Submissions

Author Guidelines

1. Editorial policy

The Quarterly on Refugee Problems - AWR Bulletin (QRP) maintains an editorial policy of strict independence. Neither the Editor-in-Chief, the Editorial Team, nor the Publisher, the Association for the Study of the World Refugee Problem (AWR) respectively the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS), take responsibility for the views expressed by authors in their contributions.

2. Volume, Footnotes, References and Layout

Unless otherwise agreed upon by QRP, the volume of a manuscript shall adhere to the following standards (title, abstract, and references excluded):

• Editorial: 1,200 words
• Commentary: 1,200 words
• Research Article: 8,000-12,000 words
• Scientific Review: 8,000-12,000 words
• Practice Report: 2,000-5,000 words
• Policy Report: 2,000-15,000 words
• Book Review: 1,200 words
• Conference Review: 1,200 words,
• Jurisdiction: 2,400 words
• Legislation: 2,400 words
• News and Notes: 300 words

Authors are expected to follow the following style guidelines:

• Manuscripts have to be in English.
• Each page of the manuscript must be numbered using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, …) on the bottom right-hand corner.
• The text must be aligned to the left and written single-spaced.
• New paragraphs must not be indented and not be separated from each other by additional lines.
• Chapters, subchapters and sub-subchapters shall be separated from each other by one line.
• The font shall be Franklin Gothic Book (if not available: Arial), the font size 10 pts, including titles and tables.
• Italics may be used according to the APA referencing style or words in a foreign language.
• The referencing style is APA. Whereever possible/appropriate give page numbers or margin numbers.
• Direct quotations have to be identified as such by quotation marks.
• Each manuscript shall start with the author (Academic Rank, Given Name, Family Name, Affiliation, Country), title and subtitle.
• Each Research Article, Scientific Review, Practice Report or Policy Report has to give an abstract of 200-350 words in English and five keywords.
• Chapters, subchapters and subchapters are written in bold letters and numbered in Arabic numerals. Chapters are numbered by 1, 2, 3, …; subchapters are numbered 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, …, sub-subchapters are numbered 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, …. A maximum of three levels are to be applied. New levels are only to be opened if there are at least two subchapters/sub-subchapters on the respective level.
• Abbreviations (apart from the ones commonly used) have to be introduced by first writing the full word and second the abbreviation in brackets when using it the first time in the text (not in titles).
• Numbers in the text should be written in words from zero to nine and then in figures from 10 onwards.
• Figures and tables are numbered separately using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, …) based on their order of appearance in the text. Figure 1 and Table 1 are the first figure and the first table in the text. Each figure and table should have a title. Figures and tables are written with capital F and T. Figure and table legends should provide enough information to allow their understanding without reference to the text. Figures and tables with their legends have to be integrated in the text. Each figure and table should be referred to in the text. Do not use color coding in graphs or table, but use labels or symbols unless it would still be clear in a black and white printout.
• Footnotes use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, …) and end with a full stop. Endnotes are not allowed.
• For legal instruments:
  • Capital letters are used when abbreviating articles (“Art.”) or numbers (“No.”).
  • “para.” is used for paragraph.
  • Mentioning treaties for the first time, they should be referred to by: {full title} (adopted {dd/mm/year}, entered into force {dd/mm/yyyy}, {official source}, {year} {short title}).
    Example: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted 16/12/1966, entered into force 23/3/1976, 999 UNTS 171, 1966 ICCPR)
  • Mentioning treaties for the second and further times, they should only be referred to by {year} {short title}.
    Example: 1966 ICCPR
  • Mentioning UN resolutions for the first time, they should be referred to by: {UN organ} Resolution {No. ({Session})}, {full title} (adopted {dd/mm/year}, {short title}).
    Example: General Assembly Resolution 428 (V), Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (adopted 14/12/1950, UNGA Res. 428 [V])
  • Mentioning UN resolutions for the second and further times, they should only be referred to by  {short title}.
    Example: UNGA Res. 428 (5)

• For jurisdiction:
  • Mentioning court cases for the first time, they should be referred to by: {full court title} ({abbreviation for court}), {decision or judgement} of {dd/mm/year}, {title of the case, if any}, No. {registration number})
    Example: European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Judgment of 7/7/1989, Soering v. The United Kingdom, No. 14038/88
  • Mentioning court cases for the second and further times, they should only be referred to by{abbreviation for court} {title}, OR if there is no title {abbreviation for court} {decision or judgement} of {dd/mm/year},
    Example: ECHR, Soering,

Authors are responsible for checking the accuracy of all references. They shall not use automatic cross-referencing in footnotes.

Authors can obtain further guidance from previous issues of the QRP.

Contributions departing from QRP style will be returned to authors for revision.

3. Preparation of Manuscripts

Authors must ensure their manuscript is written in clear, concise English. Authors whose first language is not English should have their manuscript read by a native English speaker before submission.

Authors must prepare their manuscript, including tables, using a word-processing program and save it as a Microsoft Word, RTF oder WordPerfect file. Other file types, such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations, may be uploaded for supplementary documents.

When naming files, special characters or spaces are to be avoided and simple filenames used in the following formate: {First Author’s Family Name}_{Short Title}.

4. Submission of Manuscripts

Manuscript submissions for publication are done online (follow the instructions there). They must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere; if not, this needs to be indicated as a comment upon submission.

National/regional context and disciplinary peculiarities have to be explained (evtl. in footnotes) for readers from other countries/regions respectively disciplines.

Where ethically feasible, QRP strongly encourages authors to make all data and software codes on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript, additional supporting files or deposited in a public repository whenever possible.

