All contributions must be submitted through the journal’s website to ensure that the editing process is appropriately recorded and managed. For this reason we regret that it is not possible to consider papers submitted directly to the editor.

Submissions to JIL must be previously unpublished and must not be under review or consideration by another journal. By submitting their articles to JIL the author(s) grant the right of first publication to the journal (including publication in print and electronic media).

JIL promotes the investigation of information literacy in all its facets and this is reflected in the structure of the journal which includes the following sections:

Peer-reviewed articles

Papers in this section include research-based or practice-based submissions which should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words, excluding references. A research-based study is expected to contribute to the information literacy debate by providing a critical review of an aspect of information literacy research that extends the boundaries of the information literacy community’s understanding about this phenomenon. A practice-based study may, for example, assess the impact of an information literacy initiative delivered as part of a specific educational strategy, or a CPD programme that arises from the context of educational or professional developments. The rationale for placing research-based and practice-based papers under the same category is based on JIL’s commitment to bridge the gap between theory and practice within the information literacy debate in the UK and internationally. This is accomplished by ensuring that both research-based and practice-based submissions adhere to the publishing standards set by the journal, namely a critical and reflective exposition, supported by appropriate evidence from the literature and/or practice.

Authors of peer-reviewed articles must use the article template provided and must supply an abstractn which should cover the following areas: purpose of the study; originality and value of the paper and relevance to the IL community; research design employed and implications of the study for the IL community. All of these areas must be addressed in the abstract, but don’t need to be included as headings. Authors should also include a list of at least 4 keywords that describe the main themes of the paper. To facilitate the blind review process name, title, affiliation and contact details of all authors should NOT be given on the title page and the author(s) should NOT be identified anywhere else in the paper.

Review process

Articles are reviewed anonymously and feedback is given to the author(s) with suggested corrections, improvements and clarifications where needed. If the article is not accepted then JIL will provide an account of how this decision was made.  JIL has an average acceptance rate of 44% for articles submitted to the journal.

Reviews of relevant literature

Reviews can cover a relevant item from a wide range of media, such as books, e-books, websites, software. Reviews should discuss appropriateness for the intended target audience, readability, currency, content and overall value. The suggested length for reviews is 750 to 1,000 words. Please use the book review template provided.

Submissions for the Conference corner and the IL project should be structured as follows: Title of the contribution, details of the author(s), short account. Please submit the file in Word or RTF

Conference corner

We welcome accounts of information literacy events, such as conferences, seminars and workshops that have taken place both in the UK and internationally. The suggested length for these types of contributions is 500 words and may include photos of the event.

IL Projects

Contributions to this section include updates on funded projects for the purpose of disseminating their existence or findings to the IL community at large. The suggested length is 300 to 500 words.

IL from students’ view

Submissions for this section consist of papers drawn from research (theoretical or applied) undertaken by students as part of a post-graduate course in LIS and other cognate disciplines, such as education or media. Contributions to this section should be structured as follows: Title, Author and summary of the research undertaken. The suggested length is 1,000 words. Please submit the file in Word or RTF.

Submission Process

All submissions must be formatted using the appropriate template.

Referencing

Referencing should be done using the following guidelines See http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/insrv/resources/guides/inf057.pdf or https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/citingreferences/tutorial/index.html for the particular conventions used.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission’s compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

• The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
• The submission file is in Microsoft Word or RTF file format.
• When available, the URLs to access references online are provided, including those for open access versions of the reference. The URLs are ready to click e.g., http://pkp.sfu.ca
• The paper has been submitted using the appropriate template.
• The referencing requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines are adhered to.
• If submitting to the peer-reviewed sections of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.