Race and Justice

Manuscript Submission Guidelines

General Information:
Race and Justice will consider for publication only manuscripts that have not been published previously and are not being considered for publication elsewhere. A manuscript being considered by the journal may not be submitted, simultaneously or serially, to any other publication source while this consideration is taking place. Authors will be notified when their manuscripts have been received and assigned for blind review. We strive to have this review process completed within two months, but this is not always possible and authors will be notified as soon as possible concerning the status of the manuscript—accepted for publication, revisions needed, or rejected.

Formatting of Article, Research Note, or Commentary Manuscripts

1. Manuscripts must be written in English. They must be typed, appear in 12-point font size, be double spaced, and use one-inch margins. Avoid the use of abbreviations in the text. You may use common abbreviations such as i.e. or e.g. only in parentheses. Make sure all pages are included and omit page numbers.
2. Manuscripts submitted for consideration as original articles must be no longer than 35 pages, inclusive of references, footnotes/endnotes, tables, and figures. Manuscripts being considered for publication as research notes or commentaries must not exceed 25 pages, inclusive.
3. Manuscripts should be blinded for peer review. Please submit a separate title page that includes author names, affiliations, and contact information. The main document should not contain any identifying information about the author(s).
4. Revised manuscripts should be accompanied by a blinded letter responding to the reviewers' comments. This letter should thoroughly describe how the author(s) addressed the reviewers' concerns and must contain no identifying information about the author(s).
5. Please include an abstract, not to exceed 200 words, summarizing the essential elements of the manuscript.
6. End notes are to be used for substantive comments rather than citations. Identify them in the text by consecutive superscripted numbers. Please group notes at the end of the text, beginning on a page identified by the title “Notes.” Double-space the end notes.
7. Tables and figures should be used only when necessary. Their positions should be indicated in the manuscript (e.g., INSERT TABLE 1 ABOUT HERE); however, the tables and figures themselves should be located at the back of the manuscript. Figures and charts that cannot be typeset electronically must be submitted as camera-ready copies of professional quality.
8. To the extent required by law, permission for the use of copyrighted materials quoted in a manuscript must be obtained in writing from the copyright holder by the author. A copy of the release must be submitted to Race and Justice.
9. Use the following formats for headings and sub-headings:
   1. First-level head: centered with the first letter of each major word capitalized
   2. Second-level head: flush with the left margin with the first letter of each major word capitalized
   3. Third-level head: initial letter of each major word capitalized, italicized and flush to the left margin. Regular text follows period.
   4. Fourth-level head: initial letter of first word capitalized, italicized and indented. Regular text follows period.
10. Citations must conform to the style prescribed by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. When citing references in the text, adhere to the following guidelines:
    1. In a direct citation, place only the date in parentheses. Example: Brown (1989).
    2. In an indirect citation, place both the name and the date in parentheses with a comma after the author’s surname. Example: (Brown, 1989).
    3. If a cited work has two authors, cite both authors’ surnames in the text. Example: (Brown & Smith, 1991). In citing two authors, use the full form of citation at all times.
    4. For three, four, or five authors, use the full form only for the first appearance in the text. Example: Merrill, Mundi, and Pierce (1996). Thereafter, use only the first author’s surname, followed by “et al.” 
    5. Example: Merrill et al. (1996).
    6. For six or more authors, use the first author’s surname followed by “et al.” and the date, even for the first appearance in the text. However, in the reference list, list the initials and surnames of each author.
    7. Include page or paragraph numbers only in the case of direct quotations, using the following format: (Brown, 1989, p. 213). If you cite material that spans more than one page, hyphenate page numbers as follows: 1-10; 68-69; 101-102; 115-119; 1000-1001; 1000-1023; 1000-1256.
    8. In citing more than one work by an author, follow this format: Adams (1993, 1995); (Brown, 1993, 1996, in press).
    9. If the works were published by the same author(s) in the same year, label each item with a letter. Example: (Smith, 1985a, 1985b).
    10. Within parentheses, use a semicolon to separate the citations to different authors.
    11. Arrange surnames in alphabetical order (that is, the order in which the references are listed in the reference section). Example: (Brown, 1984, 1988; Jones et al., 1993a, 1993b; Smith & Brown, 1996).
    12. Cite court cases as follows: Miranda v. Arizona (1966).
    13. Cite laws, treaties, and statutes as follows: Armed Career Criminal Act (2001).
11. The Reference section must conform to the style prescribed by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Arrange the references in alphabetical order, double-spaced. When developing the reference section, adhere to the following guidelines:
    1. Type the first line of each reference item flush to the left-hand margin; indent subsequent line(s) of the item. Supply complete information on each reference.
    2. List surname, first initial, and middle initial (if any) of author(s). Example: (Brown, A. B.)
    3. List the date that the work was published in parentheses, followed by a period. Example: Brown, A. B. (2009).
    4. Include the digital object identifier (DOI) in the reference if one is assigned.
    5. Italicize the name of the journal in which an article appears with the first letter of each major word capitalized and followed by a comma. Next, provide the volume number and page numbers of the journal.
    6. Italicize book, report, and electronic source titles and use sentence-style capitalization whereby only the first letter of the first word, all proper nouns, and the first word after each punctuation mark are capitalized.
    7. In book and report references, include the location and name of the publisher. Name the city and state, or if outside the United States, city and country, in which the publisher is located. Use standard two-letter abbreviations for names of states (e.g., IL, TN, NJ).
    8. If a book is a second or later edition, include this information.
    9. Examples of references:
       Article with single author:
       Anshel, M. H. (2000). A conceptual model and implications for coping with stressful events in police work. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 27, 375-400. doi:xx.xxxxxxxxxx
       Article by two authors:
       Cook, P. E., & Hinman, D. L. (1999). Criminal profiling: Science and art. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 15, 230-241. doi:xx.xxxxxxxxxx 
       Article with more than seven authors:
       da Silva Alves, F., Schmitz, N., Figee, M., Abeling, N., Hasler, G., van der Meer, J., … van Amelsvoort, T. (2010). Dopaminergic modulation of the human reward system: a placebo-controlled dopamine depletion fMRI study. Journal of Psychopharmacology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/0269881110367731 
       Book reference:
       Rosenbaum, D. P. (1994). The challenge of community policing: Testing the promises. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
       Item in edited volume:
       Manning, P. K. (1988). Community policing as a drama of control. In J. R. Greene & S. D. Mastrofski (Eds.), Community policing: Rhetoric or reality (pp. 27-45). New York, NY: Praeger.
       Magazine or newspaper article, no author:
       Fosdick goes after computer hackers. (1996, February 29). Lawman’s Weekly, pp. 6-19.
       Unpublished manuscript:
       Yeh, S. (1994). Diffusion of innovation: An exploratory study on community policing. Manuscript submitted for publication.
       Unpublished doctoral dissertation:
       Jockman, J. S. (1988). The death penalty in ancient Rome (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Brown University, Providence, RI.
12. Any manuscript failing to conform to the above specifications will be returned to the author(s) for revision before being considered for publication.
13. Each article, research note, or commentary manuscript submission must be accompanied by a cover letter, addressed to the Editor, expressing the author’s intent and noting that the manuscript is not being considered for publication elsewhere. If there is more than one author, indicate clearly in the cover letter the one to whom correspondence should be addressed.
14. Each article, research note, or commentary manuscript submission must be accompanied by a biographical sketch for each author, not to exceed 150 words, outlining relevant educational and professional experiences.
15. If you would like to discuss the formatting of your materials prior to submission, please contact the managing editor, Nick Paul at the following email address: rajmanagingeditor@gmail.com

