ResearchDataQ publishes editorials by and for librarians, archivists, LIS graduate students, and data specialists of all stripes; submissions should be written with a broad professional audience in mind and should be between 750 and 1500 words long.
When citations are applicable, we prefer parenthetical citations in the text (author, date) with a list of references at the end in APA style, including DOIs. Where websites, social media posts, or similar content are mentioned, an in-text link to the item is sufficient and no additional citation is needed.
Editorials are reviewed for quality, relevance, length, and style by our team of editors. Where applicable, edits will be suggested to the author(s) via email, and author(s) will be given a timeframe for completion of the final version. Once a piece has undergone review, the author(s) and editors will each have an opportunity to approve it for final publication. The editors reserve the right to decline to publish a work if it is decided that further editing beyond the publication time frame is necessary to meet ResearchDataQ’s editorial standards.
Our standard rights policy is to apply a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License to all content on the site. Authors retain the copyright to their work and assign ACRL a non-exclusive license to publish. Authors may request a license other than CC-BY (subject to approval by the editors and ACRL).
ResearchDataQ editorials should use inclusive language. This includes avoiding describing gender as binary (instead of men and women, use people), avoiding racist, sexist, transphobic, ableist, classist language, and using people-first language when describing disabilities. Use a subject’s preferred pronouns when known. For general singular personal pronouns use singular “they” and “their” (or rephrase so as to not use a singular pronoun).
For more information see: Reduce Bias in Language and the GLAAD Media Reference Guide, especially the Transgender Glossary of Terms.
If you have a Twitter account, we are happy to include it when we promote your editorial on our Twitter account.
Acknowledgment: These guidelines were partially adapted from In the Library with the Lead Pipe’s submission guidelines.
