Journal Policies

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Editor(s)

  • The editor(s) of Critical Ethnic Studies are responsible for identifying and contacting peer reviewers, always keeping in mind potential conflicts of interest and making sure that submissions are evaluated in terms of scholarly content and contribution without regard to the identity and affiliation of the author.

  • The editor(s) of Critical Ethnic Studies ensure the confidentiality of authors and reviewers.

  • Based on Critical Ethnic Studies’ internal and external review process, the editor(s) decide whether to accept, reject, or encourage revision and resubmission of the manuscript. 

Author

  • Guidelines for authors appear on the ASSOCIATION website, the University of Minnesota Press website, and can also be sent on request.

  • Authors are required to state whether the article has been submitted to or is under review with another publication and whether the article has previously been published in another language.

  • Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the submission. Authors should ensure that all the listed authors have seen and agreed to the submitted version of the manuscript and to the inclusion of their names as co-authors.

  • Authors are expected to respect the intellectual properties of others, through acknowledgement of sources, proper citation and attribution, quotation of direct texts taken from other sources, and recognition of research participants and research funders.

  • Before a submission can be published, authors will be required to sign the University of Minnesota Press Contributor Agreement Form and a Permissions Agreement regarding illustration and artwork.

  • Authors should communicate any errors discovered after publication directly to the editor and publisher. 

Review Policies

Editor(s) 

  • The editor(s) will independently review and select submissions in a confidential process, and reserve the right to reject any submission that does not meet the journal’s standard. Submissions will not be discussed or shared beyond those directly involved in the publication process, such as reviewers and editorial staff.

  • Articles undergo an internal review by the editor(s) and, when relevant, members of the Editorial Board. If submissions are deemed appropriate for the journal, they undergo double-blind peer review. Critical Ethnic Studies sends authors reviewer comments and a decision about publication as expeditiously as possible. 

  • The editor(s) will make every effort to ensure that the selection process and peer review of submissions is fair and unbiased, and that peer review is undertaken by qualified scholars in the appropriate field who are free of conflicts of interest.

  • The editor’s decision to accept or reject an article for publication in Critical Ethnic Studies is based only on the submission’s relevance to the remit of the journal and the significance of the submission as a work of original scholarship.

Reviewers

  • Reviewers should have no potential conflict of interest.

  • Potential reviewers are provided with the title and abstract of the submission, and if they agree to serve as reviewers and have no conflicts of interest, are sent Critical Ethnic Studies’ review guidelines.

  • In order to protect the anonymity of the double-blind peer review process, reviewers are requested to keep confidential all information regarding submissions to Critical Ethnic Studies.

Authors

  • For revised resubmissions, authors should address all comments and suggestions by reviewers and provide an account of the revisions undertaken. 

Conflict of Interest Guidelines

Editor(s)

Conflicts of Interest are considered to occur when the editor(s) have private interests that interfere with their ability to make an unbiased final decision on any manuscript. In cases where it is deemed an editorial conflict of interest exists, including (but not limited to) financial interest or a personal relationship with the author, the editor(s) of Critical Ethnic Studies will disclose this to members of the Editorial Board and be recused from making a decision on the article. 

Authors 

Authors are expected to disclose any potential conflicts of interest. Conflicts of interests for authors occur when their private interests influence the objectivity of research. In order to avoid conflicts, authors should acknowledge the following upon submission of their manuscript:

  • All sources of research funding

  • Any financial or non-financial interests that may have impacted presentation of their research. 

Reviewers

The following situations are considered conflicts of interest for reviewers and will be avoided and must be disclosed immediately so that Editors may decide how to proceed:

  • Co-authoring publications with at least one of the authors in the past 3 years, not including edited collections

  • Being colleagues within the same section / department or similar organization unit in the past 3 years

  • Having been or currently being primary supervisor for the doctoral work of the author(s) or being supervised / having been supervised by the author(s)

  • Having a personal relationship (e.g. family, close friend) with the author(s)

  • Having a direct or indirect financial interest in the paper being reviewed

It is not considered a Conflict of Interest if the reviewers have worked together with the authors in a collaborative project or if they have co-organized an event.

Allegations of Misconduct

  • The editor(s) will promptly investigate complaints related to pieces published in this journal.

  • When there is an allegation of academic misconduct, we solicit a response from those accused, seek full documentation of the allegation, and consult with the editorial board to determine any appropriate steps. 

  • After consultation with the editorial board, the editor(s) will work with the author(s) to ethically address the issue and come to the appropriate solution, whether that is revising the article, issuing an apology, and/or retracting the piece.

Plagiarism

  • Critical Ethnic Studies considers plagiarism to be the presentation of another author’s work as the manuscript submitter’s own.

  • Critical Ethnic Studies considers text-recycling to be when an author re-uses sections of text from their other publications without proper permissions.

  • Critical Ethnic Studies peer reviewers are instructed to inform the editor of suspected plagiarism. Upon review of the claims, if the editor finds evidence of substantial portions of text and / or data from another source presented as if they were by the author, they will contact the submitter to respond to the claims. If the author provides an unsatisfactory explanation, the submission will be rejected, and the author’s work will no longer be accepted for review by Critical Ethnic Studies. If the author confirms the case to be an honest error, the manuscript will be rejected but the author’s future work will be accepted for review by Critical Ethnic Studies.

  • Critical Ethnic Studies understands some degree of text-recycling may be unavoidable in publications on related topics and considers cases of self-plagiarism based on the significance of the text that is repeated. Critical Ethnic Studies will accept a manuscript that presents similar data with a new argument but rejects all submissions that recycle the arguments in authors’ previous publications. In such cases, all relevant previous work must be properly referenced. 

Retractions

The editor(s) will consider retraction if:

  • They have evidence that the article presents unreliable findings, includes unethical or fabricated research, plagiarizes other materials, or infringes upon copyright.  

  • The author(s) and / or reviewer(s) failed to disclose a major conflict of interest during the peer-review process that impacted the decision to publish by the editors. 

In all cases, the editor(s) will promptly publish a retraction statement that clearly identifies the article and explains the reason for retraction. 

Critical Ethnic Studies Journal Structure - Interim Policy

The Editorial Collective (“The Editors”) will consist of no more than three faculty. An editor must be able to secure institutional support for the Journal. The main funding needed is for a single, continuous, full-time, 12 month managing editor position.  Editors serve three year terms. No Editor will serve more than two consecutive terms.

The Managing Board is a working-group that helps support the editor and managing editor primarily with tasks related to visioning, processes and managing submissions. The group consists of the Editors, Managing Editor, and 3 members of the editorial board who serve 3-year terms, with at least 6 members at any given time and no more than 10. Editors will be drawn from the Managing Board. The Managing Board will meet once a term at minimum.

The optimal Editorial board size will include no more than 25 faculty, post-docs, and graduate students who will each serve a 3-year term. Members of the Managing Board will be drawn from the Editorial Board. The Editorial Board will meet once a year at a minimum.

Beginning in 2026, Editors will issue a call every two years to the Editorial Board and Managing Board for nominations for Editorial Board membership, Managing Board membership, and the next Editors. The Editorial Board will nominate the Managing Board members. Managing Board members will be chosen by the Editors to ensure 1) the possibility of institutional sponsorship, 2) diverse representations of fields, etc. The Managing Board, in consultation with the Editors about the Journal’s needs (institutional sponsorship, diverse representation of fields, etc.) will determine their successors.

Meetings for the Managing Board and Editorial Board will be scheduled for the academic year each August.

**This interim policy will be discussed at the 2026 Editorial Board Meeting.