Sage partners with Figshare to host supplemental material for an article (more information here). Supplemental material refers to files relates to a specific article, which authors supply for publication alongside their article. 

Please supply a title and description for all supplemental material items supplied.  These should be included in a separate word document upon submission, and not with the main manuscript file.

You may use the “supplemental material” designation at upload.  If a title and description is not supplied the following title and description will be used: Title – “[File name] - Supplemental material for [Article title]”; Description – “Supplemental material, [File name], for [Article Title] by [Author names] in [Journal Title]”.  The title and description will appear on Sage Journals and also on the record in Figshare and will aid discoverability of the supplemental material online.

How to Submit Your Manuscript
Online submission and review of manuscripts is now mandatory for all article, research note, and commentary manuscripts. Race and Justice accepts solicited book reviews only.

New User Account
Please log onto the Sagetrack website at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/RAJ.

If you are a new user, you will first need to create an account. Follow the instructions and please be sure to enter a current and correct email address. Creating your account is a three-step process that takes a matter of minutes to set up. When you have finished, your User ID and password is sent via email immediately. Please edit your user ID and password to something more memorable by selecting “Edit Account” at the top of the screen. If you have already created an account but have forgotten your details, type your email address in the “Password Help” field to receive an emailed reminder. Full instructions for uploading the manuscript are provided on the website.

New Submission

Submissions should be made by logging in and selecting the Author Center and the “Click here to Submit a New Manuscript” option. Follow the instructions on each page, clicking the “Next” button on each screen to save your work and advance to the next screen. If at any stage you have any questions or require the user guide, please use the “Get Help Now” button at the top right of each screen.

To upload your files, click on the “Browse” button and locate the file on your computer. Select the designation of each file (i.e., main document, submission form, figure) in the drop down next to the browse button. When you have selected all files you wish to upload, click the “Upload Files” button.
Review your submission (in both PDF and HTML formats) then click the “Submit” button.

You may suspend a submission at any point before clicking the “Submit” button and save it to submit later. After submission, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. You can also log back into your author center at any time to check the status of your manuscript.

Please ensure that you submit editable/source files only (Microsoft Word or RTF) and that your document does not include page numbers; the Race and Justice SageTRACK system will generate them for you, and then automatically convert your manuscript to PDF for peer review. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor’s decision and requests for revisions, will be by email.

Submitting a Revised Manuscript

Authors submitting revised manuscripts should follow the instructions above to submit through the SageTRACK system. To create a revision, go to the “Manuscripts with Decisions” option in your Author Dashboard and select “Create a Revision” in the “Action” column. Authors of all revised submissions should, when prompted, provide information explaining the changes in your manuscript, as this will be provided to reviewers.

Sage Choice

If you or your funder wish your article to be freely available online to nonsubscribers immediately upon publication (gold open access), you can opt for it to be included in Sage Choice, subject to payment of a publication fee. The manuscript submission and peer review procedure is unchanged. On acceptance of your article, you will be asked to let Sage know directly if you are choosing Sage Choice. To check journal eligibility and the publication fee, please visit Sage Choice. For more information on open access options and compliance at Sage, including self author archiving deposits (green open access) visit Sage Publishing Policies on our Journal Author Gateway.