Do you publish conference proceedings?

• No, we do not publish conference proceedings.

Yesterday, I completed the Journal Article Submission Form, but I haven't received a response yet!

• After submitting the form, it will take at least one day (24 hours) before your submission will appear in our system. When we receive your article, we will notify you by email. It may take three to four business days before you receive confirmation. If you have not received a notification about your article submission after five days, or if you have other concerns regarding your submission, please open a ticket for assistance.

Is my initial submission a "rough-draft"?

• The initial submission is not a “rough-draft.” The initial submission should be a complete and final manuscript.

Can I submit to more than one journal at a time?

• Concurrent submissions are not accepted. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and it is unacceptable. Manuscripts must only be peer reviewed by one journal at a time.

What qualifies as a scholarly source?

• Our definition of a “scholarly” source is based on a functional perspective as it relates to our initial checks of article submissions. We've established the criteria of "edited book, peer reviewed publication, academic journal, or university press" because these are elements which are easy to distinguish in a reference list and these four categories consistently satisfy our expectations for credible sources. Other categories tend to leave room for debate and our goal is to make the initial check process clear, concise, and efficient.

What type of citation style does Common Ground use?

• Chicago Manual of Style Seventeenth Edition is a requirement for all journal articles. 

What national usage of spelling should be used?

• Please use national spellings according to USA national usage.

When using the Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition, should I use the Author-Date format or the Notes and Bibliography format?

• Please follow the Author-Date format for in-text citations and reference list entries. For more information, visit our Knowledge Base.

But, I'm the author... Do I really need to cite the source when I'm quoting my own published work?

• Yes, when referencing or quoting material that you (or a contributing author) have written this must be properly cited and properly quoted. All referenced material must credit the original author and must be cited correctly. When paraphrasing your previously published work, this must be properly cited. When quoting parts of your previously published work, this must be indicated using “quotation marks” and cited properly.

How long after publication does it take to appear in places like Google Scholar, other search engines, or other databases (EBSCO, PubMed, etc.)?

• This timeline is different for each search engine and/or database. It is also dependent on several variables. Google Scholar is one of the more popular questions, so this answer uses it as an example. Most of the CG journals which appear in Google Scholar appear there because they are also indexed in EBSCO databases. In these cases, EBSCO will update its index to include the newly published article, then Google Scholar will update its index based on the new content added to EBSCO. Many indexing bots will crawl sites based on a set interval (example: a quarterly journal might only be crawled and indexed every three months). This means it could take several months from the publication date for certain content to appear in Google Scholar or other search engines.

Who can volunteer as a reviewer?

• Articles published in Common Ground Journals are peer reviewed by scholars who are active members of our research networks. Reviewers may be past or present conference delegates, journal or book authors, or scholars who have volunteered to review articles (and have been screened by Common Ground’s editorial team). This engagement with the research network, as well as Common Ground’s synergistic and criterion-based evaluation system, distinguishes the peer-review process from journals that have a more top-down approach to peer review. Reviewers are assigned to articles based on their academic interests and scholarly expertise. After a peer review report has been verified, reviewers can request a certificate by replying to the “Reviewer Report Verified” message.

How much time do I have to review each article?

• Reviewers are given two weeks to complete peer review assignments. If you receive an assignment and you are unable to complete it in the two-week time frame, please notify us as soon as possible. Depending on your availability, we can either extend the due date to accommodate your schedule or reassign the article to another reviewer.

How do I receive my article to review?

• If you have been selected as a reviewer, then you will receive an email with a link to download your reviewer assignment. If you are having trouble downloading your assignment or have other questions about completing a report, please consult “How to Complete a Reviewer Report.”

How should I annotate my comments and observations?

• First, read the article and complete the reviewer report form included. Make annotations to the article using a method that clearly differentiates your text from the author’s, such as block letters, different colored text, or the “Track Changes” function in Microsoft Word. This is a two-way anonymous review. If your name appears within a comment, we will delete your identifying information.

How do I submit (return) my completed review?

• We kindly request that you return the completed report via email. Each reviewer invitation includes specific instructions which specify the email “to” and the email “subject” for returning the report. Before sending the completed report, please remember to include the numerical scores and comments for each of the evaluative criteria.

What if the article I'm reviewing seems well researched and meets the evaluation criteria, but it has significant trouble with the English Language?

• Our publishing model is intended to ensure that authors speaking English as a second language are given the equal opportunity to receive feedback from a peer review process to critique and improve the conceptual material of their articles. If you are reviewing a submission that you believe is not written by a native English speaker, please be mindful of this ideal; evaluate the text for its conceptual material and select “Professional Editing Required” to indicate the article needs assistance with certain rules or nuances of the English language.

Does Common Ground's open access model include the permission to create non-commercial derivatives?

