Submissions to the Journal of Social Work Education (JSWE) are accepted only through the online manuscript submission system. Submissions received via mail, fax, or e-mail will be returned unread.
Submission Guidelines
Manuscripts submitted to JSWE should address either issues relevant to the education and training of social workers at all levels or innovative approaches to social work practice and their educational implications.
Articles should be original, have a sound conceptual or empirical base, and be well-argued. Manuscripts are considered original if they make a significant contribution to the advancement of existing knowledge. Conceptual soundness requires defining terms, providing a review of relevant literature, and advancing an intellectually sound argument or discussion. Empirical soundness requires congruence between questions raised and methods used to test them. “Show-and-tell” papers describing ad hoc experiences do not fit these criteria. Articles should be free of racial, religious, gender, or ethnic bias; focus on a key issue; and be well-organized, up to date, and editorially sound. Authors may find it useful to seek editorial help or criticism from colleagues before submitting their manuscripts.
To ensure anonymity in the peer-review process, all author identification information (name, position, institutional affiliation, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number) should appear in the cover letter only and should be excluded from the manuscript. Self-referential sources cited should not identify the author(s). Remove author names from any such source citations prior to submission.
Submissions must conform to the style guidelines established in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition). Submissions that do not follow these guidelines will be returned for resolution before entering the review process. Manuscripts should be 15–25 double-spaced pages, not including references, figures, or tables. Include with the manuscript an abstract of no more than 120 words. Send figures as separate PDF or JPG files. Tables should be grouped at the end of the manuscript.
In addition to full-length manuscripts, JSWE accepts manuscripts for the Notes section. Notes include Field Notes, Research Notes, and Teaching Notes. This section features brief reports of promising yet "untested" experimental teaching strategies or curriculum innovations with the hope that readers will be challenged to implement new ideas and evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies, thereby generating new knowledge. Manuscripts must still reflect originality, conceptual and empirical soundness, and be well-argued. Manuscripts submitted to the Notes section should not exceed 10 pages and should be written in the same clear, readable, and scholarly style as full-length manuscripts. Please submit for the Notes section using the same procedures as for regular manuscripts.
The Council on Social Work Education regards submission of a manuscript to the JSWE as a commitment to publish therein; simultaneous submission elsewhere is unacceptable. All papers are reviewed by two to three consulting editors. Every effort will be made to notify authors of publication decisions within 3 months of submission.
Reference Format
JSWE editorial review follows strictly the style guidelines in the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association for reporting works cited. Reference style guidelines apply to both in-text citations and reference list composition. For citing electronic references, authors are advised to refer to the APA website, for the most current style guidelines because these change faster than can be reported in print.
The list of references should contain only those works cited in the manuscript. Any exact source material that is the property of a different author or publisher and is reprinted in a manuscript submitted for an article should be accompanied by a written permission from the original author or publisher. Manuscripts will not be published without the necessary permissions.
Statistical Copy
Authors submitting statistical copy are asked to refer to the Shlonksy, Winter 2002 article for a concise overview of the expectations for the reporting of statistical data. Manuscripts containing statistical analysis will undergo a statistical review as well as a standard peer review. Every manuscript should follow the APA Publication Manual.
Special Topics
JSWE publishes groups of manuscripts on specific topics in special sections. In the recent past these special sections have included aging, domestic violence, and field education. Proposals for future special topics are accepted by JSWE. No more than one special topic proposal will be accepted each year. Special topic proposals should be sent to jswe@cswe.org. They will be reviewed by the editor-in-chief and the Editorial Advisory Board.
For questions regarding submissions to JSWE, please e-mail jswe@cswe.org.
Call for Special Topic Manuscripts: None at this time.