Contributing
Reflecting our vision and values, we welcome a wide variety of contributions relevant to Mad Studies, including and not limited to: poetry, soap box, discussion papers, current issues, debates, interviews with leaders, cartoons, art, videos, and articles for peer review.
We invite contributions from people whose voices have been marginalised by, and are not generally embraced by traditional academic and professional journals. Innovation and creativity are particularly welcomed.
Categories of contributions
Peer reviewed articles:
These might include research articles, literature reviews, or position papers. Articles to be sent for peer review will more closely resemble the structure of a published academic manuscript and would generally include:
- Abstract or summary (150 - 300 words)
- Introduction/background
- Methods (for research articles)
- Discussion
- Conclusions
Non-peer reviewed contributions:
A wide range of articles will be considered for publication in the journal and thus there is no strict guidelines for these contributions – although the Editorial team may provide some guidance on specific submissions to ensure they are consistent with the aims and scope of the journal.
Presentation of submissions
For submission, you will need:
- Your submission file (including text, figures and tables). This file should be
- Blinded if submitted for peer review
- Include legends for all figures and tables
- Contain a reference list (this may be presented in any style of format, as long as it is consistent throughout the manuscript)
- A title page with
- Author details (name, email address, affiliation(s)
- Ethics approval details (if relevant)
- Keywords
- Acknowledgements (if relevant)
- Integrity statement
- Disclosure of funding (if relevant)
- Conflict Of Interest statement
Editorial policy
When you submit your work to the International Mad Studies Journals (IMSJ) it will go to our Editorial Team to determine if it is suitable for review. If it is not, we will be in touch with feedback and suggestions for how your submission could be developed for publication in IMSJ or elsewhere. If your submission is determined to be suitable for review, we will send it to at least two reviewers.
This is a predominately open process, you will know who the reviewers are unless the reviewer chooses to remain anonymous. You can choose to remain anonymous or have your name shared with the reviewers. You can also list people as preferred reviewers or people who you would prefer to not review your work. They will make comments and suggested revisions to your contribution. You will be able to respond to these comments and have open communication with the reviewers. Our goal is to support the development of the field of Mad Studies through open discussion between authors and reviewers.
We aim to support people who contribute to our journal to have their work published. Ultimately, the editorial boards decision will be final but this will be made in discussion with those who submit.
Writing submitted to the journal should be written in a style as accessible to readers as possible. The audience of this journal is intended to be everyone, from people with lived experience, service users, to clinicians and other practitioners, to academics. We recognise that these identities often overlap. Writings can be more complex if this is required to broaden understandings or discuss complex concepts and ideas. We understand people have unique ways of writing and welcome these suggestions.
We are open to publishing material that has been rejected by another journal. You could tell us about why it was rejected if you wish! We are also open to creative approaches or non-conventional approach to structuring articles. We will accept articles written in any of the standard referencing styles, Harvard, Chicago, or APA, so long as it is followed correctly and consistently. We recommend the use of endnote or similar referencing system where possible. Our maximum number of words is 5000 (excluding abstract and references) and we have no minimum. Longer papers may be accepted under some circumstances. Authors will retain copyright of their material but the journal has unrestricted usage of it (for example, we would be allowed to print a physical copy of your work), or move to a new internet platform in future. Our expected turn around time is 4 - 6 months. When you submit your article please let us know if it has been published elsewhere and if it can be published in multiple places.
This journal values academic freedom of expression. This includes the right to publish things that people may disagree with. We will publish content that appears to have conflicting perspectives. We will seek to publish commentaries and counter-perspectives especially in relation to a contentious issue. This is in the hopes of furthering the field of Mad Studies. However, we will not publish any material that is defamatory or discriminatory to any group. This means we will not publish writing that demeans people based solely on diagnosis, class, physical attributes, or any forms of identity.
IMSJ also will not publish any work that specifically names any individuals (other than the author), professionals, organizations, institutions, businesses etc. All information that could be used to identify any individuals (other than the author), professionals, organizations, institutions, businesses, etc, must be replaced by anonymised references. Under certain circumstances the Editors may determine that naming a person or organization is justifiable enough to make an exception to this policy of anonymity.
The following questions will be considered when reviewing your submission. This may help you in formulating your work:
- Does this submission advance the field of mad studies?
- Is this submission relevant to survivors/ex-patients/consumers/service users or people who have been labelled ‘mad’ or ‘mentally ill’
- Does the submission’s present a clear argument?
- Is it written in an accessible way or in a way that people will understand?
- Does this submission offer a genuinely different perspective to that otherwise offered by mainstream journals or publications?
