As part of the submission process, authors are required to ensure that their manuscripts comply with all applicable requirements listed below. Submissions that do not follow these guidelines may be returned to the authors for correction before editorial assessment or peer review.
Submission Method
The Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (JPER) is currently developing and installing a new online manuscript submission system. Until the online submission platform becomes fully operational, authors are required to submit their manuscripts and accompanying files by email.
Please send submissions to: jper.connect@gmail.com
The submission email should include the manuscript file, any supplementary material, tables or figures submitted separately, and the corresponding author’s full name, affiliation, and contact information.
Authors will be notified when the online submission system becomes available. Until that time, email submission will remain the journal’s official submission method.
1. Length and Manuscript Format
Research submissions should follow the journal’s required academic formatting and should not exceed 12,000 words, including the main text, tables, figures, notes, and references.
Practitioner submissions should normally be between 1,000 and 2,500 words, including tables, figures, notes, and references. Because some practitioner contributions may be creative, artistic, reflective, or otherwise unconventional in format, the standard word limit or formatting requirements may not always be appropriate. Authors who are uncertain about the suitability or format of a practitioner submission are encouraged to contact the journal before submission.
Manuscripts should be prepared for 8½ × 11 inch paper with 1-inch margins on all sides. Text should be double-spaced and prepared using a readable 12-point font.
Manuscripts should normally be submitted in Microsoft Word format. RTF files may also be accepted where necessary. Supplementary materials should be supplied in commonly accessible formats such as Microsoft Word or Excel.
Appropriate headings and subheadings should be used to organize longer manuscripts and improve readability. Authors should avoid excessive subdivision of the manuscript.
Words or symbols requiring italics should be clearly indicated using italic formatting. Abbreviations and acronyms should be written in full when first introduced unless the abbreviated form is universally recognized. Abbreviations should thereafter be used consistently throughout the manuscript.
All manuscript pages should be numbered consecutively.
As JPER is an international English-language journal, manuscripts may follow either US English or UK English conventions for spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Authors should use their preferred convention consistently throughout the manuscript.
2. Respectful and Appropriate Terminology
JPER encourages the use of respectful, person-centered, and contextually appropriate language.
The journal generally discourages labels such as inmate, offender, or criminal when referring to individuals. Where possible, authors are encouraged to use terms such as prisoner, incarcerated person, formerly incarcerated person, participant, or, where appropriate to the educational context, student.
The journal recognizes that terminology may vary according to disciplinary conventions, legal contexts, institutional practices, research design, or the language used by participants themselves. Authors who have a strong scholarly, professional, methodological, or contextual reason for using alternative terminology may do so but should explain the rationale where necessary.
Language should remain respectful and should not unnecessarily stigmatize individuals or communities.
3. Author Identification and Blind Review
Research manuscripts are prepared for blind peer review. Authors should therefore make every reasonable effort to remove information from the manuscript that could reveal their identity.
A separate traditional title page containing author details is not necessary when the required information is provided in the submission email or accompanying documentation.
Authors should remove or anonymize identifying information from:
- the manuscript text;
- acknowledgements;
- institutional descriptions where these would clearly reveal authorship;
- self-citations where identification is unavoidable;
- footnotes or endnotes;
- file properties or document metadata where practical.
Where an author’s own work must be cited, identifying information may be temporarily masked for peer review and restored after acceptance.
Full author information should be provided separately with the email submission. This should include each author’s name, institutional affiliation, email address, and the identity of the corresponding author.
4. Abstract and Keywords
Research manuscripts should include an abstract of approximately 150 words.
The abstract should provide readers with a concise understanding of the manuscript and, where appropriate, should address the following questions:
- What is the manuscript about?
- What is its principal purpose?
- What problem, issue, or research question does it address?
- Who is the intended scholarly or professional audience?
- What are the principal findings, arguments, or practical implications?
- How might readers use or apply the information presented?
Authors should also provide approximately three to five keywords that accurately represent the subject matter of the manuscript and improve its discoverability in scholarly databases and search systems.
A keyword may consist of more than one word where necessary.
Certain practitioner contributions, particularly arts-based or creative submissions, may not require a conventional abstract or keyword list. Authors who are uncertain whether these elements are required should contact the editorial office at jper.connect@gmail.com before submission.
5. Notes and References
Notes should be used only when they provide necessary explanation or amplification that would interrupt the flow of the main text.
Where notes are used, they should be numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript and presented consistently.
The reference list should include only works actually cited in the manuscript. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all references.
Where available, authors should provide persistent identifiers for cited publications, particularly:
- Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs);
- handles;
- Uniform Resource Names (URNs);
- other stable identifiers.
Where a persistent identifier is unavailable, a reliable web address may be provided when appropriate.
Personal communications, including letters, emails, telephone conversations, or other unpublished correspondence, should normally be cited in the text rather than included in the reference list. Authors should provide as precise a date as reasonably possible.
Authors must ensure that every in-text citation corresponds to an entry in the reference list and that every listed reference is cited in the manuscript.
6. Tables, Figures, Images, and Illustrations
Tables, figures, photographs, illustrations, and other visual materials should be used only where they contribute meaningfully to the presentation or interpretation of the manuscript.
Authors should avoid unnecessary duplication. Information presented clearly in a table or figure should not be repeated in excessive detail in the main text.
Every table and figure should:
- be numbered consecutively;
- have a clear and informative caption or title;
- be referred to in the manuscript text;
- be understandable without excessive dependence on the surrounding discussion;
- identify the source where the material is reproduced or adapted from another work.
