Submission Guidelines

Submission Guidelines for ALARj articles

Journal submissions must be original and unpublished work suitable for an international audience and not under review by any other publisher or journal.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). Check the Copyright guidelines for more information.

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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_style_(referencing) for more. It is preferred that footnotes not be used unless especially necessary.

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 (APA style will also be accepted)
maximum of 8000 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. 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 of up to 100 words

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)

The review process can take about 3 months or more depending on the revisions to be made. All correspondence will be directed to the lead author unless otherwise requested. Please ensure your email address is correct.

Reviewers use the follow criteria, which states that submissions should:

be both aimed at and grounded in the world of practice;
be explicitly and actively participative: research with, for and by people rather than on people;
draw on a wide range of ways of knowing (including intuitive, experiential, presentational as well as conceptual) and link these appropriately to form theory;
address questions that are of significance to the flourishing of human community and the more-than-human world;
aim to leave some lasting capacity amongst those involved, encompassing first, second and third person perspectives; and
critically communicate the inquiry process instead of just presenting its results and some reflections on it.

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

Submission Guidelines for Monographs

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). Check the Copyright guidelines below for more information.

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. We encourage dual and multiple authorship.

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
a brief author biography of up to 500 words
be gender and culture sensitive.

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, and
showing sound scholarship and rigorous research design.

Reviewers may recommend:

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

Authors will receive two complimentary copies of the monograph publication.

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

Copyright information and ALARA Inc publication terms and conditions

In submitting and having your work accepted for publication in ALARj, you agree to these copyright and publication terms and conditions.

Background and rationale

ALARA Inc. publishes works via a member’s newsletter, a bi-annual journal, an occasional monograph series and its website.

ALARA Inc. retains copyright of published works, to ensure that
1) authors’ works are protected, and
2) authors can benefit from the administration of copyright fees by ALARA Inc., as a registered member of Copyright Agency Limited (CAL).

ALARA inc. does not retain these rights exclusively, and authors are entitled to republish the Article in a printed or electronic collection without charge as long as they ensure that ALARj is properly credited, and they notify the Editor(s) of ALARj of their intent to do so. We like to keep in touch with authors to continue building the AR/AL network of researchers, practitioners and writers, existing and new.

Copyright and authors’ works

As an author, and if you are a current financial member of ALARA Inc., you are entitled to 50% of any copyright monies collected as a result of the reprint and/or redistribution of your work, if it is an original work submitted to and published in an ALARA Inc. publication.

ALARA Inc. will
-    manage the communication and referral of any requests for reprinting and/or redistribution of your work,
-    endorse the copyright process herein through its Executive Committee,
-    administer the copyright licensing and fees or monies associated with it,
-    notify you, the author, of any monies to which you are entitled, as a result of reprinting and/or redistribution requests, at 50% of the total amount, shared with ALARA Inc.

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