at any time after the contribution’s publication in the journal.

Provided that:

Access to the Manuscript is provided at no charge;
Any re-use terms for users of websites and repositories (where the Manuscript is posted) are restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses;
You may not post the Final Published PDF on any unrestricted website or repository without permission from ICPA;
You may not republish or translate any version of your Contribution in another journal without prior permission from ICPA;
The journal as the original publication of your Contribution is appropriately credited by including the full citation information each time your Contribution, or excerpts, are further distributed or re-used;
Once full citation information for your Contribution is available, please include this with your posted Contribution, in a format similar to the following:
Author(s), Contribution Title, Journal Title (Journal Volume Number and Issue Number) pp. xx-xx. Copyright © [year] (Copyright Holder). DOI: [DOI number].