Submissions

Author Guidelines

Here are the publication guidelines if you would like your article considered for the rolling submissions of the International Journal of Role-playing. Note that you must successfully complete the peer review process at a sufficient quality for consideration. 

• 4000-7000 words for main body text
• These items are excluded from word limits: References, Appendices, Acknowledgements, Conflict of Interest Statement, AI Statement, Ethical Approval Statement, and Contribution Declaration 
• 12 point font Times New Roman
• Single space throughout the document. 
• Indent first line of each paragraph .5 inches except after a heading.
• Include a cover letter with a list of all authors in the correct order. Indicate the last name(s) in bold as you wish them to be cited.
• In your cover letter, include a Contribution Declaration, listing each author's contribution, e.g., study design, data gathering, data cleaning, data analysis, writing, citational work, and revising. Note that only participating in data gathering and cleaning is best mentioned in Acknowledgements rather than as a full author. All authors must review and approve the submitted draft.
• Anonymize your submission document, redacting your name and any identifying information from the Title Page, Acknowledgements, References (if obvious), etc.
• Include an ethical approval statement in your cover letter if including research from human subjects, with the institution and approval number clearly stated. If your submission was deemed exempt from review, please provide a letter from your institution with this information, including contact information.
• Include an AI statement indicating any use of generative AI, including the relevant prompts. Excessive use is grounds for rejection and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Note that the IJRP is less likely to reject solely on grammatical errors than excessive AI use.
• If using AI, you must check all citations before submission. Hallucinated citations are grounds for immediate rejection.
• In your cover letter, include a statement declaring any conflict of interests relevant to the submission. 
• In your cover letter, include Acknowledgements such as grant information and number.
• Please do not format headings other than bold 12 point Times New Roman according to the following guidelines:

1. HEADING
1.1 Heading
1.1.1 Heading

• Include a 300 word maximum abstract.
• Include a 100 word maximum bio.
• Include your affiliation and long-term correspondence email(s), ideally connected to your institution (if available), but personal emails also work.
• After review, include a cover letter with a list of requested changes from your reviewers. Respond to each change with quotes and page numbers (where possible) indicating where you have addressed them in the text. If you chose not to address them, either due to editorial guidance or otherwise, please provide a persuasive reason.
• In-text citations and References should be in Chicago Author-Date format. (Not in Notes-Bibliography). Use a hanging-indent of .5 inches for your References.
  • Example: Edland, Tor Kjetil, and Hanne Grasmo. 2011-. Just a Little Lovin'. [Live action role-playing game]. Denmark, Run 4, June 21–26, 2015.  
  • Example:  Groth, Anna Emilie, Hanne “Hank” Grasmo, and Tor Kjetil Edland. 2021. Just a Little Lovin’: The Larp Script. Drøbak.
• For Ludography, use the following format: Last name of designers, first name, first name last name, first name last name, et al. Date or date range. Name of game. [Format]. Location played or publisher if available, run of game if relevant, date if relevant.
• If you are instead citing the game text, cite as a book or website.
• Avoid including full DOIs, links, or web addresses, as they can be difficult for people listening with screen readers. Instead, you can embed these underneath text that says: Link here.
• We encourage you to include Appendices with relevant information, such as tables, figures, interview guides, survey questions, etc.
• Please do not include any partial or full data sets that should be kept pseudonymized based on ethical guidelines, e.g., interviews with sensitive data.