Instructions for Authors

We are currently accepting submissions.

Practicing Anthropology (PA) is an editor reviewed publication. We encourage all potential authors to explore the most recent issues of the journal to familiarize yourself with the style of the journal. All authors must follow ethical guidelines such as IRB approval where appropriate, and must let us know if they have published anything closely related to their submission anywhere else.

We welcome new authors and authors new to the style of the journal. You are welcome to reach out to us with ideas and questions at practicinganthropology@gmail.com.

Types of Submissions We Accept

ARTICLES

Write articles for PA in an interesting style that maintains readers’ attention. The length should be roughly 3,000-4,200 words including all bios, references and tables (if applicable). The number of references should not exceed 12. Please insert page numbers.

All articles must be written in first person narrative style with no passive voice. We implement this stylistic rule because the journal’s mission is to demonstrate relationships and processes with specific attention to how things work. The use of passive voice often obscures structures of power and processes of research. Active voice also holds readers attention more successfully and helps authors to clarify their writing. 

Authors are welcome to use gender non-specific pronouns in bios and throughout manuscripts (i.e. they/them).

We do accept and encourage visual images to accompany submissions. Submit images with filenames and add [figure 1] etc. within the manuscript to show where the images should appear. Photos should be submitted in the .gif or .jpeg format. Please make sure that we have captions for your photos. Captions should be included at the end of the Word manuscript file.

Submit manuscripts and accompanying material to the submissions manager link (below) or directly through email.

Manuscripts that exceed the maximum word count of 4,200 words will not be accepted.

We are now using the APA 7th edition style guide. Additional information about this style guide can be found here.

CREATIVE SUBMISSIONS

Practicing Anthropology is now accepting submission of creative work written by anthropologists and collaborators. Creative submissions should relate in some way to social scientists conducting fieldwork and/or engaging in the practice of ethnographic and mixed-methods research.

Submissions can be visual pieces, flash fiction, non-fiction, fieldnotes/field notes, first person reflections or narratives, poetry, children’s stories, or other creations. Written work should be brief and may not exceed 3,500 words.

Creators of accepted pieces will maintain a Creative Commons License allowing for reprints and use with a note that it was published first in Practicing Anthropology.

If you have any questions during the process, please send an email to practicinganthropology@gmail.com with the heading Creative Submission. We will respond to your inquiry as quickly as possible. Creative pieces do not require an abstract.

Details on Publishing With Practicing Anthropology

CONTRACTS

Prior to publication each author will sign a contract stating that they are familiar with ethical guidelines and have obtained ethical permissions from institutions and/or tribes or communities where appropriate. We do publish some articles that are about practice that are reflective or career specific that may not require ethical permissions, however authors are still responsible to ensure they follow ethical guidelines of research and publishing. Authors are expected to remove any identifying information for anyone named in manuscripts unless they have permission from named people. Authors must have permission to name anyone in acknowledgements or in the body of the manuscript.

Authors must also sign a contract stating that they have no conflicts of interests (COIs) or disclosing any conflicts that may exist. Authors who receive pay from companies for whom they work or discuss programs or products related to their work must disclose this information in their contracts. In PA we do publish articles written by people who are evaluators, employees, and consultants writing about projects. A COI agreement does not prevent authors from writing about this work. However, any potential conflicts must be declared by the author. It is up to individual authors to disclose conflicts of interest. You can find more information about COIs here. You may also reach out to us with any questions.

You must also declare any funding you received for your research. This includes any small or large grants or contributions. A short funding statement can appear at the end of your manuscript. We publish a variety of content including many articles by authors who are not funded. There is no priority in publishing for people who have external funding. However, if authors do have funding for projects it is important to list and acknowledge support and funding at the end of manuscripts.

ETHICS OF NAMES AND AUTHORSHIP

We encourage thoughtfulness about who serves as an author on multi-author publications and who is listed by name in any part of the submission. Each listed author must have contributed to the ideas and concepts and reviewed and worked on at least minor edits on the manuscript. Each author must review and approve the final draft and any proofs of the article prior to publication. In the event that authors have worked with people who significantly participated in a project or ideas for the manuscript but did not write, edit, or review a final draft, they can be listed in the manuscript or in acknowledgements with permission. Only name people who have provided express and direct written permission to be named. In other cases authors may designate roles without author names. For example, “we worked on a team with one epidemiologist and three community researchers.” When it is possible to obtain permission it is preferable to provide credit to people with whom you work, “We worked with epidemiologist Maria Sanchez and community researchers Ella Jones, Marla Adair, and Juliette Begay.” However you may only name people when you have their permission to do so. Naming people is important when providing credit for contributions and demonstrating how you worked in teams or collaborations. Still, you can only do this when you have permission from each named person.

