Drama Research: international journal of drama in education
Drama Research welcomes articles presented in a conventional format appropriate for a traditional print-based publication but also actively encourages authors to take advantage of the exciting and innovative opportunities afforded them by publishing their work through the medium of a website. The web medium has the potential to provide authors with a whole new range of multimedia tools for sharing reflections on drama practice not previously available to them.
Drama Research is published annually. The deadline for the receipt of finished articles from authors is 31st October for the issue published in the following April.
Work submitted to the Editorial Board will then be blind-reviewed by at least two anonymous Referees. The process of evaluation usually lasts between 4 and 6 months. The Editorial Board only accepts submissions written in the English language. Submissions should not be simultaneously under consideration for publication elsewhere.
Authors are requested to read the Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement before engaging with any part of the publication process for Drama Research.
Structuring your Text
Visit Submitting a Proposal for more details.
Manuscripts should be typed throughout, in A4 format with wide margins (at least 2.5 cm) at the sides as well as at the top and bottom of the page. Manuscripts should be written in Microsoft Office Word. Fonts should be in Times New Roman form. Font Size should be 12pt.
Your main text should be made anonymous with your details on a separate page: the cover page of the manuscript should include the title, full name(s) of author(s), affiliation(s), a short running title, and your complete address and email address. Please also include a passport type image of yourself. This should be a minimum of 100 x 100 pixels in size. The second page should include an abstract, not exceeding 150 words, and key words, less than ten in number. The cover page, abstract and key words, text, notes, and references should be placed in one file. You should create high resolution duplicate images in JPEG format of tables, images and figures which appear in your text, label them appropriately and attach them in a separate file or files. These are uploaded separately to the site. Subtitles are acceptable in either conventional or web formats. Please ensure that your work is fully anonymised and that individuals and institutions mentioned in research contexts cannot be identified, in compliance with the publication’s ethical protocols. (See also Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection below.)
Details on how you can send your manuscripts can be found at Sending Your Finished Article.
Drama Research is a web-based publication and is liberated from the convention of a rigid word limit but as a guide, articles between 4,000 and 6,000 words in length, not including references, are most welcome.
Web Format
You may wish to use the benefits of the web to your advantage since you are not writing for the printed, linear page: you will be able to embed multimedia elements into your text such as images, data, VR, audio, GIS, video. Files may be linked together in web format, allowing the reader to access the article in non-linear ways. We may also add links to your article once it has been submitted to us but you know your text best and we encourage you to think about where the links might go and how that might affect the reading of your article. Files may be linked using progression of argument but you may wish to consider linking your text by theme too by highlighting related words, phrases or even images that occur throughout your text. This can allow for an interesting navigation and offer alternative paths through your article according to the level of detail the reader may desire. Unlike print, it costs no more to use colour in your images and diagrams than it does to include it as black and white. Images are important to the reader. They help to maintain interest but they are also very efficient means of communicating ideas, especially over the web. We welcome articles that can incorporate all manner of multimedia and other visual aids too – interactive maps, diagrams, video and virtual reality. You may also wish to include a database as part of your article. (See also Copyright below.)
Using Levels
This website is based on a structure of levels as indicated in the sidebar to the left and so it may be wise to structure your piece in terms of levels rather than traditional chapters.
For example:
Level 1: Graphical Mapping or Summary of Drama Project
Level 2: Short Article in say 5 episodes or chapters
Level 3: Each chapter subdivided into say 3 topics with detailed analysis of each topic
Level 1: Bibliography
Level 1: Notes on Author
Layout would be like this which can include links to appropriate sections:
[Level 1] 1. Summary of Drama Project with Young Offenders
[Level 2] 1. Reason for this Drama Project with these Young Offenders
[Level 3] 1.1 Theory of drama work with young offenders
[Level 3] 1.2 The initial negotiations
[Level 3] 1.3 The relationship with the Institution
[Level 2] 2. Planning the Drama Sessions
[Level 3] 2.1 Negotiations with young offenders about topics
[Level 3] 2.1 The use of “frame”
[Level 3] 2.3 Planning starting points
[Level 1]: 2. References
[Level 1]: 3. Notes on Author
..and so on.
Referencing
Please follow the Harvard system of Referencing for all contributions. For further details please refer to Referencing Guidelines.
Drama – the magazine of professional practice
If you would like to submit an article to National Drama but feel that Drama Research is not the most appropriate vehicle, you may wish to consider submitting it to Drama, our professional magazine.
There is greater flexibility regarding all stylistic features and layout of articles submitted to the magazine and articles do not need to have a research or scholarly focus. However, you are reminded that Drama is a print-based publication and whilst subject to a selection and editorial process, articles are not blind peer-reviewed in the same way as contributions to Drama Research.
Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection
If you intend to include still or moving images of children or vulnerable adults in your article you must secure prior parental/carer permission for each identifiable person and you must then provide us with written evidence of such permission.
Copyright
It is the author’s responsibility to secure the rights to reproduce any images or other copyrighted materials used within the article. Permissions should be sought before submission of the article and presented to the editors.