Submissions

Author Guidelines

Call for Papers - Issue No. 4. Community Organizing and Higher Education in a Time of Crisis.

Read the full Call for Papers here

Framing Questions
Authors may wish to address one or more of the following questions:

1. How can colleges and universities play more powerful roles in challenging social injustice
   and fostering the common good, and what contribution can community organizing make to that mission? How can colleges and universities collaborate with organizing to build both fields' transformative power?
2. How might training in the practices of community organizing become a more substantial and transformative part of higher education curricula? How can higher education help organizing develop deeper practices and broaden its reach?
3. How can institutions deploy their resources—knowledge, physical spaces, research capacity, networks—to support community power-building, and how can organizing help drive this shift?
4. How do the opportunities and constraints for universities engaging in social justice work vary across different national and political contexts?
5. In places where higher education is under direct political attack, how are organizing
   strategies being used to defend autonomy, academic freedom, and civic purpose?

Timeline

• March 19th: Call for Papers
• May 8: Abstract submission deadline
  • not required but possible if authors would like feedback and an initial assessment of their manuscipt idea
• June 5: Abstract feedback
• July 6: Completed manuscripts due
  • completed manuscripts take approximately 3 months for review with an additional 2 months for revisions of accepted papers and dialogue with editors
• December 2026/ January 2027: Anticipated publication

Abstract Guidelines

We welcome abstracts up to 750 words for any of the open issues and general submissions that fit the scope of the journal. 

The headings provided below are suggestions only.  We look forward to seeing abstracts structured in different ways.  What is most important is not that an abstract fits some pre-determined format, but that it clearly describes and summarizes the aims and content of the planned submission.

Further, there will likely be differences between submissions from those more used to the “scholarly” side of the field and those who see themselves more as “practitioners.” In the spirit of organizing and openness to a range of ways of making sense of our work, we invite authors to write abstracts in ways that fit their own needs. We include questions as samples of the content that each section might address.

Our process is collaborative. We want to work with authors, so please feel free to let know how we can be helpful. If you have questions or are seeking advice at any stage, let us know. If there are parts of your contribution about which you are not sure, it’s okay to say so.

Statement of Purpose

1. What do you seek to accomplish in this submission? 
2. What should the audience expect to learn from it? 

Methods/Theory

1. What method(s) is your submission grounded in? 

These could range from more structured forms of qualitative research to personal reflections. Consider your “method” to be the approach you are taking to exploring your idea. It does not have to be from a research project, but could be an explanation of what your stance is – the lens through which you are looking at your topic or idea.

1. Are you drawing on a particular theoretical framework to guide your analysis?  What concepts have guided the development of your paper?

Defining the boundaries of your discussion can be helpful for explaining the scope of what you are trying to communicate. You may or may not be drawing on a specific theory or conceptual idea. Consider this section to be about “defining your terms” and providing your reader with some guardrails for understanding your main argument.

1. What kind of data and examples are you drawing on? 

This could range from interviews, to observations, to published literature or material, to practitioners’ or authors’ personal experiences.

Main ideas/Arguments

1. What key arguments are you planning to make?
2. Are you making a case for/against a certain perspective, practice, or stance?

Submission Guidelines

Submissions can range from 5,000 and 8,000 words including references, figures, and footnotes. We welcome papers that are co-authored by scholar-practitioner teams. Each paper will include an abstract of up to 200 words. Authors should provide a clear statement of purpose, theoretical and/ or methodological frames (what concepts and approaches have guided the development of your paper?), an explanation of existing practices and research that inform your discussion, and an analytic or reflective discussion that explains your main ideas or arguments. We also encourage authors to share their views about the implications of their paper for the practice, scholarship, and/or teaching of community organizing. 

Submissions should follow Chicago-Style Citation . Authors are encouraged to contact the editorial team with any questions about using Chicago Style. A bibliography and citation guide can be found here.  

Authors should post their submissions through the online system after (free) registration to the journal: https://organizingjournal.net/index.php/COJ/user/register.

Book Reviews

Please visit the Book Reviews page for more information