Instructions for Authors

Aims and Scope

The Australian Journal of Social Issues is a quarterly refereed journal published by the Australian Social Policy Association (ASPA). The AJSI aims to contribute to the development of social scientific analysis of social and policy problems in Australia. Submissions presenting research on any aspect of Australian social policy are considered, including work that explores conceptual problems, presents empirical studies, or debates policy initiatives. Research within any social scientific discipline is welcome, but all submissions should be readable across disciplinary boundaries.

From time to time, and usually not more than once a year, a special issue of the Journal will appear. The Editors will call for proposals annually under the special issues policy.

Notes for Contributors

The Australian Journal of Social Issues is a quarterly publication that welcomes submissions examining issues of social justice and social policy that are of relevance to Australia.
The journal website is at https://aspa.org.au/ajsi

Types of Submissions

The AJSI accepts research article submissions up to 8,000 words, including abstract, tables, notes and references. The journal also invites shorter submissions up to 5,000 words that review and analyse current policy debates, theory and practice. These will appear in a Forum section. The editors will consider proposals for thematic issues on significant current issues and debates. All submissions are peer-reviewed.

Manuscripts can be submitted electronically at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ajsi

Preparing your Documents for Submission

Title page document: A separate document containing the manuscript title, author names, the corresponding author, author affiliations, a note on each author up to 80 words in length, 5 keywords and an abstract of up to 200 words.

Main document: Remove all obvious author identifying information including self-citations and acknowledgements. Arrange your document in the following order: main text, Acknowledgements, References, Endnotes.

Text: 12 point Times New Roman font, 1.2 or 1.5 line spacing.

Quotations: Indent quotations of more than 40 words. For shorter quotations, include them in the paragraph and use single quotation marks.

Interview quotations: Should be indented, even where shorter than 40 words, and followed by italicized identifying information in brackets, for example: (Suzanne, daughter, regional area).

Headings: First word capitalized, 12 point casing, aligned with left margin, no numbering.

Table and figures: Include on separate sheets following the list of references or in separate files. Number tables and figures separately and numerically, include a short descriptive title, and insert any notes and legend below. Indicate placement in the text, for example: ‘Insert Table 1 here’.

Acknowledgements: To ensure anonymity, remove acknowledgments from the submission; these can be inserted before the list of references once the article is accepted for publication. Declare your research funding sources here.

Endnotes: Use sparingly, in text explanations are preferred. Place endnotes after the list of references.

References in the text: Harvard author-date style. Organise cited references in ascending date order. Use ‘a’, ‘b’, to distinguish between works published in the same year by a single author. Examples:

The major improvement was in the quality of the poisons used (Banks & Braes 1997a:122).

Later studies (for example, Heathwood et al. 1995; Banks & Braes 1997b, 2010; Enquist 2010; Viorella 2010) reinforced the case for insurance law reform. Roy (1997a: 408) argues that …

Referencing examples

At the end of the manuscript, include a list of all references cited in the text, arranged alphabetically by author, chronological year of publication and presented under the heading ‘References’. Do not use ‘et al.’ or ampersands (‘&’) here. Examples to follow include:

Official publications

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2009) Household Income and Income Distribution, Australia, 2007-08, Cat. No. 6523.0.

Treasury (2011) Budget 2011-12, Canberra, Commonwealth of Australia

Books

Sherr, L.A. & Teeter, D.J. (eds) (1991) Total Quality Management in Higher Education, New Directions for Institutional Research no. 71, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Inc.

Book chapters

Carroll, J. (1982) ‘Paranoid and remissive: the treason of the upper middle class’. In R. Manne (ed.) The New Conservatism in Australia, Melbourne, Oxford University Press.

Journal articles

Walters, W. (1997) ‘The active society: new designs for social policy’, Policy and Politics, 25 (3), 221-34.

Newspaper articles

Williams, G. (2014) ‘How would a referendum change Australia’s racist laws?’, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 September , www.smh.com.au (accessed 22 October 2014).

Media releases

Abbott, T. (2014) ‘Forrest Review of Indigenous Training and Employment’, Media release, 01 August, Prime Minister of Australia, Canberra, www.pm.gov.au (accessed 22 October 2014).

Reports

Burkett, I. (2010) Financing social enterprise: understanding needs and realities, Brisbane, Foresters Community Finance.

Working/discussion papers

Elliehausen, G. (2009) An analysis of consumers’ use of payday loans, Financial Services Research Program Monograph No. 41, Washington, The George Washington University School of Business.

Theses

Tucker, D. (1992) Reconstructing the fifties: an analysis of home ownership in Tasmania. Ph.D thesis, Norfolk University (unpublished).

Conference papers

Williams, R.M. & Taki, A.M. (2000) ‘Factors affecting postcolonial discourse’, paper presented to the International Congress on Political Economy, Strasbourg, 28-30 June.

In-Text Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are an increasingly important component of documenting the sources used and enhancing the readers’ experience of journal articles; however writing out the full details of the link can reduce the readability of the publication. When inserting hyperlinks in the references follow the above examples. For in-text hyperlinks provide short description rather than the full link to ensure that any unnecessarily long links are hidden and the text reads well. Never use a URL as a hyperlink within a sentence: Instead of ‘full details are available at: ‘http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2013A00020‘ use ‘full details are available in the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013’. We recommend that authors cut and paste their hyperlinks into the ‘Edit Hyperlink’ dialog box in Word and then give it a shortened name. This way the electronic version of the journal can display an active link to the source document without excessively compromising the readability of the text.

Presenting Research Methodologies and Ethics

The Australian Journal of Social Issues has a broad readership. To ensure the readability of the journal to its diverse and multi-disciplinary audience, authors should include, where relevant, the following items in their manuscript:

  • Incorporate a dedicated discussion of the methodology, outlining the approach taken, its relevance to the research issues at hand and any innovations involved;
  • Provide details of any formal ethical approval, recruitment strategy, the process used for obtaining informed consent and any ethical concerns that arose during the research;
  • Explain the research setting and include the sample size and/or key characteristics of participants where relevant;
  • Describe the process of analysis for desktop reviews, e.g. coding strategies, including computer coding, and when part of a research team, the role of each person in the analysis, consideration of any bias and strategies for ensuring consistency between researchers;
  • Outline any limitations of the research including that relating to the data and methodology;
  • Limit the use of jargon but where used place it in single quotation marks and explain its meaning in the text;
  • Declare any funding arrangements and the role of the funding body in the research.

Submission

Submit your manuscript electronically at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ajsi

When submitting your manuscript through the online submission system, ScholarOne, you will be will be asked to identify your funding sources, declare any conflicts of interest, affirm that the manuscript is being submitted to the AJSI only and that it has not been submitted, in press or published elsewhere.

The Review Process

The AJSI employs a double-blind peer review process where the identities of authors and referees are concealed from each other. The expert assessments of two referees are sought and a third may be consulted from time to time. Most papers require some revision. Once a paper is accepted, the editors will correspond with you to ensure that your article fully complies with the AJSI style in the final proofs. To facilitate the publication process, please ensure your manuscript is correctly laid out.

Journal Copies

All authors receive a hard copy of the issue in which their article appears and a PDF proof copy.

 

Revised November 2014.