Authors will be notified as soon as possible (normally within three months) of the Editorial Board's decision on the acceptability of their paper for publication.

5. Plagiarism and Fabrication

Each manuscript will be checked for plagiarism by a similarity check.

QRP follows the Office of Research Integrity's (ORI) definition of plagiarism, according to which it includes "both the theft or misappropriation of intellectual property and the substantial unattributed textual copying of another's work."

QRP considers the reuse of articles or parts of text from an author's own previous publications without appropriate references as self-plagiarism. Additionally, it reserves the right to reject duplicated manuscripts that are identical or in large parts identical with previously published works, where only minor additional value or new findings were added.

While QRP will consider all such cases on their individual matter, it reserves the right to reject a manuscript on the basis of a similarity check.

QRP reserves the right to correct, retract or otherwise amend the original publication when plagiarism is detected after publication.

6. Peer Review Policy

Submissions for research articles or scientific reviews are first screened by the Editors regarding formalities, academic quality and suitability for the journal.

Any drafts or versions of the paper online should be removed so as not to compromise the reviewing process. QRP operates double-anonymized peer review, meaning that reviewers’ identities are hidden from authors and vice versa. The Editor knows reviewers' and the authors' names. The Editors will not accept reviewers proposed by authors or who could foreseeably identify the author. On approval of the reviewers, they are listed on the QRP website as members of the Board of Reviewers.

Anonymized manuscripts are reviewed by two independent experts in the relevant field, who make a scientific assessment and a recommendation to the Editors. In case the recommendations contradict each other, a third reviewer will be asked for a final recommendation. Reviewers remain unknown to authors, have to indicate any conflict of interest or ethics or ethical concerns (see item 8 below) and expressly have to comply to the Committee on Publication Ethics's (COPE) COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.

The responsible Editor considers the manuscript and the reviewers’ comments before making a final decision. Final decisions might be to accept, to accept with revision or to reject a manuscript. QRP will contact the authors regarding the decision using the email address they have used in the registration process.

7. Proofs

Authors will receive a PDF or Word proof of their contribution prepared for the printer, on which typographical or other minor changes can be made.

8. Conflict of Interest and Ethics

A conflict of interest is construed as a personal involvement in a case or other matter being reported; a meaningful financial interest in the matter, or a connection with an author, including personal relationships or direct academic competition, that might raise the question of bias in reviewing and judging work submitted for publication.

Editors will refrain from participating in the evaluation and selection of articles as to which they may be reasonably perceived to have a conflict of interest. Similarly, outside reviewers will be expected to refrain from participating in the evaluation and selection of articles as to which they may be reasonably perceived to have a conflict of interest, and they will be advised that, by agreeing to review a submission, they are warranting that they are aware of no such conflict.

When a court case is the focus of an article published in the QRP, the author will declare any involvement he or she may have had in the case (as advocate, judge, or litigant) in a footnote on the title page. Similarly, any such involvement by the QRP Editors will be disclosed.

Authors are asked to declare any financial support related to their papers published in the QRP in a footnote. To meet funding requirements authors are required to name their funding sources, or state if there are none, during the submission process. Authors are responsible for all funding agency compliance and the accuracy of information you provided in relation to their article. QRP shall not be responsible for checking in that regard.

Authors are required to be transparant when using AI and AI-assisted technologies for the writing process by disclosing it in an introductory footnote.

By submitting an article for publication the authors confirm that

• they are the corresponding/submitting authors and hold the respective rights to submit and publish it as well as to transfer these rights to QRP;
• the manuscript is original, previously unpublished, no duplication, free from plagiarism and has not been submitted to any other journal (otherwise, an explanation is included in "Comments to the Editor").

Articles found to be in violation of a copyright or containing plagiarized material or other research misconduct shall be subject to retraction or correction. Corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies will be utilized when needed. Concerned authors might be barred from future publications.

9. Pre and Post Publication Matters

Any concerns regarding the integrity of published contributions will be thoroughly investigated by the Editors. Authors are given an opportunity to respond to allegations and to provide original materials and data. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the Editors reserve the right

• to reject submissions not published yet;
• to issue corrections, addendums, editorial notes or expressions of concerns for or rertract published contributions;
• to notify the institution the authors are affiliated with.

10. Promoting the Contribution after Publication

To promote the contribution after publication, authors are more than welcome to share the citation and link to the article on the QRP webpage with their networks online and offline, on institutional websites, CVs, email signatures, presentations and social media. Authors are encouraged to discuss and promote the article on conferences, workshops, social media channels and blogs or to and to set up launching events. As QRP aims to provide real solutions for refugee problems, authors should also disseminate their findings to the general public and all relevant decision takers.

11. Book Reviews

Publishers submitting books for review should send them to the Book Review Editor:

Prof. Dr. Sibylle Wollenschläger
(Book Review) Editor
Quarterly on Refugee Problems – AWR Bulletin
Faculty of Applied Social Sciences
University of Applied Sciences Würzburg Schweinfurt
Münzstraße 12
97070 Würzburg
Germany
sibylle.wollenschlaeger@thws.de

Reviewers should include full publishing details, including the ISBN and publisher/location.

12. Correspondence

All correspondence with the QRP should be sent to:

Professor Dr. Ralf Roßkopf
Editor-in-Chief
Quarterly on Refugee Problems – AWR Bulletin
Faculty of Applied Social Sciences
University of Applied Sciences Würzburg Schweinfurt
Münzstraße 12
97070 Würzburg
Germany
ralf.rosskopf@thws.de