Submission formats

Types of Contribution

Gambling Harms: Research, Policy and Practice is organised into the following sections or article types

Research Reports – The journal welcomes submissions based on empirical research that will be evaluated with respect to the contribution in terms of the significance of contribution, methodological rigour, and ability to communicate effectively. All empirical research is appropriate so long as it demonstrably falls within the scope of the journal. We particularly welcome and prioritise empirical work that has the potential to impact policy and practice, but this is not an inherent requirement.

Editorials – Members of the editorial team, as well as invited guests, present key theoretical position statements relevant to gambling harms. This might involve a review of the state of the field, an evaluation of key paradigms used to investigate certain phenomena and ideas, or the identification of emerging issues for research. Editorials may also comment on the relationship between, and impact of, the articles that appear in a journal issue.

Policy Analysis – We will consider submissions that, among other possibilities;

make a principled case for policy or policy change associated with gambling harms; formally document and analyse existing policies and their impact (whether at a local government level or with respect to national policy etc); analyse and integrate across different policies in a principled and informed way (e.g. demonstrating the ability to credibly and systematically compare different policies in different countries); establish mechanisms for the audit and evaluation of policy.

Submissions in the policy section may include either quantitative or qualitative analysis, or both.

Practitioner Reports– We will consider submissions that, among other possibilities;

provide a systematic and appropriate analysis of practices that relate to the existence and experience of gambling harms; consider how systems and governance affect the protection from and recovery from gambling harms experienced by individuals and communities; provide analysis of the efficacy of gambling harms treatment and interventions.

 

Registered Reports – this marks a publishing format that emphasizes the importance of the research question and the quality of methodology by conducting peer review prior to data collection. High-quality protocols are then provisionally accepted for publication (In principle Acceptance) if the authors follow through with the registered methodology, regardless of the results themselves.

 

Results Blind Peer Review - is an article type in which a manuscript evaluation occurs without reference to any analytic findings. The initial focus of the evaluation is on methodological soundness and its ability to generate targeted conclusions. Articles that are approved in stage 1 will then be considered in their full form, including results and discussion, where the evaluate focus will shift to the follow-though of plans.

 

Book review - This section includes reviews of recent books on any relevant topic. These may be academic books or they might be reflections and analyses of relevant books that have been written for the general public. Members outside of the editorial team are also invited to submit book reviews for publication. We welcome informal approaches first that might wish to scope the potential of book reviews.

 

We welcome both reviews of a single book, as well as reviews that cover multiple titles in a coherent and meaningful way.

 

Methodological analysis - This is an article track for contributions that do not report new empirical data (or substantively do not do so) but which provide an analysis of methodological issues for gambling harms research. Examples include systematic evidence reviews, and analysis of methods for investigating gambling harms.

 

Replications - Articles that focus on the replication and replicability of the existing literature. Articles will be expected to identify a prima facie value for the purposes of replication.

 

Lived experience - This section is appropriate for lived experience contributions. These may be first-hand accounts of gambling harms (whether directly experienced or as an affected other) or they may be third-hand accounts of multiple lived experience insights.

 

 

There is no specific word limit to any submission type, since length will depend on the scope and format (e.g. a multi-experiment sequence of studies vs a short report etc). Notwithstanding the absence of a word limit, the journal encourages conciseness, especially to aid readability with the widest audience,