ALARA Publications

ALARA currently has three publications:

• a journal,
• a monograph series and
• a members' newsletter.

These publications are managed by a Publications Working Group. If you are an ALARA member with an interest in working on publications, please get in touch with Marg O'Connell, the Publications Coordinator.

ALAR Journal

Through the ALAR journal we promote the study and practice of AL, AR and related approaches, and AL and AR networking on a global basis. There are two issues of the ALAR journal each year.

The journal contains project reports, reflections on seminars and conferences, articles related to the theory and practice of action learning, action research and related approaches, and reviews of recent publications. It aims to be highly accessible for both readers, contributors and practitioners.

We place journal issues on this website a year after members receive them in hardcopy: see attached PDF files below.

The journal is managed by Marg O'Connell and an editorial review team. Check the guidelines below regarding submissions.

Submission Guidelines

Article preparation

Journal submissions must be original and unpublished work suitable for an international audience and not under review by any other publisher or journal. No payment is associated with submissions. Copyright of published works remains with the author(s).

New and first-time authors are particularly encouraged to submit articles. An abstract or article outline (approx 500 words) can be emailed to the Editor with a view to developing a full article through a mentoring process. One of our reviewers will be invited to work with you to shape your article.

Journal articles may use either Australian/UK or USA spelling and should use Harvard style referencing. See http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/citation/harvard.html for more. It is preferred that footnotes not be used unless especially necessary.

Requirements

Submissions should contain:

• 1 ½ or double-spacing in all manuscripts, including references, notes, abstracts, quotations, figures and tables
• double quotation marks within single quotation marks to set off material that in the original source was enclosed in single quotation marks. Do not use quotation marks to enclose block quotations (any quotations of 40 or more words)
• Harvard style referencing is preferred
• maximum of 6000 words for peer reviewed articles and 3000 words for other journal items (including tables and figures)
• an abstract of 100-150 words
• minimal use of headings (up to 3 levels is OK)
• any images or diagrams should only be used to add value to the article and be independent from the document as either jpgs or gifs and inserted as image files into the page where possible.

If using MS Word drawing tools, please 'group' your diagrams and images and anchor them to the page, or attach at the end of the document with a note in-text as to its position in the article.

Note: if you are using photos of others you must have them give permission for the photos to be published. You should have written permission in these instances and forward such permission to the Editor.

On a cover sheet, please include contact information including full name, affiliation, email address, small photo (.jpeg) and brief, biographical note

Peer reviewed submissions

Those preferring blind peer review, must indicate so when emailing submission.

All contributions for review should fit the following structure (only include those sections that are appropriate to your article):

• Title (concise and extended as required)
• Abstract (100-150 words)
• Body of Article – eg. introduction, background, literature review, main argument or research
• question, research methodology, research results, discussion, conclusions and future work (see formatting template)
• Useful links (if referring to weblinks, include these in full)
• Acknowledgements (up 100 words)
• Reference list (Harvard style)
• Appendices (use sparingly)
• Biographical notes of authors (up to 100 words)
• Optional small photo image of author(s) (.jpeg/.jpg - no larger than 150 pixels)

Correspondence

All correspondence will be directed to the lead author unless otherwise requested. Please ensure your email address is correct.

Submissions can be sent by email to alar@alara.net.au

ALARA Monograph Series

The monograph series provides an opportunity for authors to publish quality refereed work that is more extensive than the length of a conventional paper. Authors thus are expected to present in-depth information and analysis on a topic.

The monograph case studies will contribute to theoretical and practical understanding of action research and action learning in applied settings.

The monographs are targeted at a broad range audience including practitioners, academics, researchers, leaders, community workers, students, etc. A key emphasis is on the fact that the monographs will be formally refereed and only quality case studies will be published. In this situation, quality refers to

• evidence of rigorous data collection
• strong theoretical underpinning
• deep reflection on results and
• professionally written using APA guidelines.

Case studies in this refereed series contribute to theoretical and practical understandings of action research and action learning in applied settings. They deal with:

• completed action research cases, successful and unsuccessful;
• partial successes and failures;
• work in progress;
• several cases assembled to illustrate important issues; and/or
• problemative issues in current cases.

Eileen Piggot-Irvine is the Editor, supported by a Monograph editorial team and the ALARA Publications Working Group. Accepted monographs will be published here on the ALARA website.

Submission Guidelines

Monographs must be original and unpublished work suitable for an international audience and not under review by any other publisher or journal. No payment is associated with monographs. Copyright of published works remains with the author(s).

Typical monographs would include rationale, background, a topic literature review, research methodology and methods, ethical considerations, action research phases and findings, interventions, discussion of findings and their implications, references and appendices. They should contribute new knowledge.

Submissions should contain:

• a title page
• table of contents (including figures and tables)
• an abstract of approximately 500 words
• up to 10 key search words
• an executive summary preceding the monograph
• range from 8,000 to 16,000 words
• be gender and culture sensitive.

A brief author biography of up to 500 words should be included for publication. We encourage dual and multiple authorship.

Submitting Monographs

Monographs should be submitted by email to the Editor for review. Copy (e-copy only) must be in Word format, 12 point Times New Roman font, 2.5cm margins, and APA style. Subsections must be indicated by the following heading levels:

• Level 1 – lower case and bold (14pt)
• Level 2 – lower case (12 pt)
• Level 3 – italic.

No numbering of headings or subsections is to be used. Please keep footnotes to a bare minimum.

Careful proofreading must have occurred prior to submission. All identifying names must be removed. A separate file should be submitted outlining monograph title, author name(s), address, email address, phone and fax numbers.

Review Process

The review process normally takes up to three months and authors can anticipate extension beyond this if revision is required. Evaluation of suitability of monographs will be based on a monograph:

• offering new ideas
• making a significant contribution to the field
• arousing interest and stimulating debate
• showing sound scholarship and rigorous research design.

Reviewers may recommend:

• Acceptance of monograph following minor revisions
• Revision of monograph and resubmission for further review
• Rejection of monograph.

Authors will receive two complimentary copies of the monograph publication.

Correspondence

All correspondence will be directed to the lead author unless otherwise requested. Please ensure your email address is correct.

ALARA Members Newsletter

Ongoing ALARA news, up and coming activities, and members' stories are circulated regularly in an email newsletter. Margaret Fletcher edits the ALARA newsletter. Submit your news, activities and brief features to Margaret for inclusion in the newsletter.

Newsletters are also available on the ALARA website as PDF documents: http://alara.net.au/newsletter

Occasional Publications

ALARA or affiliated organisations may publish the proceedings of the World Congresses, and some other conferences promoted or organised by the Association.

Stay tuned for online publications of papers and presentations from our up and coming national conferences!