• The license itself, CC BY-NC-ND, does reserve the permission to create derivatives, meaning permission to do so is not allowed without request. While we reserve this permission, authors can request the permission to create his/her own non-commercial derivative, and in the majority of cases, we will permit the author to do so without any cost or fees. This brief answer is a simplification of the matter, and we urge authors to please consult the text below for complete details.
  
  There are certain open access licenses which do allow derivatives of the open access publication in non-commercial format. Our open access publication option does not include the permission to create derivatives because these public licenses often include permission for any person or organization to create non-commercial derivatives of that open access publication. Common Ground's use of the CC BY-NC-ND license is intended to protect the author from incidents wherein non-commercial derivatives of his/her open access publication are created without knowledge or consent of the publisher and without the knowledge or consent of the author (this is what a "derivatives allowed" permission makes possible). While our open access model uses a CC BY-NC-ND license model, we as the publisher have the authority to empower authors with the choice to allow a non-commercial derivative. Should an author of an open access publication wish to create his/her own non-commercial derivative, they must request the permission to do so. And, when a request for permission to create a non-commercial derivative is made by the author(s), we grant this permission specifically to the author at no cost (provided the request does not include any unusual aspects which deviate outside a non-commercial derivative). Additionally, if an author wishes to allow another person or entity (not the author) to create a non-commercial derivative of the open access publication, we will grant this permission at no cost provided the request is made by the author on behalf of that other person or entity.
  
  Under the Common Ground Research Networks open access publication option, works are made freely available in electronic format in Common Ground’s online bookstore. Common Ground’s open access publications are protected with Some Rights Reserved as public Licensed Material, available under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International public License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Official terms of this public license apply as indicated here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode. The open access option does not include publication in any commercial format; commercial use must be preapproved through a reprint agreement with Common Ground Research Networks. The use of this material is permitted for non-commercial use provided the creator(s) and publisher receive attribution. No derivatives of this version are permitted.

Can I use my published article in my thesis or dissertation?

• This depends on the publication model and the version of the article you intend to use.
• If your article was published using the Traditional publication Model, then you are permitted to use the Pre-print or Post-print version of your article in your thesis or dissertation.
• If your article was published using the Open Access publication Model, then you can use the Publisher's Version/PDF in your thesis or dissertation.

Articles can be upgraded to open access anytime, see How to Make Your Article Open Access for more details.

How do I download my published article?

• When your article is published, it is automatically added to your CG Scholar library for easy access.
• To download the free electronic copy:
• First, sign in to your CG Scholar account.
• Then Click on 'Download pdf'.

How long does it usually take for an article to be published in one of your journals?

• In 2019, we averaged 282 days from the time of the initial submission to the day of publication.
• Remember to closely follow the initial submission requirements and the final submission requirements, as failure to do so is the most common cause for delays.

Is there submission or publication fee?

• There is no fee to submit an article for consideration. Authors can submit an article and be peer reviewed at zero cost. A membership fee does apply to complete the publication process. Membership includes additional benefits beyond publication. Please see the Knowledge Base for more information on Network Membership.

What do the authors get upon publication? (i.e., Will I get an electronic copy of the article or a printed copy of the issue? Are these things free or available at a special price?)

• Each author is provided with a free electronic copy of the published article (see: How to Download my Published Article).
• Research Network Members receive a discount code to purchase the journal issues at a discounted rate (see: Membership Benefits).

After being accepted in peer review, will I receive an official certificate that confirms the acceptance for publication?

• All authors receive a confirmation message upon the completion of the peer review process. At this time, our process does not include an official certificate by default, but we can provide official documentation upon special request.

How long will it take for my article to complete peer review?

• The time it takes for an article to complete peer review can vary based on several factors (e.g., availability of reviewers, niche of research area).
• On average, it takes fewer than ninety days in peer review (from the time the initial submission is verified to the time that the peer review decision is released).

Is my event proposal related to the network journal? Are they connected somehow?

• An accepted event proposal can be used to begin a new article submission. However, this process is entirely separate from your event proposal.
  • Using your accepted proposal to begin an article submission requires visiting the journal article submission portal.
  • If you have not visited the journal article submission portal, then you have not submitted a journal article.
• Using your event proposal to create a journal article is entirely optional. There is no required connection between these two things.
• Remember: Some event registration options will include a Network Membership, but not all event registration options will include one.
  • A valid network membership is a post-acceptance publication requirement.
  • If you plan to transform your event proposal into a journal article, keep this in mind when selecting your event registration.

If you have uploaded digital media to your event proposal, this is not connected to the publication process or to any journal. This includes paper presentations in a themed session; we do not publish conference proceedings. If you choose to begin an article submission based on your event proposal, you must visit the journal submission portal to begin this process.