General Guidelines

All manuscripts submitted to the journal must be original works that have not been previously published and are not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. By submitting a manuscript, authors affirm that the submission is exclusively being considered by this journal and that all listed authors have approved the manuscript and consented to its submission. Manuscripts that are simultaneously submitted to multiple journals, previously published in substantially similar form, or found to contain plagiarized material will be removed from consideration. Authors are responsible for ensuring the integrity, originality, and ethical compliance of all submitted work. 

Preparation of Manuscripts 

All submissions must conform to the standards of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition). Manuscripts that do not meet this requirement will not be processed. Manuscripts are not accepted via surface mail or e-mail. 

Types of Manuscript Submissions: 

• General manuscripts are original scholarly articles that present quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, evaluation, or practice-based research relevant to social work, mental health, children and families, human services, policy, advocacy, education, or related interdisciplinary fields. These manuscripts should contribute new knowledge to the profession through the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. Submissions should clearly articulate the purpose of the study, research questions or hypotheses, methodology, findings, and implications for practice, policy, education, or future research. Empirical manuscripts are expected to demonstrate methodological rigor, ethical research practices, critical analysis, and engagement with current scholarly literature. Articles should be well-organized, theoretically or conceptually grounded, and editorially sound. Manuscripts should generally be 15–25 double-spaced pages, excluding references, tables, appendices, and figures. 

• Review Articles are scholarly manuscripts that critically examine, synthesize, and evaluate existing literature related to a specific topic, population, intervention, policy issue, theoretical framework, or area of practice. Rather than presenting original empirical findings, review articles provide a comprehensive overview of current knowledge, identify major themes and trends within the literature, highlight strengths and limitations of existing research, and discuss gaps requiring further exploration. Review articles should demonstrate critical analysis, organization, and scholarly depth while helping readers better understand the current state of research and practice on the selected topic. Authors are encouraged to incorporate recent and relevant peer-reviewed sources and clearly articulate the implications for social work practice, education, advocacy, policy, or future research. Review articles should generally be 10–15 double-spaced pages, excluding references, tables, and figures. 

Formatting

• All submissions should be typewritten in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins on all sides. 
• Number manuscript pages consecutively throughout the paper. 
• Include a running head, not exceeding 50-character spaces. 
• An abstract of no more than 250 words must be included with the manuscript text and is considered in the page count. Abstracts should include problem focus, a brief conceptualization or description of innovations, and implications for social welfare. Abstracts of empirical articles should mention the research aims, methods, results, and conclusions. 
• Avoid abbreviations, diagrams, citations, and references to the text in the abstract. 

Blinding Your Submission 

To ensure anonymity in the peer-review process, all manuscript submissions must be fully blinded. Remove all author information (i.e., name, position, institutional affiliation, and contact information) before submitting the manuscript. Self-referential sources cited should not identify the author(s). Please label such self-referential sources as “Author,” remove titles, and place them at the beginning of the reference list. This applies to the primary author and all co-authors. Example: 

• References: 
  • Author. (2024). Reference removed for blind review. 
  • Authors. (2024). Reference removed for blind review. 
• Text: 
  • Author (2024) conducted a study in which students were held to a different standard of conduct. 

Similarly, do not include names of institutions affiliated with the author(s) and research. Example: 

• X University’s School of Social Work was recently awarded a grant to fund the study. 

After the manuscript enters the review process, it is reviewed by two or three consulting editors. Every effort will be made to notify authors of publication decisions within 4–6 months of receipt of a manuscript. 

Tables and Figures 

Tables and figures (illustrations) should not be embedded in the text of the submission but should be included as separate files. Tables must be able to stand alone without reference to the text (e.g., abbreviations must be defined in notes, the title must be simple but thorough). Do not mix types of data in the same column (e.g., do not include means and standard deviations in the same column). Tables that do not meet these minimum standards will be returned to the author for revision. Figures should be completely labeled, taking into account necessary size reduction. For peer review, illustrations (line drawings, halftones, photos, photomicrographs) should be supplied as high-quality grayscale digital files, 300 dpi or higher, sized to fit on the journal page, in JPG or PDF format. Final files for printing may also be sent in EPS or TIFF format. 

Peer Review Process 

All submissions are considered to be double-blinded. Articles will be judged by a group of editors who are active and respected in the field of social welfare, who have expertise across the relevant disciplines, and who are committed to assessing submissions efficiently and fairly on the basis of their disciplinary merits. Our approach to the editorial process focuses on delivering the highest level of service to authors and saving time at every step. The review process can take around 16 weeks, depending on the number of submissions that need to be screened and the revisions needed per article. Here’s how it will work: 

1. For the initial submission, you are asked to submit your article in a Word document, along with the Abstract. Your submission will go through an initial screening to ensure it aligns with the aim/scope and author guidelines.  
   1. If the work makes it through initial screening, it will go through a similarity/plagiarism check before being assigned for review.
   2. If the work does not make it through initial screening, a communication of a denial will be sent to the author.  
2. The Editor-in-Chief assigns at least two members of the Editorial Review Board to oversee the review process.  
3. Reviewers get together online to discuss their recommendations, communicating openly with one another before a decision is reached, refining their feedback, and working to provide clear and concise guidance to authors.  
   1. If the work needs essential revision before it can be published, the reviewing editor incorporates those requirements into a single set of instructions for the author to move ahead to the next step.  
   2. If the work needs major revisions, further rounds of revision will be largely eliminated, as the reviewing editors will be able to assess most revised submissions without further outside review. 
4. Authors will be given a time frame to make the needed revisions. Upon receiving those revisions, the article will move to copy editing.  
5. At the copy-editing phase, a copy editor will review the document for flow, grammatical concerns, etc.  
6. Last, the article will go through the production editing process. This is where the author will review the article for any final proofreading/editing before publication.  
7. Publication of the article  

Open Access Statement: 

The Journal of Opportunity, Liberation, and Transformation (JOLT) is a fully open-access, peer-reviewed journal committed to the free and equitable dissemination of knowledge. All content published in JOLT is made immediately and permanently accessible online without subscription barriers or paywall restrictions. 

Copyright and Licensing Statement: 

All articles published in JOLT are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction, adaptation, and sharing of the work in any medium or format, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. 

Article Processing Charges and Fees Statement: 

The Journal of Opportunity, Liberation, and Transformation (JOLT) is committed to maintaining equitable and accessible scholarly publishing practices. While all published content remains fully open access and freely available to readers worldwide, JOLT assesses a modest author publication fee of $50 per accepted manuscript. This fee is charged only after a manuscript has successfully completed the peer review and acceptance process. There are: 

• No submission fees 

• No peer review fees 

• No fees for rejected manuscripts 

• No reader access or subscription fees 

The publication fee is used solely for the operational maintenance and sustainability of the journal, including website hosting, digital publishing support, archiving, indexing preparation, and administrative functions necessary to maintain journal operations. No portion of the publication fee is distributed to editors, reviewers, editorial board members, or individuals serving the journal. All editorial and peer review contributions are completed on a voluntary service basis in support of advancing interdisciplinary scholarship, critical dialogue, and transformative practice. JOLT recognizes that financial barriers can impact participation in academic publishing. Authors experiencing financial hardship are encouraged to contact the journal regarding a publication fee waiver upon receiving notice of manuscript acceptance. Waiver requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis in alignment with the journal’s commitment to accessibility, inclusion, and equitable scholarly participation. 

Disclaimer 

The Journal of Opportunity, Liberation, and Transformation (JOLT) accepts no liability for the content of research or writing published in the articles of this journal, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. Any views or opinions published in this journal are exclusively those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the editorial committee.