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Submission FAQ and Guidelines

Who Can Submit

Those dedicated to the advancement of leadership studies may submit an original article to be considered for publication in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Leadership Studies (hereafter IJLS), assuming the author owns the copyright to the work being submitted or is authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works within the Creative Commons Attributions-No Distribution-No Derivatives License.

General Submission Rules

Submitted articles cannot have been previously published nor be forthcoming in another journal or book (print or electronic). Please note: "publication" in a working-paper series or presentation at a conference does not constitute prior publication. In addition, by submitting material to IJLS, the author is stipulating that the material is not currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) and that the author will not submit the material to another journal (electronic or print) until the completion of the editorial decision process at IJLS.

Submission Requirements

Manuscripts submitted to the journal will undergo a double-blind peer review process. The estimated time of completion of the review process is 8-12 weeks (subject to the submission load of the journal).

Research submitted must be original and not currently under consideration for publication by another journal. Please submit your manuscript by clicking on the 'Submit Article' link on the left sidebar of this page.

Manuscripts should report a critical, scholarly analysis or write-up of empirical research studies of 5,000-8,000 words (including references) on a particular aspect of leadership related to one or more academic disciplinary fields (i.e. a disciplinary field within the sciences, social sciences, arts, and/or humanities). Shorter papers (minimum 3,000 words) and longer papers (maximum 10,000 words) may also be considered. (Please see the IJLS Manuscript Preparation Guidelines as you prepare your manuscript.) Further guidelines:

  • All articles submitted to the IJLS must include an abstract. Abstract must be on a separate page from the article and may not be longer than 250 words. Author names must not appear on the abstract.
  • Up to 10 keywords relating to the content of your article.
  • A complete reference list (most recent Chicago style) at the end of your article.
  • Please use Chicago referencing style, either footnotes or author/date.
  • Any personal citations and references identifying the author(s), and all author information must be removed from the manuscript. In-text citations to personal work must be replaced with the text: [name deleted to maintain the integrity of the review process].
  • Formatting: Times New Roman 12pt, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, standard US letter size pages. Longer quotations (in excess of 75 words) should be indented from both margins (‘block quotation style’) and also double-spaced. Footnotes should be Times New Roman 10pt, double-spaced.
  • The language should be written to be accessible to a non-specialist audience, although should reflect academic rigor in terms of evidence and analysis.
  • Tables, graphs, images, and other media should be included within the original submission and counted as 300 words. If accepted, authors will need to provide separate files with all such ‘inserts’ (images should be in high-resolution). Note: authors are responsible for obtaining and paying for all necessary permissions and copyright for tables, graphs, images, lengthy quotations (more than 350 words from a single source), or other media (or demonstrating that the material is free-use and in the public domain).
  • In a separate document, the names of all authors; the title of the manuscript; each author’s institutional affiliation, contact email and address; and a short biography of up to 100 words for each author to accompany your article.

Attribution and Usage Policies

Reproduction, posting, transmission or other distribution or use of the article or any material therein, in any medium as permitted by a personal-use exemption or by written agreement of the IJLS.

Personal-use Exceptions

The following uses are always permitted to the author(s) and do not require further permission from IJLS provided the author does not alter the format or content of the articles, including the copyright notification:

  • Storage and back-up of the article on the author's computer(s) and digital media (e.g., diskettes, back-up servers, Zip disks, etc.), provided that the article stored on these computers and media is not readily accessible by persons other than the author(s);
  • Posting of the article on the author(s) personal website, provided that the website is non-commercial;
  • Posting of the article on the internet as part of a non-commercial open access institutional repository or other non-commercial open access publication site affiliated with the author(s)'s place of employment (e.g., a professor in the History Department at the University of the Upper Midwest can have her article appear in the University of Upper Midwest’s Department of History online publication series); and
  • Posting of the article on a non-commercial course website for a course being taught by the author at the university or college employing the author.

People seeking an exception, or who have questions about use, should contact the editors.

General Terms and Conditions of Use

Users of the IJLS website and/or software agree not to misuse the service or software in any way. The failure of IJLS to exercise or enforce any right or provision in the policies or the Submission Agreement does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any term of the Submission Agreement or these policies is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Submission Agreement and these policies remain in full force and effect. These policies and the Submission Agreement constitute the entire agreement between IJLS and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.

