top of page

Advice for Authors

What are the Standards for the Journal? 

The JCJD welcomes dissertation submissions from students of criminology, law, sociology and social science granted they meet the following criteria: ​

​

  • The dissertation has been awarded a 1st (70+) from their respective higher education institution. 

  • The dissertation must be linked to social justice and/or harm reduction in some capacity. 

  • The dissertation engages in critical analysis. 

  • The dissertation's use of Harvard referencing is overwhelmingly sound.

  • The dissertation's spelling and grammar is overwhelmingly sound.

  • The dissertation has an overwhelmingly sound / logical structure.

​

Whilst the JCJD has a preference for newly produced dissertations because they demonstrate freshness of thought, the JCJD will also consider historic dissertations.

Understanding Your Legal Responsibilities

As an author submitting your work to The Journal of Crime & Justice Dissertations (JCJD), it is essential that you are aware of your legal responsibilities. Below we have outlined some key points for your understanding and compliance:

​

1. Originality of Work - You affirm that the work submitted is your original creation. Any form of plagiarism is not tolerated. Using the work of others without appropriate citation and acknowledgment is considered plagiarism and is illegal.

​​

2. Intellectual Property Rights - By signing the publication release regarding your work, you confirm that you own the intellectual property rights to your dissertation or have obtained the necessary permissions for any third-party material included within your work.

​​

3. Non-Infringement - You warrant that your work does not infringe on anyone else's intellectual property rights. This includes but is not limited to copyright, trademark, and patent laws.

​​

4. Defamation - You agree that your work does not contain any content that defames or slanders any individual, group, or organization.

​​

5. Privacy and Informed Consent - If your work includes personal or sensitive data, you confirm that you have obtained all necessary consent and have complied with all laws regarding data protection and privacy. This involves providing clear information about the research purpose, risks, and benefits, and obtaining voluntary consent from participants before collecting data.

​​

6. Conflict of Interest - You are responsible for disclosing any potential conflict of interest that may affect the integrity of your research.

​​

7. Ethics Approval - If your research involves human or animal subjects, you confirm that the appropriate ethical approvals have been obtained.

​

8. Publication ethics - Authors should adhere to the ethical standards such as ensuring accuracy and honesty in reporting findings, and appropriately citing prior work to avoid plagiarism. Authors should be aware that publication of their work on the JCJD website will probably prevent publication of the same work in any other academic journals.  

​

9. Responsible Reporting & Integrity of Research - Authors have a responsibility to accurately and responsibly communicate their findings, avoiding misrepresentation or exaggeration of results. They should discuss the limitations of their research and where appropriate, acknowledge uncertainties or conflicting evidence. Authors must ensure the integrity and reliability of their research by conducting it in a rigorous and transparent manner. This includes following appropriate research methodologies, accurately representing the data collected, and avoiding any fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism.

​

Remember, the JCJD does not take legal responsibility for the content of your work, this is your (the author’s) responsibility. The JCJD is not liable for any legal issues arising from your work. It is crucial to review your work carefully before signing the publication release (formally agreeing for your work to be published on the JCJD website), to ensure you have adhered to all the points mentioned above.

Publication Process

The diagram below indicates the submission-to-publication process. It is important to note that the JCJD does not make use of a peer-review process. Instead, the JCJD makes use of two inspection cycles. In the initial inspection cycle, the Director screens all submissions to ensure that they meet the key criteria detailed at the top of this page. In the second inspection cycle, a member of the Executive Committee double checks that the submitted work meets those same criteria. In this way, while a peer-review process in the traditional academic sense is not applied to this Journal, there is a quality control process in place. If a dissertation is submitted by a London Metropolitan University student, the Director/Executive Committee may not make contact with the students supervisor. Indeed, this would be an unnecessary step given the Journal's relationship with the university and familiarity with their ethical processes. 

​

The JCJD publishes dissertations on a yearly basis. The JCJD does not group publications by volume, issue or number. The Journal is registered with the British Library, under the ISSN 2977-1676. Individual dissertations are assigned a DOI using Zenodo services. 

​How is the Dissertation Prize Awarded?

The Journal of Crime & Justice Dissertation Prize is awarded yearly in December. Only publications that are available on the site are considered for the prize. At the start of November, the Executive Committee reviews the submissions made to the JCJD. Here, each Committee member votes for their 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice to receive the JCJD Dissertation Prize. In this system, the 1st choice is equivalent to 3 points, 2nd choice is equivalent to 2 points and 3rd choice is equivalent to 1 point. From this voting, the submissions are ranked based on points. The submission with the highest number of points is the winner of the prize. More details of the voting process can be found in Article VII of the Journal's constitution. 

bottom of page