Author Guidelines
The following guidelines are for authors submitting a manuscript, as well as those preparing the final version of articles or book reviews which have been accepted for publication. Failure to follow these guidelines will delay the review and publication process.
General instructions for manuscripts
Authors should not submit more than one manuscript at a time to the CJAL. Only one manuscript per author will be assigned to the review process at a time.
The CJAL will not normally consider more than one submission from the same author or the same group of authors within a 12 month period.
Authors have the right to withdraw their manuscript from the CJAL but should inform the editors as soon as possible and do so before the review process begins so as not to inconvenience reviewers.
Preprints Policy
The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) defines a preprint as "a form of publication which enables pre-peer reviewed articles to be disseminated quickly and widely, under open access licenses, usually at no cost to authors."
The CJAL will consider manuscripts previously published as preprints. However, upon submitting to the CJAL, authors must disclose that the manuscript has been published as a preprint and provide a website link to the article.
If the manuscript is accepted for publication by the CJAL, authors must update the preprint version with a link to the final published article.
Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
In the interest of transparency, authors must disclose the use of AI for assistance with data collection, data analysis and/or writing of the manuscript. This also applies to any AI-generated figures or other images included in the manuscript. Ultimately, authors are responsible for ensuring that any use of AI is disclosed and that it does not compromise the accuracy and reliability of their work. Additionally, any use of AI must not violate the CJAL’s submission policies and/or publishing ethics guidelines. Failure to disclose the use of AI will result in an immediate decline of the manuscript from being considered for publication in the CJAL.
Preparing Articles and Book Reviews
Authors submitting manuscripts are required to adhere to the guidelines outlined in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition) as well as the following:
Articles
- At the beginning of the article, include the title and an abstract (between 10 and 15 lines, maximum 150 words), in either English or French. Please note, should your manuscript be acceptable for publication, you will be required to provide an abstract in the other language.
- Limit the number of times that you reference your own work. Be sure to anonymize the manuscript by removing any references or information that may identify you as the author(s). Any reference(s) to an author's own work should be cited as "Author (xxxx)" in the manuscript at the time of submission. Ensure that all personal information is cleared from the file's properties.
- Limit English manuscripts to a maximum of approximately 10,000 words in length including notes, tables, figures, and references.
- Submit the manuscript using the process outlined in the Online Journal System.
Please note: Before beginning the double anonymized peer-review process, all submissions are verified for evidence of plagiarism.
Book reviews
- For unsolicited books, please contact our book review editor, Kevin Papin, at papin.kevin@uqam.ca.
- A limit of one book review submission (single or group-authored) to CJAL every three years.
- Content/format:
- Begin the review with the complete APA (7th ed.) reference for the book and indicate the number of
pages (Roman and Arabic).
- On a separate line, indicate the first and last
names as well as the institutional affiliation of the reviewer(s).
- Length – no more than 1000 words (approximately 2 pages, single spaced).
- Overview of the book.
- Brief review of individual chapters.
- Critical evaluation – contribution to the field, target audience, etc.
Please note: All book review submissions will be screened by the book review editor, and the decision to publish is up to the discretion of the editorial team. A submission does not constitute a guarantee of publication.