Submission Guidelines

Guidelines For Authors: Please submit manuscripts and abstract via the NCIS Open Access Journal Submission (OJS) portal. Submissions should be written with clarity and grace, and must conform to TIS style guidelines, with references in APA style. Authors may use either U.S. or British conventions of English grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

  • The abstract includes a brief statement of the hypothesis, theoretical background, description of methodology, summation of the findings or argument, and how this work contributes to the field. (Here is a helpful guide for writing an effective abstract. A concise, precise abstract is more likely to be accepted than a wordy, rambling submission.
  • Style guide: Please style your manuscript according to the American Psychological Association’s latest edition.
  • Word count: Submissions are on average 3,000–7,000 words. Although there is no strict word limit, articles of over 10,000 words are unlikely to be focused enough to be accepted.
  • Translations: Professional-quality English translations should be provided for any text, passages, quotations, titles, etc., in another language. Machine translations will not be accepted.
  • Permissions: For articles featuring images, authors must seek reproduction permissions prior to publication. Images must be high resolution at 300 dpi.
  • Referencing: Citations must be full, consistent, and formatted in APA style using footnotes, not endnotes. The paper should include a bibliography of works cited, with any non-cited sources listed under “Further Reading.
  • If referencing software is used, please ensure that in-text references, footnotes, and the list of works cited are complete, and that the in-text bibliography has been converted to static text before sending.

Permissions

Permission must be secured to include images integral to the paper. Images must be fully referenced, with copyright declaration and permissions cited, e.g., “© XXX date. Reproduced with permission.”

Statement of Authorship

All authors of manuscripts accepted for publication must sign a statement of authorship. In signing this statement, the author asserts that the article:

  •  is entirely the work of the named author(s)
  •  has not been published elsewhere
  •  has not been submitted for publication elsewhere

Conflict of Interest

To prevent ambiguity, authors must state whether there is, or is not, a conflict of interest. Conflict of interest exists when authors have financial or personal relationships that could inappropriately bias or compromise their scholarship.

Publication

Publication in TIS does not preclude submission of similar material to a field-specific professional journal. Any work rewritten for a specialist publication will necessarily have a different approach, and TIS editors expect the resulting paper to be substantially different from work that appears in TIS’s interdisciplinary medium.

Deadlines

To ensure timely publication, please observe all deadlines. Reviewers are likewise committed to sending in comments on schedule, and it is important that authors respond quickly with any revisions.

Acknowledge sources of funding

Any sources of funding awarded to support the research (from NCIS or elsewhere) must be acknowledged.  Please contact the editor at tis@ncis.org with any questions.

For Book Review Guidelines

Go to Book Reviews

Review Criteria (For Author)

1) Soundness

Clarity of argument – The reviewers look for a clear argument, so you should state the aim of the research, outline the seminal issues involved, and offer valid conclusions.

The writing should be scholarly rather than popular in tone, yet clarity should be achieved without being overly burdened by academic buzzwords and clichés. Many scholars outside of your discipline will be interested in your writing.

Scholarly methodology – Your paper should include the theoretical background where relevant, and any ethical considerations in data collection. Researcher reflexivity (the ways in which your own background, ethnicity, etc., may affect your primary data, such as information provided by people you use as research subjects, or your own interpretation of the data) also should be recognized and acknowledged. For papers in disciplines that do not necessarily support this format (e.g., curating) manuscripts will be judged on a case-by-case basis, but it is expected that these will still demonstrate high standards of professionalism.

 

2) Significance

You will need to show the intellectual significance of your paper, by including a brief overview of the field, or a concise literature review, so that your research can be situated by non-specialists in your field. You should also spell out the contribution made to the field by your paper.

3) Originality

It is expected that your work will be original rather than derivative. It will draw on existing literature and refer to work in the same field, but should make an original contribution to the existing body of scholarship. This original contribution should be made evident.

Review Criteria (For Reviewers)

1) Soundness

·    Is the manuscript well organized, with clear aims, argument and conclusions?

·    Is the paper well written in terms of the quality of English and academic style?

·    Are the sources appropriate?

·    Are the conclusions justified?

2) Significance

·    Does this manuscript have appeal to a multi-disciplinary audience?

·    Does its scope and importance justify its publication in the TIS rather than in a specialized journal?

3) Originality

·    How original is the manuscript’s contribution to its field? In what way(s) is it original?

Editorial Board

General Editor

Shelby Shapiro, Ph.D., M.A. tis@ncis.org

Humanities Editor

Amanda Haste, Ph.D., M.A. amanda.haste@ncis.org

Stem Editor

Shelby Shapiro, Ph.D., M.A. tis@ncis.org

Associate Editor

Jordan Lavender, Ph.D.