Instructions for Authors

SUBMITTING MATERIAL TO THE JOURNAL
The journal publishes a range of material, from full academic papers to short research notes and reflections on the work of the social professions across Europe and beyond. In submitting material for consideration, please work to the following guidelines:-

All submissions should be made online at the European Journal of Social Work ScholarOne Manuscripts site. New users should first create an account. Once a user is logged onto the site submissions should be made via the Author Centre.

Authors should prepare and upload two versions of their manuscript. One should be a complete text, while in the second all document information identifying the author should be removed from files to allow them to be sent anonymously to referees. When uploading files authors will then be able to define the non-anonymous version as “File not for review”. 

For further important guidelines, please refer to the Instructions for Authors of Academic Papers below. For information on the criteria against which academic papers will be reviewed, please refer to the Assessment Criteria below.

Instructions for Authors of Academic Papers

Length and presentation: Academic articles should be between 5,000 and 7,000 words, including abstract, keywords and references. All material should be typed double-spaced throughout. Ample margins should be allowed. The pages should be numbered serially.

Abstract and Keywords: An abstract of not more than 200 words and up to 5 keywords will be requested. If the paper is accepted for publication, the contributor will also be expected to supply the abstract and keywords in either their own first language or the language of the country from which the contribution is made.

Up to two levels of sub-headings are permitted as a means of dividing up the text and indicating to the reader the structure of the article. Notes, when necessary, should be numbered continuously and will be printed as end notes. These should also be typed on a separate page. Tables and Figures should be comprehensible without reference to the text. Each must be uploaded as a separate file, with the desired position indicated in the text and numbered continuously (for example, Table 1, Table 2; Figure 1, Figure 2 etc.). Where various shadings are used within one figure please ensure that it is easy to differentiate between them.

Style guidelines
Description of the Journal's article style
Description of the Journal's reference style, Quick guide
Please use British spelling (e.g. colour, organise) and punctuation. Use single quotation marks with double within if needed.
A Word template is available for this journal (please save the Word template to your hard drive and open it for use by clicking on the icon in Windows Explorer).
If you have any questions about references or formatting your article, please contact authorqueries@tandf.co.uk

Proofs of full papers will be sent to authors for correction and should be returned within three days of receipt. No changes to content are permitted at this stage and alterations are restricted to correction of typographical errors. Proofs for checking, and offprints, will be sent to the author named for correspondence on the front sheet.

Free article access: Corresponding authors will receive free online access to their article through our website (www.informaworld.com) and a complimentary copy of the issue containing their article. Reprints of articles published in this journal can be purchased through Rightslink® when proofs are received. If you have any queries, please contact our reprints department at reprints@tandf.co.uk

Copyright. It is a condition of publication that authors assign copyright or license the publication rights in their articles, including abstracts, to Taylor & Francis. This enables us to ensure full copyright protection and to disseminate the article, and of course the Journal, to the widest possible readership in print and electronic formats as appropriate. Authors may, of course, use the article elsewhere after publication without prior permission from Taylor & Francis, provided that acknowledgement is given to the Journal as original source of publication, and that Taylor & Francis is notified so that our records show that its use is properly authorised. Authors retain a number of other rights under the Taylor & Francis rights policies documents. These policies are referred to at http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authorrights.pdf for full details. Authors are themselves responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyright material from other sources.

Assessment Criteria: Peer review of full academic papers will judge the quality of the submission using the following criteria:-

• Is the content of the article explicitly related to social work or the social professions?
• Does the article have a European dimension or explicit international relevance?
• If addressing local or national concerns, is the material appropriately contextualised to assist understanding by an international audience?
• Is the purpose of the article clear, and does it achieve its purpose?
• Is the article well structured and clearly written, including English language expression?
• Is the article grounded within relevant and current literature?
• If the article is research-based, is the methodology sound, including statistical analysis if used?
• Are the references complete and do they follow the Harvard system?
• Has the author included an accurate abstract and keywords?
• Is the article within the permitted word length (5,000 - 7,000 words including abstract, keywords and references)?

There are a number of ways in which authors can ensure that a paper has a European dimension or relevance for international agendas.

1. Ensure that any issues that are nation-specific are clearly explained and contextualised for an international audience, who may not be familiar with the national context in question. This would apply, for example, to legal provision, specific policy programs, and developments in education, training or regulation.
2. If the paper is located solely within one national context, link its content to broader concerns that may have relevance for an international audience. This might be done, for example, through reference to broader European literature or research on the topic in question.
3. It will also be important to be explicit about the extent to which the topic or findings presented in the paper might have relevance to European agendas within an international context.