- ABOUT THE JOURNAL
Digital Policy Studies is an open-access, peer-reviewed interdisciplinary academic journal focused on the empirical, critical and intersectoral study of subjects related to digital policy and the fourth industrial revolution, cybersecurity, the digitalisation of politics, the digital economy, information and communication technology, the convergence of technology and society, new media and related topics. The Journal publishes research articles, review articles and policy commentary in designated sections.
- SUBMISSIONS
The journal publishes two issues a year (May and November) and a special edition in between will be considered from time to time. Issues are available on an open access basis. Digital Policy Studies invites manuscripts all through the year, submitted through its website. Submissions can be research article or review articles or essays. All submissions must be between 4000 and 7000 words long, prepared according to the Author guidelines.
Special editions are considered once a year. A proposal must outline the edition’s focus, its potential contribution to debates, the number of articles planned, confirm double-blind peer reviews and timelines. It must include the profile of guest editor(s).
- TITLE PAGE
The author’s full name, affiliation and email address centred should appear only on the title page of one of the versions of the submission. The other version without these details is called the anonymous version.
- TITLE AND HEADINGS
Article title must be in bold Times Roman size 14 font and centred. The article title and headings must only capitalize key terms in the title. Headings in body text must be in bold and numbered (1,2,3) in size 12 font size. Headings must be descriptive, short and meaningful. Sub-headings must be bold and italic, numbered correspondingly: 1.1; 1.2; 2.1, 2.2 etc.
- ABSTRACTS
Below the article title and affiliations, add a short abstract not exceeding 250 words, stating the main research problem/argument, major findings and conclusion(s). Not italicized or indented.
- FONT
Submissions must be in Times Roman regular, size 12 except headlines that must be size 14.
- LANGUAGE
For spelling, please make use of UK English.
- NUMBERS
Please use one to nine in words, then 10, 11, 12 etc.; 1 million; 2 billion, 4 kilos, 7 hectares (that is, numbers in figures before units of measurement).
- DATES
Dates must appear as follows: DD/MM/YYYY, e.g., 3 October 2021. Use 2020s instead of 20’s or 2020’s.
- ABBREVIATIONS
Use full words with abbreviations within brackets the first time and then use abbreviations. No full stops in abbreviations, e.g. BRICS, NDB, Dr, MS.
- ITALICS
Use italics only when mentioning in the body text titles of published books or names of periodicals.
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledge sources of funding or other support or permissions granted in short statement under a headline at the end of the article, just before the list of references. Acknowledgements must be inserted after an article has been accepted for publication.
- ILLUSTRATIONS
Do not use illustrations from other sources that require copyright. Rather compile your own graphs and tables. Number the bold titles of illustrations using 1, 2, 3 formats.
- FAIR USE
The author is responsible for understanding and following the principles that govern the ‘fair use’ of quotations and illustrations and for obtaining written permission to publish, where necessary. Accuracy in citations and references is also the author’s responsibility
- REFERENCING
To avoid plagiarism, give credit to your sources by referencing direct quotations or ideas.
The reference style of the journal is the APA Reference and author-date citation style. No footnotes and endnotes, but in-text citation and a list of references (used only) at the end. See the examples and guidelines in https://www.mendeley.com/guides/apa-citation-guide
- BOOK REVIEWS
A book review should inform the reader of the book’s content and standing in the field of study. It can point to the book’s limitations and weaknesses. The purpose is to introduce the book to readers briefly. Provide full bibliographical details of the book being reviewed in the form of author names. book title; edition, full page numbers, if any illustrations, if reviewing an e-book.
