Review of Disability Studies Submission Guidelines
Effective September, 2010
The Review of Disability Studies (RDS) is a peer-reviewed journal. RDS is published four times a year and runs approximately 50 pages an issue. Every article published in RDS is evaluated by a peer reviewer. Upon request of an author and if appropriate, two anonymous peer reviewers will evaluate a submission and this will be noted upon publication. Scholarly and professional standards are expected from all authors. Essays, personal experience articles, reports, and other materials are also expected to meet quality standards.
Contributors who are not subscribers are urged to subscribe. Authors will receive one printed copy of the issue in which their work appears. Submission of material will be considered evidence that you are offering the Review all publishing rights and the copyright. The editors reserve the right to deny publication of an article at any time during the review and editing process.
All written material must be submitted, along with a submission form which you can download here: http://www.rds.hawaii.edu/downloads/forms/pdf/RDSsubmissions_form.pdf, in an email attachment to rdsj@hawaii.edu. The exception is when material is being submitted in response to a Call for Papers in which case it should be emailed directly to the Guest Editors named in the Call for Papers.
Format Requirements
Note—articles that do not meet these guidelines will be returned to the author without review.
- Length and Content—Articles must be submitted as MS Word, TXT or RTF Documents. Articles should be no longer than fifteen single spaced pages or 7,500 words, including references and tables. Additional word restrictions may apply to articles that are part of a forum and will be determined by the guest editor. Each article must include an abstract of no more than 50 words, and 3 key words. Send as a separate document a title page that includes a 1-3 sentence biographical statement of each author, and what degrees, professional credentials and affiliations are to be listed after the author’s name(s).
- Anonymous Peer Review—Articles where anonymous peer review is requested should be scholarly in nature (i.e. creative works and essays typically do not qualify for this type of review). All identifying information, including name of author(s), affiliation and contact information, should be deleted from the article. However, please be sure that the title of the article appears in both the document name and in the document itself.
- Forums—Forum editors are responsible for obtaining, reviewing and editing at least three articles on the forum topic or a total of 25,000 words (about 55 single spaced pages). Forum articles must follow the guidelines for individual submissions. Each forum editor is also responsible for writing an introduction to the forum topic. For more information about forum editor responsibilities, please see “Guidelines for Forum Editors” on our Web site.
- Footnotes and Endnotes—Do not use footnotes at the bottom of the page or any imbedded notes. All notes (if used) must be endnotes. References, endnotes, and acknowledgements will appear at the end of the article text.
- Citations and References—Use the most current guidelines set forth by the American Psychological Association (APA 6.0).
- English Grammar and Syntax—American English spelling is preferred. Do not use contractions or slang unless it is in the original text as quoted. Corrections of grammar and syntax may occur during the editing process. Poetry will be published in the format in which it was submitted.
- Non-Native English Speakers—English grammar and syntax must be understandable enough for the article to be reviewed and edited. Authors with limited English skills are encouraged to partner with a co-author whose first language is English or to write the article in their first language and have the article translated into English by a professional translator.
- Submissions in French—We are currently accepting submissions in French for regular peer review only (anonymous peer review is not available). Rules of format, syntax and grammar described for submissions in English apply to submissions in French. Articles in French are sent to an outside reviewer/translator. Please correspond with the Editor’s in English, if possible.
- Headings—The use of headings and sub-headings to separate major ideas and themes is encouraged. Heading format must be consistent throughout the document. Font’Font size must be at least 12 point. Times New Roman is preferred. Use italics for emphasis. Do not use bold or underline.
- Graphs and Tables—Use no more than three graphs or tables per article not to exceed two pages of text.
- Copyright Permissions’Work previously published must be so noted with a complete citation. If a copyright was obtained on the previously published work, written permission from the copyright holder must be submitted with the manuscript. Previously published work is not encouraged.
- Date of Publication—We cannot guarantee date of publication of any article until the issue in which that article appears is in press. This includes providing verification of publication for the purposes of tenure and promotion. All articles submitted to RDS are “submitted” until they are either “accepted for publication,” “accepted for publication with revisions,” or “not accepted for publication.”