During email submission, authors are encouraged to provide tables, figures, and illustrations as separate clearly named files where appropriate, in addition to indicating their intended position within the manuscript.
Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any copyrighted material that they do not own.
Special care must be taken when images involve incarcerated or formerly incarcerated individuals. Appropriate consent and permissions must be obtained before submission.
7. Originality and Prior Publication
By submitting a manuscript to JPER, authors confirm that the work is being submitted exclusively to the journal and is not simultaneously under consideration by another publication.
The manuscript must not have been previously published in substantially the same form.
If any part of the work has previously appeared as:
- a conference presentation;
- conference proceedings;
- a thesis or dissertation;
- a research report;
- an institutional publication;
- a working paper;
- a preprint;
- part of a larger research project;
this information should be disclosed to the editorial office at the time of submission.
Such prior dissemination does not necessarily prevent consideration, but authors must provide sufficient information for the editors to determine whether the submission represents an original and substantial scholarly contribution.
8. Research Ethics and Protection of Human Participants
Authors are responsible for ensuring that research involving human participants complies with applicable ethical requirements and internationally recognized standards for responsible research.
This responsibility is especially important for research conducted in correctional settings because incarcerated individuals may be subject to institutional authority, restrictions, dependencies, and other circumstances that create additional ethical considerations.
Where applicable, manuscripts should state that:
- appropriate ethical or institutional review approval was obtained;
- participants provided voluntary and informed consent;
- confidentiality and privacy were protected;
- participation was not coerced;
- appropriate safeguards were used for vulnerable participants;
- identifiable information was handled responsibly.
Authors writing as both practitioners and researchers remain responsible for complying with all relevant human-subject protection requirements.
Written permission must be obtained before publishing materials belonging to or depicting incarcerated individuals where permission is required. This may include:
- written work;
- artwork;
- photographs;
- identifiable images;
- personal narratives;
- letters;
- other creative or personal materials.
Authors are responsible for obtaining such permissions and should be prepared to provide documentation to the editorial office when requested.
9. Biographical Sketch
Each author should provide a short biographical statement of approximately two or three sentences at the time of submission.
The biographical sketch may include:
- current institutional affiliation;
- professional or academic position;
- principal research or professional interests;
- relevant experience in prison education, reentry, or related fields.
The biographical statement may be published alongside the article if the manuscript is accepted.
Biographical information should be submitted separately from the anonymized manuscript to preserve the integrity of blind peer review.
10. Research and Practitioner Article Categories
Authors should clearly indicate whether their submission is intended for the Research or Practitioner section.
Research papers are formal scholarly manuscripts and normally undergo blind peer review by three reviewers. They should demonstrate theoretical or conceptual grounding, methodological rigor, relevance to the field, and a clear contribution to knowledge.
Practitioner papers are generally shorter and more flexible in structure. They provide a forum for professionals working directly in prison education and reentry and may address teaching experiences, instructional approaches, policy issues, ethical challenges, case studies, reflections, action research, visual or written arts, and other forms of practice-based knowledge.
Practitioner papers are generally reviewed by one reviewer or designated editor.
11. Language and Presentation
Authors should carefully proofread manuscripts before submission.
The manuscript should be written in clear, professional English and should use either US or UK conventions consistently.
Authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to seek appropriate language editing before submission where needed. Language quality should be sufficient to allow reviewers to evaluate the scholarly or professional content without substantial ambiguity.
Technical terminology should be defined where necessary, and specialist language should be used consistently throughout the manuscript.
12. Copyright and Licensing
JPER operates as a Diamond Open Access journal. Authors are not charged article processing charges for publication, and readers are not charged to access published content.
Authors retain copyright in their published work.
Accepted articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits sharing, distribution, adaptation, and reuse provided that appropriate attribution is given to the original author or authors and the initial publication in JPER is acknowledged.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that any third-party material included in their article may legally be published under the applicable terms or is clearly identified as being subject to separate copyright conditions.
13. Final Pre-Submission Check
Before emailing a manuscript to JPER, authors should confirm that:
- the manuscript is appropriate for the journal’s scope;
- the appropriate Research or Practitioner category has been identified;
- the applicable word limit has been observed;
- the manuscript has been carefully proofread;
- author-identifying information has been removed from research manuscripts intended for blind review;
- the abstract and keywords are included where required;
- all references are complete and correspond to citations in the manuscript;
- tables and figures are properly numbered, captioned, and cited;
- permissions for copyrighted or participant-generated materials have been obtained where necessary;
- ethical approval and informed-consent requirements have been satisfied where applicable;
- the manuscript is not simultaneously submitted elsewhere;
- a short biographical sketch for each author has been prepared;
- all supplementary files have been included.
Temporary Email Submission Procedure
The JPER online manuscript submission system is currently under development and installation. Until the system is fully operational, all manuscripts should be submitted directly to the journal by email.
Authors should send the manuscript and supporting files to: jper.connect@gmail.com
The subject line of the email should clearly identify the submission, for example:
Research Paper Submission – Manuscript Title
or
Practitioner Paper Submission – Manuscript Title
The email should include the manuscript file, author names and affiliations, corresponding-author contact information, biographical sketches, supplementary files where applicable, and any relevant ethical approvals or permissions.
The editorial office will acknowledge receipt and provide further instructions regarding editorial screening, peer review, revision, and publication.
Once the online submission system has been fully developed and installed, updated submission instructions will be published on the journal’s website.