ALARA ARCS Monograph Series

The Action Research Case Study (ARCS) 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 contribute to theoretical and practical understanding of action research and action learning in applied settings. Accepted monographs will be published here on the ALARA website. See the foot of this page for two monographs.

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 of Danny Burns, Mary Brydon-Miller, Stephanie Chee, Pip Bruce Ferguson, Geoff Mills, Madhu Ranjan, Pieter Du Toit, Shankar Sankaran and the ALARA Publications Working Group (see attached file below for their positions and organisations). People with experience in research and publication on action research are invited to join the editorial team - please contact Eileen Piggot-Irvine.

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Monographs must be original and unpublished work suitable for an international audience and not under review by any other publisher or journal.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). See Copyright guidelines for more details.

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.

Monographs should be submitted by email to the Editor for review. Copy (e-copy only, no disks) must be in Word format, 12 point Times New Roman font, 2.5cm margins, and APA style referencing. 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.

Copyright information and ALARA Inc publication terms and conditions for Monographs

In submitting and having your work accepted for publication as an edition of the ALARA Monograph Series, you agree to the following 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 all 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 Monograph in a printed or electronic collection without charge as long as they ensure that ALARA Publications are properly credited, and they notify the Monograph Editor 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.

If you are not a financial member of ALARA, individual arrangements can be made, at a fee for service arrangement with the ALARA Executive Committee.

Authors are requested to agree to these terms by sending an email to the Monograph Editor explicitly stating their agreement on submitting their final draft. This agreement is kept in ALARA’s administration records. Monograph Editor’s contact information: Eileen Piggot-Irvine: epiggotirvine@unitec.ac.nz

Further reading Copyright Agency Limited (CAL), Australia: http://www.copyright.com.au