OPS Editorial Guidelines

Submitted by cala-webmaster on Thu, 07/05/2012 - 11:34

Notes:

The Board of Directors approved to discontinue the Occasional Paper Series (OPS) on August 2, 2017, with the result of 18 approved (85.71%), 2 disapproved, 1 abstained.

1) The papers that were published with OPS will be made available and archived in CALA's Institutional Repository - CALASYS http://ir.cala-web.org/ .

2) The manuscripts that are still pending review will be completed reviewing and will be recommended to CALA's official scholarly journal - International Journal of Librarianship (IJOL) http://cala-web.org/publications/ijol-about

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Purpose

CALA's Occasional Paper Series (OPS) is one of the official publications (ISSN 1941-2037) of the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA). It is an open access publication, and provides opportunities for authors to publish articles on any aspect of librarianship on a peer-reviewed, official, and professional platform.

Scope

An occasional paper may be a work stemming from the activities and interests of the profession of librarianship; a paper delivered at a conference related to library and information science; a bibliography, index, guide, handbook, research manual, or directory; a report of a survey or study of interest to librarians of all types of libraries; a compilation of existing documents such as library policies or procedures; a concentrated study or analysis of a single idea or concept; or a full-length research paper.

Every issue of an occasional paper is a less-than-book-length academic publication published in the same format with regular intervals but not as rigid as that of periodicals. Each issue will include one or more papers that are on a similar topic or various topics.

Copyright Statement

The author(s) will hold copyright for the published paper(s). No part of the publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior permission of the author(s), except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Privacy Statement

The authors’ names and email addresses or other personal information will be used exclusively for the journal and will not be released to other parties for any purposes.

Editorial Guidelines

Peer-Review Process

Submitted papers will be reviewed by two reviewers who have expertise in the relevant/corresponding areas with the submitted manuscripts. The reviewers and the author’s identities will not be disclosed to each other in the review process, for example, all submitted manuscripts will be wiped out author(s)’ name, institution affiliation, and any other personal information before they are sent for review. The decision to publish papers on the CALA's OPS will rest on recommendations made by peer reviewers. Manuscripts may be recommended for either acceptance, revision, or be declined. In case of disagreement, other reviewers may be consulted.

  1. The editor examines the paper to determine whether it is appropriate for the OPS and should be reviewed. If not appropriate, the manuscript is rejected outright and the author(s) will receive rejection decision notifications from the editors.
  2. The editor identifies 2 potential reviewers. Typically, these are specialists in the subject matter or method used in the reported study. Potential reviewers are personally invited to review the manuscript. Once they agree to do so, they are required to complete the review in a timely manner.
  3. During the review process:
    1. If the article has been rejected to be published, author(s) will receive rejection decision notifications from the editors;
    2. During the peer-review process, reviewers give feedbacks to the author(s) and author(s) hands out revised version of manuscript for the review purpose. Comments to authors are about the appropriateness and adequacy of the theoretical or conceptual framework, literature review, method, results, and discussion. Reviewers often include suggestions for strengthening the manuscript. Comments to the editor are in the nature of the significance of the work and its potential contribution to the literature. Reviewers may comment to the editor as well about their expertise in relation to the subject matter.
  4. Once the peer-review process has been completed, and once the manuscript has been accepted by the OPS, the author(s) will receive acceptance decision notification from the editors.
  5. The accepted manuscript will be published in the OPS, and will be posted on the CALA website: http://cala-web.org/publications/ops

If you are interested in becoming one of reviewers for OPS, please fill the form at http://cala-web.org/forms/ops-reviewer-app.

Submission Guidelines

Content

CALA OPS encourages publications that address across a broad variety of topics. We welcome submissions that include, but is not limited to:

  • Case studies of project
  • Best practices
  • Thoughts on opportunities and challenges in contemporary librarianship

Submission Criteria

Essays submitted to OPS must not have been published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere. We ask the author(s) to follow the following format:

  1. Manuscripts are usually between 3000-5000 words in length. Longer and shorter articles can also be accepted if considered to be relevant and high quality. All manuscripts must be typed and double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font throughout. The submission should be in .doc format. Please see the bottom of this page for how to submit your manuscript.
  2. The first page should include the title of the manuscript, author(s), contact address(es), author(s)' position(s), and the author(s)' affiliated institutions. Author(s)' biographical notes (maximum 100 words per author) should be included also on the first page.
  3. The second page should contain the title of the manuscript and an abstract (100-150 words) for the purpose of the "blind review" process.  Make sure to remove all personally identifiable information in the body of the manuscript.
  4. Graphic representations (e.g., photograph, drawing) are to be submitted as separate files from the manuscript, preferred in .png, .jpg, or .gif format. The resolution is expected to be between 300 and 600 dpi (dots per inch).
  5. Manuscripts should be prepared in full accord with the Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed.

To submit a manuscript, please use the form at http://cala-web.org/forms/ops-submission. To become an Occasional Paper Series reviewer, click here (http://cala-web.org/forms/ops-reviewer-app).