Notes from the Field

Notes from the Field provide an opportunity for practitioners and emerging scholars to share their insights from the context in which they work and to reflect critically on their own practice in an academic space where their voices may be considered underrepresented. Notes include shorter, practitioner-focused articles (5,000 words maximum), discussion papers, reflections on personal experience in the field, presentation of new data, theoretical models or concepts, and reflections on trending developments that have implications for the first-generation student experience. As with other articles, ‘Notes from the Field’ are peer-reviewed and need to meet the same writing and referencing standards as traditional research articles.

Technical Requirements

File Format: Manuscripts must be submitted in .doc or .docx format.

Length: No more than 5,000 words inclusive of cover page, tables, figure captions, references, appendices, and all materials.

The length of manuscripts is limited to 5,000 words because the editors are committed to increasing the accessibility of the journal to a wide range of authors. 

Format: American Psychological Association (APA) Style, 7th Edition.

Spacing and Fonts: Double-spaced, including references, block quotes, tables, and figures, consistently applied throughout the manuscript; standard 12-point font throughout.

Abstract: 100 words or less.

Qualitative Manuscripts: Positionality statement that locates authors within systems of equity and inclusion.

Figures: All figures, tables, and charts must be submitted as a PDF document, EPS, or uncompressed Tiff (600 dpi) file in black and white or gray tones.

Language: English or with translations to English included; asset-based framing and writing free of prejudiced, biased, or disrespectful language.

Voice: Active voice with research findings reported in the past tense.

Professional Preparation: Manuscripts exceeding the length limits or requiring additional proofreading, formatting, and/or reference checks will be returned to the author(s) for further editing. Any identification of authorship must be removed before submitting the manuscript. To assure closed review, all identifiers must be removed: names on the cover page, identification embedded in the electronic document properties, references to institutional affiliations, and citations that identify some or all of the authors. In addition, references to specific institutions must be removed before review.

Submission: All manuscripts must be submitted through ScholarOne.

Exceptions to any of the above instructions should be discussed with the Co-Editors before submission. Questions about the submission and review process can be directed to the Editorial Assistant at jfgss@firstgenforward.org.