An example of the submission format is below:

AUTHORSHIP

PA is dedicated to publishing work from many different authors from different backgrounds and positioned in different projects and locations from new community researchers to senior researchers in the field. We especially encourage first time authors who are practicing anthropologists or work as community partners on projects that use ethnographic and mixed-methods research and practice. We are happy to work with new authors on developing ideas and manuscripts for the journal. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions at all. We are here to communicate with you even if you have no idea how publishing works.

COMMUNITY-ENGAGEMENT AND “COMPANION AUTHORED” SUBMISSIONS

We are interested in continuing to include content that demonstrates community-engaged work. Social scientists who decide to submit work to PA should carefully consider who they list as collaborators and co-authors. When we receive submissions from authors who are writing about collaborative work we will be interested in how you write about collaboration and how you include multiple authors in your manuscript. We encourage submitting companion pieces that are not “co-authored,” but are “companion authored.” Companion authorship means that two or more people author pieces that come together under one introduction. See PA Spring 2019 issue for examples of companion pieces.

TRANSLATION

We would like to publish work in multiple languages. Authors have the opportunity to submit work in English and translated into another language. We can assist with Spanish translation of short articles in some cases. Get in touch to discuss options if you are considering publishing your work in multiple languages.

We strongly encourage submissions from authors around the world who are from historically underrepresented and oppressed groups including but not limited to Black, Indigenous, People of Color authors, authors from across the gender spectrum, authors who are from regions of the world with few educational and publication resources, authors asking important critical questions about power and representation, and authors who have never published before.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED WORK

PA only published work that has not been published elsewhere (including on blogs, in journals, or elsewhere). On rare occasions we work with authors to include something that has previously appeared. Contact us if you have any questions about this.

How/When to Submit

Submissions are always welcome. We will notify authors of production deadlines once a manuscript has been accepted for publication.

To submit an article, send the following items to practicinganthropology@gmail.com:

• Your manuscript as a Word document or other editable file (references should be cited using the APA 7th edition style guide)
• 100-150 word abstract
• 3-5 key words that describe the central topics covered in your article
• Accompanying images/figures/tables (if applicable)
• Document with image/figure/table descriptions (if applicable)
• Author bio[s]: A one-paragraph bio containing the author’s affiliations, research activities, and email address (or other contact info if preferred).
• Picture of the author[s]. Multi-author submissions require bios and pictures of each author.
• A note declaring conflicts of interests (if applicable)

Please contact contact editor Lisa Hardy or editorial assistant Caroline Mende at practicinganthropology@gmail.com if you have any questions about these guidelines. We are happy to answer questions and talk with you about submissions.

To submit a Creative Submission, send the following items to practicinganthropology@gmail.com:

• Your manuscript as a Word document OR other applicable file for non-written Creative Submissions
• Accompanying images/files/figures where applicable
• Document with image/figure/table descriptions (if applicable)
• Author/contributor bio[s]: A one-paragraph bio containing the author/contributor’s affiliations, research activities, and email address (or other contact info if preferred).
• Picture of the author[s]/contributor[s]. Multi-contributor submissions require bios and pictures of each contributor.
• Include relevant information on permissions including photo release and informed consent documentation if the submitted piece was created within the context of fieldwork.
• A note declaring conflicts of interests (if applicable)
• An abstract is NOT required for Creative Submissions

In the past publishing in Practicing Anthropology has required authors to join the organization or make a donation to the SfAA  upon acceptance ($95). We are working on this and would like to offer sponsorships for people who are not employed at a university and can’t take this expense as a write-off. Please get in touch with us if you would like to sponsor author memberships so that we can continue to make PA a place that is open to publishing work from a wide range of authors.

Special Issues

PA is closed to special issue proposals at this time. Check back in the future if you are interested in working on a special issue.

Practicing Anthropology welcomes suggestions for special editions on topics about applied or practicing anthropology. Potential guest editors are encouraged to contact the editors and reach an agreement in principle about the topic(s) and theme of 8-10 articles for a full issue, or 4-5 for a partial issue.  Please submit abstracts, 1-2 page proposals, or samples of papers already written (e.g., conference papers). After the agreement is reached, the special issue editor works closely with his or her colleagues on the papers making sure all submissions fall within the guidelines listed above.

The special issue editor submits articles to the Practicing Anthropology editors for review.  After review, the Practicing Anthropology editors will work with the guest editor and authors regarding revisions of content, style and grammar.

The special theme editor will also work with the PA editor on the introduction and in selecting a cover photo for the themed issue.

Open calls:

Expired calls: