Submissions

This journal is not accepting submissions at this time.

Author Guidelines

We welcome submissions that align with SACQ’s focus on crime, justice, and safety. Articles may be based on original research, conceptual analysis, or applied insights. While the journal’s primary focus is South Africa, we also consider submissions from elsewhere in Africa if their relevance to the South African context is clearly demonstrated and explicitly stated.

SACQ does not charge submission fees or article processing charges. All submissions are subject to double-blind peer review.

To prepare your article for submission, please follow the formatting and referencing requirements below. 

Submission Requirements

  • Word count: Articles should be between 3,000 and 6,000 words, including endnotes.
  • Language: All articles must have an English title, English abstract, and English keywords. Submissions must be in clear, accessible English, with UK spelling conventions. Avoid jargon, and explain any necessary technical terms, especially legal ones. Authors not accustomed to writing or publishing in English may wish to have their submission reviewed by a colleague, institutional writing centre, or professional editor prior to submission.
  • Formatting: Adhere to the SACQ style guide for referencing, style, and formatting. 
  • Structure: Use subheadings, tables, graphs, and bullet points to enhance readability. Titles should be concise, with a descriptive subtitle.
  • Blinding for review: Ensure submissions are anonymised by removing personal identifiers from the text and document properties. To ensure that the article is blinded, authors must have:
    • Deleted their names from the text, with "Author" and year used in the references and footnotes, instead of the authors' name, article title, etc.
    • With Microsoft Office documents, author identification should also be removed from the properties for the file (see under File in Word), by clicking on the following, beginning with File on the main menu of the Microsoft application: File > Save As > Tools (or Options with a Mac) > Security > Remove personal information from file properties on save > Save.
    • With PDFs, the authors' names should also be removed from Document Properties found under File on Adobe Acrobat's main menu.

Content Guidelines

  • Abstract: Include a 100 – 150 word abstract that summarises the article effectively.
  • Context: Link the topic to current events, policy debates, or legislation. Provide a balanced presentation of facts and background.
  • Opinion: Clear expression of the author’s viewpoint is encouraged, provided it is well-supported by evidence.

Technical Requirements

  • Please see the SACQ style guide for a description of the appropriate referencing style.
  • Endnotes are used for all referencing. Use Word’s endnote function for references; avoid superscript numerals or numbered lists.
  • Authors are responsible for ensuring that all hyperlinks in endnotes are correct and functional.
  • Authors are responsible for providing DOI numbers for all referenced articles. Please see the SACQ style guide for more information on how to format the references to include DOI numbers.
  • The journal is laid out in two columns. Please keep subheadings short so that they fit on one line of a column if possible. Articles should not be formatted into two columns for submission; this is handled during the final production stage.
  • Acknowledgements can be made at the end of the article if necessary.

Plagiarism and Ethics

All submissions will undergo a plagiarism check via iThenticate. Detected plagiarism will result in automatic rejection without an opportunity to revise.

ORCID

Prospective authors are required to register for an ORCID at http://orcid.org/ and to link their ORCID to their profile on the portal through the author information page. Authors should please ensure that at least their affiliations and qualifications are made public in their ORCID profile.

 

Submission Preparation Checklist

All submissions must meet the following requirements.

  • I agree to abide by the terms of the copyright statement.

Copyright Notice

SACQ is licenced under a creative commons licence (CC BY) that allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long a they give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. They may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

Copyright for articles published is vested equally between the author/s, the Institute for Security Studies and the Centre of Criminology (UCT).

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party. Personal data collected is dealt with in accordance with the South African POPI Act, South Africa's equivalent of the EU GDPR. Also view the Khulisa Journals Data Privacy Policy for more information.