Preparing your submission – peer-reviewed papers, interviews and reviews

All papers should include:

• a descriptive title
• a brief professional biography of each author, including their affiliations (e.g. the organisation they work for)
• contact details for the corresponding author (usually an email address)
• an abstract of 200 or fewer words
• key words
• the article text
• acknowledgments if required, including of any relevant funding or conflict of interest
• a full reference list using APA7

We do not require a specific structure or headings to be used in the article text.

Cultural reviews

We occasionally publish reviews of books, films, exhibitions and other creative works. These reviews usually address content produced outside the field of therapy, rather than publications about narrative therapy and community work itself. 

Rather than publishing reviews that offer only a summary or evaluation of a work, we are more interested in publishing review essays that stretch the field of narrative practice by making new connections, presenting innovative thinking, or introducing provocations. Such a review might address a single work or consider resonances among several works. We particularly value reviews that make links to practice, and reviews that make original contributions in their own right.  

Word limit

We do not have a strict word limit; however, we generally prefer to publish articles of between 4000 and 6000 words in length, inclusive of the abstract, references, endnotes and any tables, figures or captions. Reviews and interviews are often shorter than this.

Referencing

Please use in-text citations and provide a full reference list following The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association Seventh Edition (APA7). There is information about APA referencing conventions available here.

Language

We are an Australian-based international journal and use Australian English conventions for spelling, punctuation, grammar and writing style. We generally follow the Macquarie dictionary (9th ed.) for spelling, and the Australian Government’s Style manual for authors, editors and printers (6th ed.) for language conventions and matters of style. We also respect the specific expressions, words and turns of phrase of non-Australian cultures and will honour these if they are included in your submission. The journal’s language conventions will be applied at the copy editing stage – we welcome submissions in any form of English.

Document set up

Please submit your article as an editable document such as a Word file.

As we have an open peer-review process, there is no need to remove your name or identifying details.

Use a 12-point typeface and 1.5 or double line spacing.

Please do not include a header or footer, page numbering, text boxes, columns or any decorative formatting. If you use referencing software, please convert fields to plain text.

Photos, illustrations, tables and diagrams

If relevant, you may include photos or illustrations in your article. These can be included within the document when you submit your paper. Authors of accepted papers will be asked to supply separate high-resolution files at the production stage. We publish colour, black and white, and greyscale images, and there is no cost to authors for their inclusion.

If tables or figures contain text, they must be submitted as editable objects. Please do not insert tables or figures as images.

You must own or have written permission use to any material to be included with your article. All tables, figures and images should be accompanied by a descriptive caption or heading, including attribution if relevant.

Copy editing

After an article has passed through peer review and been accepted for publication, it is copy edited for style, grammar, spelling, punctuation and so on. Although we copy edit every article, we appreciate it when authors take the time to thoroughly check for errors before submission.

Our editing process is quite technically thorough, and intellectually and politically rigorous. In addition to matters of language, it also attends to the politics of representation, ethics in practice and other substantive content issues. Many papers undergo substantive revision. In all cases, we seek to work with authors during this process to ensure that all changes are acceptable and fit with authors’ preferences for how their work is presented. Our publishing principles statement contains more information about the kinds of content issues we seek to address.

Video abstracts

Once a paper has been accepted for publication, authors may choose to prepare a video abstract of up to two minutes in length. This informal introduction to your paper will be published alongside your article.

Submitting your paper

Please submit your paper via the submissions portal here.