Information for Authors
About the Journal
Articles for the Community Development Journal cover a wide range of topics, reviewing significant developments and providing a forum for cutting-edge debates about theory and practice. The journal adopts a broad definition of community development to include policy, planning and action as they impact on the life of communities. We particularly seek to publish critically focused articles which challenge received wisdom, report and discuss innovative practices, and relate issues of community development to questions of social justice, diversity and environmental sustainability.
Why submit to the Community Development Journal?
- Rising Impact Factor of 1.2 (Source: Clarivate 2024).
- Diverse, experienced editorial board supporting the international reach of your work.
- A double-blind peer-reviewed journal supported by a rigorous editorial process to ensure it publishes only the highest quality research.
- A simple online submission process.
- Option to publish under an open access license, allowing for wider dissemination. Find out more.
- Browse some of the most highly cited research that has contributed to our continued success. Publishing in CDJ could mean your work is included in future collections like this.
- Global readership.
Once a paper is accepted, Community Development Journal will publish a copyedited, proofed, corrected version of the paper online as soon as it is ready. This will later be included in a paginated issue.
Access the Submission Site
Ethics guidelines
Articles based on the author or authors’ own empirical research with human participants must include a discussion of ethical decision-making in the main body of the text. This should include: an account of how they obtained informed consent from research participants (if applicable), steps taken to avoid any potential harm, and any ethical issues that arose during the research process. Authors must also describe how their research is informed by relevant professional ethical guidelines relevant to their discipline or research paradigm.
Where possible, authors of empirical research should seek ethical approval from a relevant institutional body, such as an Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board. The outcome of the process should be clearly stated. We recognise that some authors will not have access to such a body. In such instances, we still expect a full discussion of ethical considerations as outlined above.
The Community Development Journal adheres the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines. We follow Oxford University Press’ policies on authorship, plagiarism, defamation, conflict of interest, fair editing and peer review. We systematically employ plagiarism-detection software on all articles sent to peer review.
Essential Guidelines
All prospective authors are advised to read these Essential Guidelines, developed by the Editors of Community Development Journal, before submitting their research.
Submissions of articles of between 5,000 and 7,000 words (inclusive of abstract and references) are invited; articles should include a word count. Authors should avoid sexist, racist or other discriminatory expressions or statements. An article should make it clear to readers at or near the beginning why it is worth reading, by clearly summarizing the main argument and explaining its political and strategic significance. Authors should also remember they are writing for an international readership and should avoid jargon, clichés, acronyms and complicated constructions. Articles are reviewed by at least two referees and this is done in double blind peer review.
Manuscripts
Contributions are accepted on the understanding that they constitute original work, and will not be submitted elsewhere for publication without prior permission.
For information on file types and electronic submission, please read our Online Submission Instructions and then submit via our Online Submission Website. For guidance on the style and formatting of your manuscript, please see our Style Guide for Authors.
Standard articles of up to 7,000 words (including abstract and references) which fit the remit of the journal should be submitted in the normal way through Manuscript Central, and will be subject to the formal peer review process.
CDJ also publishes shorter 'Reflections' pieces focusing on an area of practice or debating contemporary issues relevant to community development. These incorporate what were previously practice-based Notes from the Field but can also range more widely to examine matters of current concern, including how political, ideological and economic developments across the globe impinge on community development. They will usually be commissioned but if you have an idea for a shorter reflective piece, or if you want to respond to a previously published Reflections article, contact the Editor ([email protected]) by email.
If your first language is not English, you may wish to have your paper professionally edited. This will ensure that the academic content of your paper is fully understood by journal editors and reviewers. Language editing is optional and does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted for publication. Further information on this service. Several specialist language editing companies offer similar services and you can also use any of these. Authors are liable for all costs associated with such services.
Crossref Funding Data Registry
In order to meet your funding requirements authors are required to name their funding sources, or state if there are none, during the submission process. For further information on this process or to find out more about CHORUS, visit the CHORUS initiative.
Books for Review
Please send books for review to:
Dr. Aideen O'Shaughnessy
Email: [email protected]
School of Social and Political Sciences
Bridge House
University of Lincoln
Brayford Pool
Lincoln, LN6 7TS
Licence to Publish
It is a condition of publication in the Journal that authors assign copyright to Oxford University Press. This ensures that requests from third parties to reproduce articles are handled efficiently and consistently and will also allow the article to be as widely disseminated as possible. In assigning copyright, authors may use their own material in other publications provided that the Journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication, and Oxford University Press is notified in writing and in advance.
Upon receipt of accepted manuscripts at Oxford Journals authors will be invited to complete an online copyright licence to publish form.
Please note that by submitting an article for publication you confirm that you are the corresponding/submitting author and that Oxford University Press ("OUP") may retain your email address for the purpose of communicating with you about the article. You agree to notify OUP immediately if your details change. If your article is accepted for publication OUP will contact you using the email address you have used in the registration process. Please note that OUP does not retain copies of rejected articles.
Open Access options for Authors
Community Development Journal offers the option of publishing under either a standard licence or an open access licence. Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please do clarify any such requirements with your funder or institution.
Should you wish to publish your article open access, you should select your choice of open access licence in our online system after your article has been accepted for publication. You will need to pay an open access charge to publish under an open access licence.
Details of the open access licences and open access charges.
OUP has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions and consortia which provide funding for open access publishing. This means authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution is participating.
Author Discounted Issues
All authors have the option to purchase up to 10 print copies of the issue in which they publish at a 50% discount. Orders should be placed through this order form. Orders must be made within 12 months of the online publication date.
Availability of data and materials
Where ethically feasible, the Journal strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. Authors are required to include a data availability statement in their paper. When data and software underlying the research article are available in an online source, authors should include a full citation in their reference list. For details of the minimum information to be included in data and software citations see the OUP guidance on citing research data and software.
Whenever possible, data should be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files or deposited in a public repository. Visit OUP’s Research data page for information on general repositories for all data types, and resources for selecting repositories by subject area.
Data availability statement
The inclusion of a data availability statement is a requirement for papers published in the Journal. Data availability statements provide a standardized format for readers to understand the availability of original and third-party data underlying the research results described in the paper. The statement should describe and provide means of access, where possible, by linking to the data or providing the required unique identifier.
