Manuscript 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 these guidelines and note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

Aims & Scope of Advancing Corrections

Advancing Corrections is a new peer-reviewed publication that provides an interdisciplinary and international forum for the dissemination of new research, policies and practices related to advancing professional corrections worldwide. The aim is to provide an opportunity for both researchers and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines (criminal justice, psychology, sociology, political science, economics, public health, and social work) to publish papers that examine issues from a variety of perspectives in a unique, interdisciplinary forum. We want articles that are evidence-informed but that can be read and absorbed easily by all corrections professionals. We believe this gives Advancing Corrections a particular niche in the journal publishing world related to criminal justice.

The Journal is published continuously twice per year and is made available in both digital and print formats to the international membership of ICPA. Each Edition of the Journal is devoted to a particular theme that is elaborated in an Edition Call for Papers. Submissions could be an evidence-informed discussion or review of an important issue related to the theme of the Edition, a summary of some new research findings and their implications for practice, a description of an innovative program or approach, or an informed commentary on some aspect of the issue that the Journal Edition is addressing. For each issue of the journal, we can include some ‘Featured Articles’ that relate broadly to the chosen theme for the issue. These should be more scholarly, research-oriented contributions. We could also include articles in a section called ‘Views and Reviews’ where we want to profile evidence-informed reviews or informed commentaries on important issues – i.e., rather than original research-oriented manuscripts. Finally, there is a section called ‘Practice Innovation in Corrections’ which as the title suggests hopes to highlight development in 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 will be reviewed. 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 in the work, that they have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by them, that you are submitting the work for first publication in Advancing Corrections and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere.

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 include an abstract and be no shorter than 2,000 words and no longer than 5,000 words (or longer by exception), including all abstracts, footnotes, references and other matter. Tables, figures, photos count for 250 words. Submissions that are over this word count will be returned to authors for editing. Manuscripts that are almost entirely descriptive will not be sent out for review. Other submissions can include think-pieces in a section of the Journal called Views & Reviews, descriptions of innovative practice in a section called Practice Innovation in Corrections, extended book reviews, rejoinders to published articles, and other reviews of the literature.

Publication Policies

1. Editorial Policies

Manuscripts will be submitted for evaluation (in a double-blind review process) to referees who are either on the Editorial Board of Advancing Corrections or selected by the Editor for their particular field of expertise. Manuscripts may be initially 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. All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible, and an editorial decision is generally reached within (e.g.) 4 weeks of submission. It remains the prerogative of the Editors to accept or reject for publication any submission and their decisions are final. They will not enter into any debate or correspondence regarding any decision made although Author/s are provided with a detailed explanation should their manuscript be rejected. Evaluators agreeing to referee articles are requested to provide, where possible, critical and constructive feedback on the work of their peers according to a set of Guidelines for Reviewers.

Submissions will only be considered provided they have been 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 Guidelines for Authors.

Apart from scientific shortcomings or inconsistencies, the following evaluative criteria will be considered:

The theme of the paper is significant and useful (timely, important, in need of addressing) and 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

Manuscripts that are submitted to Advancing Corrections should be accompanied by a statement that they have not been (or will not be) published elsewhere in the same version as submitted to Advancing Corrections. ICPA does not wish to curtail authors from publishing their work in other scholarly and academic journals or publications. However, the paper submitted to Advancing Corrections should be an original piece that will not be duplicated elsewhere without permission from ICPA.

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

ICPA is committed to following conventional scholarly Journal publication ethics in the continued publishing of the Advancing Corrections Journal. We ask Authors & Reviewers to refer to Statement of Publication Ethics attached to these Guidelines.

Advancing Corrections takes issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. In submitting a manuscript to Advancing Corrections, an author represents that all included materials are the author’s own work unless clearly otherwise identified. To avoid any potential issues with plagiarism (i.e., representing someone else’s work or ideas as one’s own) or copyright infringement (i.e., violating the exclusive copyright rights of another) or any other violation of the rights of other parties (including, but not limited to, personal rights, an expectation of privacy, or other confidentiality requirement), Author/s should clearly identify any third-party materials and their respective rights holders in their submissions. The Author/s shall additionally ensure that any needed permissions are secured and provided to the Journal with their accepted article.

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 electronically directly to Dr. Frank Porporino, Chair of the ICPA Research and Development Network and Editor of the Advancing Corrections Journal ([email protected]). A copy should also be forwarded to the ICPA Business Manager, Ilinca Cojocaru at the ICPA Head Office ([email protected]).

Papers that are submitted for consideration should adhere to the following minimum standards and technical and formatting requirements:

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 2,000 to no more than 5,000 word-count). Each paper should be summarized in an abstract of not more than 100 words.
The title of the article (in uppercase) and the author’s full first name and surname, designation, and institutional affiliation should appear on the first page. A short BIO with address & contact email should appear at the end of the manuscript after the List of References.
Font: Times New Roman 12
Page numbers: are also TNR 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.

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].

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 which means that the Author(s) retains copyright in the work but grants Advancing Corrections the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish.

Author/s may use the Final Published PDF (or Original Submission or Accepted Manuscript, if preferred) in the following ways:

in relation to their own teaching or training efforts, provided that any electronic distribution maintains restricted access;
to share on an individual basis with research or practitioner colleagues, provided that such sharing is not for commercial purpose
in their dissertation or thesis, including where the dissertation or thesis will be posted 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 Original Submission and Accepted Manuscript is provided at no charge.
Any re-use terms for users of websites and repositories (where your Original Submission or Accepted Manuscript are 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].