IJLS Manuscript Preparation Guidelines

Prepare the manuscript for submission using the following guide:

  • IJLS uses American standard spelling and punctuation rules (including the Oxford comma)
  • The manuscript must be submitted as a Microsoft Word file or a Rich Text Format (RTF) file.
  • Double space the entire manuscript, including abstract, body, references, tables, and legends
  • Use left justification only, so that the right margin is ragged
  • Use Times New Roman Font
  • Use 12pt font size for tables as well as text, with notes and captions in 10pt font size
  • Articles should use the most recent Chicago style with auto-generated (not manual) footnotes or in-text author/date citations (Note: footnote ordinals should follow end punctuation of the sentences in which quotations appear; author/date citations should follow quotations and precede punctuation)
  • All images or media taken from other sources (for which the author does not hold copyright) must be accompanied by permissions or evidence of public domain or free-use copyright (authors are responsible for paying for and obtaining permissions)
  • Authors should restrict quotations from other sources to 350 words or 10% of the original work for sources which are not public domain or free-use, or must be accompanied by permissions
  • All articles must be accompanied by an abstract of up to 250 words and a list of 5-10 keywords
  • Each component of the article should be included in one single file and begin on a separate page, as follows: abstract, keywords, body text, footnotes (if applicable), references, appendices
  • Prepare a separate cover letter to introduce your manuscript to the editors and include article title and author identification information – see Cover Letter Guide below
Long quotations
  • For quotations longer than 75 words, indent quotations one tab from both margins and off-set
  • Citations for block-style quotations should follow end punctutation
Tables and charts:
  • Prepare tables with the Microsoft Word table editor
  • Include tables and charts where they should appear in the manuscript (not the end of the manuscript file)
  • Number tables and charts in the order in which they are cited in the text
  • Provide a descriptive title for each table and chart
  • When possible, the files used to create tables and charts (e.g. Excel files) should additionally be submitted as supplemental files to be processed for publication
Figures and illustrations:
  • Do not include titles and legends in illustration files
  • Number figures in the order in which they are mentioned in the text, and provide a brief but descriptive caption (legend) for each figure
  • Includes figures and illustrations where they should appear in the manuscript (not at the end of the manuscript file)
  • All artwork (figures, photographs, and illustrations) should additionally be submitted as supplemental files to be processed for publication
  • The required format is TIFF, EPS, or JPEG with the following resolutions: 1,200 dpi for line figures (e.g., graphs), 600 dip for gray scale figures (e.g., photographs), and 300 dpi for color figures
References
  • Articles should use the most recent Chicago style for references
  • Whenever possible, authors should include date accessed for online sources, URLS, and DOIs

Cover Letter Guide

Prepare a cover letter as a seperate file. The cover letter should include the following:

  • Title of manuscript
  • Author(s), with each author's highest academic degree or professional title and affiliation
  • Institutional affiliation for each author, with city, state, and country
  • Name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of each author
  • An asterik or other indication of the author(s) responsible for correspondence
  • Clearly state the purpose of the paper and its expected contribution to the field of leadership studies
  • Funding statements and/or other acknowledgements
  • Any previous presentation of the data or findings in a preliminary report or abstract

Acceptance

Once a manuscript is accepted for publication, authors will be required to put back information that was blinded for peer review (references to the authors and their institutions, self-citations, etc.) before final copyediting can take place. All manuscripts undergo reformatting by the Managing Editor to fit the design layout agreed upon by the editors of IJLS.

Corresponding Author Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to submit the manuscript and all related files (appendices, data, tables/charts/figures/illustrations, media, etc.) and be prepared to receive and comply with all communications from the editors. Authors receiving acceptances or revise-and-resubmits should include point-by-point replies to each of the reviewers’ comments in a separate file. Revised manuscripts should be uploaded in the online system in a timely fashion and must either use Track Changes in Word or include a separate document, uploaded as a supplementary file, outlining the changes that have been made. It is the corresponding author’s responsibility to ensure all listed authors are aware of the submission process and approve the final article for publication.