Policies
Summary of Key Requirements
Word limit: 5,000-10,000 words, but longer papers are considered; tables and references do not count towards word limit.
Supplementary materials may be added as a separate document, do not count towards word limit, and have no word limits.
Style-free format during initial submission (e.g., APA, MLA, etc.).
First decision (to send out for review or desk reject): 28 days; Review process: 2-3 months; Editorial decision: accept, acceptance contingent on revision, or rejection. Accepted papers are asked for a 1-page brief of the paper without technical jargon. This short brief is intended to make the research more approachable for a broad audience. The brief will be published as a separate document.
Peer Review Policy
Researchers are encouraged to submit their work for peer review. We are not discipline specific, but rather focus on rural issues within the Great Plains. Research from all areas of academia are welcome, including arts, sciences, education, engineering, agriculture, architecture, law, medicine, veterinary medicine, phramacology, and all others. Also, non-academic policy essays dealing with rural issues—both historical and current—are very welcome. For information on whether your work "fits" with the mission of the Journal, please contact either Dr. Tuan Nguyen at tuan.nguyen@missouri.edu or Dr. Mary Kohn at kohn@ksu.edu.
Information for Authors
Policies & Guidelines on Submissions
The purpose of the Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy is to expand publication opportunities for scholars in our field. The journal is a peer-reviewed, online publication. It publishes academic and community-based research, commentary, and policy articles focused on the Great Plains in a way that is of interest to both academic and community audiences. The goal is not only to present theory, but to stimulate discussion, encourage more research on rural issues, and improve access to information that promotes decision-making that enhances rural people and places.
Reports of original investigations in any area of research and policy that affect rural areas are sought. Scholars, students, community development practitioners and policy makers are encouraged to submit original articles for review. We encourage submissions on topics in all disciplines: arts, sciences, education, engineering, agriculture, architecture, law, medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacology, public health, the environment, ethnicity, demographics and others. For information on whether your work "fits" with the mission of the Journal, please contact either Dr. Tuan Nguyen at tuan.nguyen@missouri.edu or Dr. Mary Kohn at kohn@ksu.edu.
The researcher's method is important only with regard only to its suitability for the study undertaken. The diversity of the field of mass communication should mean that we will accept studies employing a wide variety of methods.
The journal recruits invited works and, at the same time, is a peer-reviewed publication. The editors will review manuscripts, send them out to reviewers and will advise co-editors. As typical with peer review, the reviewer does not know the identity of the author. We aim to provide the first decision to either send out for review or desk reject within 28 days of initial submission. Once we send the manuscript out for review, we will provide the first round of reviews within 2-3 months. The result of the review may be acceptance, acceptance contingent on revision, or rejection. Special circumstances excepted, the journal will not review more than one article by an author in a single year.
Word Limits
Please include a word count for your paper.
A typical paper for this journal is between 5,000 to 10,000 words, excluding references and tables. We do consider longer papers, particularly if they are conceptual, theoretical, systematic reviews, or meta-analyses. Please contact Dr. Tuan Nguyen at nguyetd1@ksu.edu and explain why your paper may be longer than 10,000 words.
Supplementary materials, such as additional robustness checks or appendices, may be added as a separate document, do not count towards word limit, and have no word limits.
Formatting Requirements
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
- The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
- Initial submission is style-free formatting (e.g., APA, MLA, etc.). Only accepted papers will be asked to format their papers.
- Once accepted, we will ask for an additional 1-page brief of the paper written without technical jargon. This short brief is intended to make the research more approachable for a broad audience. The brief will be published as a separate document.
- The submission file is in Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
- Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
- The text is single-spaced using Arial 12-point font; title is Arial 14-point font and right justified; author name, Arial 12-point font, right justified; 1 inch margins; employ italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
- The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
- If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.
- Where available, DOIs (digital object identifiers) for references (works cited) have been provided and are hotlinked in the Word document. As a member of CrossRef, our publisher, New Prairie Press, is required to include DOIs. Use the free DOI lookup on CrossRef's website to check your citations.
Other Policies
Open Access Policy
OJRRP provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of information that leads to knowledge and progress.
Author Rights
We are committed to publishing open access works to foster communication, disseminate information, and improve the broader impact of research on rural issues. In this spirit, authors retain rights to their work. As such, authors are able to reproduce their work without prior consultation with the journal as long as the publication acknowledges that the work was first published in this journal. This copyright agreement is particularly useful for authors who may seek to republish components of their work in chapters and books, or who may use aspects of their work, such as images, data, or analysis, in subsequent journal publications. We value the work produced by our contributors and anticipate that such an agreement will help boost the impact of work contributed to this journal.
Copyright Notice
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Archival Policy
Contents of the Journal are archived for perpetual access through New Prairie Press' participation in in CLOCKSS (Controlled Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) and Portico and managed through the Digital Commons Publishing platform. New Prairie Press also participates in LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe). Once published, the contents are never changed .
