As a rough guide, a typical, single issue should consist of a short editorial, 3–4 peer-reviewed articles, and 1–2 essays; and a double issue of 5–8 articles and 1–2 essays. (Every issue also includes a review section and the section “We're here”, but this is handled by lambda nordica’s book editor and senior editors respectively). Each article should run between 6000–8000 words, and an essay typically 4000–6000 words. lambda nordica practices double blind review which means all article submissions should be anonymized to reviewers and all reviews be anonymized to authors.

Please note that it takes at least one year from a call for papers to a complete issue, often longer.

Call for papers

Begin by writing a call for papers and clear this with the senior editors. The call should include deadlines for abstracts and full first drafts as well as estimated publication year and issue. 

Your call should include the following:

Articles should be between 6,000 and 8,000 words including notes and references and should not have been published previously. The issue will be in (fill in language; English or Nordic languages). For more detailed instructions, see the journal webpage: www.lambdanordica.org.

We ask you to send us one-page abstracts for article submissions.

Deadline for abstracts: 

Deadline for articles: 

Please send queries to (fill in editor’s names and email)  

Submissions should be sent in through the online submission system, found under 'For Authors' > 'Make a submission' on the webpage. (No submissions by email.)

lambda nordica is a Nordic peer-reviewed academic journal for research in the Humanities and Social Sciences with relation to LGBT and Queer Studies. We strive to support the dialogue between established and younger scholars to inspire to more LGBTQ research in the Nordic area and support the initiative to new research areas in the field. The journal also introduces and reviews international LGBTQ literature.

When you get your abstracts

The main point of asking for abstracts is to get a first sense of whether you will have enough submissions for your issue. However, as you receive abstracts, it is important to accept more than you have room for, as typically, not all will turn into full paper submissions and/or make it through the peer review. Send a list of abstracts received and accepted to the senior editors. Please make sure to inform accepted abstract-submitters that this does not guarantee publication in the issue and explain the process.

First drafts

Read all submissions and, using the lambda nordica guidelines for peer-reviewers, make a first assessment as to whether papers are ready to be sent out on review. If not, determine how much feedback you as guest editors are willing to give authors. Consult senior editors if you are unsure. Make sure all manuscripts are properly anonymized before you send them out on review; this means all references to the author’s own work must be omitted and all personal information should be removed from the file (this is important and many authors forget this). This part, and the entirety of the review process, should be done in the online submission system. 

Each paper should be reviewed by 2 people. As a principle, reviewers should have a PhD, unless a particular sort of expertise is needed, in which case this needs to be explained and senior editors must be consulted first.

It is the responsibility of the guest editor to keep all correspondence with authors and reviewers, including reminders at all stages. Typically a reviewer will be offered maximum 6 weeks for the review, many however will need to be reminded. As you accept abstracts you can already begin thinking about potential reviewers. If you have trouble finding reviewers, please consult the senior editors as soon as possible.

Please send a full list of reviewers used for the issue to the senior editors for our records. Also please submit all reviews for archival purposes.

Reviews

Once reviews are in, you must first read them and assess which of their feedback is most important and communicate that clearly to the author. Omit all personal information from review sheets and from commented drafts of the article before sending to the author. Ask the author to comment on how they have used the feedback on a separate sheet. Give a clear deadline for a new draft. Once the new draft is in, check closely for how comments have been incorporated and whether the revisions are satisfactory. If you are unsure, please consult the editors.

Please make sure that the review process is handled within the online submission system.

Final drafts

Once an author has submitted a final draft to the satisfaction of the guest editor, please ensure that it follows the Chicago Manual of Style (author, date version) for references, endnotes and citations in the text. Please ensure that it is checked for language (this is the responsibility of the author, not the journal or the (guest)editor). Please also ensure that authors have read and understood the publishing agreement. lambda nordica publishes original previously unpublished work.

Checklist for Final Manuscript

1. Write an Editorial Introduction. This could be either a brief invitation to read on or a longer theoretically sophisticated piece. Unless there are special circumstances, the editorial introduction should not exceed 4000 words. This introduction will be read and commented upon by the editors. 

2. Check that each submitted paper includes (in this order):

• Author name
• Title of the paper
• English abstract of max 250 words
• Keywords
• Main body of text
• References
• End Notes (when used)

Also ensure that each paper:

• Uses full and complete references following Chicago Manual of Style
• Has obtained the necessary copyright permissions for all images etc.
• Uses correct grammar and spelling

3. Decide on the order of material in the Special Issue

4. Prepare a Contents List (see the most recent issue of lambda nordica for format)

5. Prepare a list of contributors with email and addresses to which final hard copy issues can be sent.

6. Prepare a short text to be published on the back of the special issue. Consult previous issues for how this can look.   

7. You are welcome to propose a cover image, and if so, please ensure that you have the right to use this image. Only under rare circumstances can the journal pay for cover images or any other images in the issue.

8. Email the Editors the content of the entire Special Issue by the agreed deadline. The Editors will confirm their approval of the Special Issue with you, and send the manuscript onto the editorial secretary for copy edit. These will be sent directly to the authors for approval of minor editing changes. Please note that no major changes can be made to the manuscript at this time. Once all proof-reading and copy edits are done, the manuscript is sent on to layout and then onto print. In other words: at this stage no changes can be done.  

Good luck and happy editing!