What We Publish
We publish high-quality peer-reviewed articles in a range of formats. While we are open to suggestions for new article types and formats, including material previously published in part or full, we expect proposals to include unique and substantial new content from the author.
Examples of material we would publish include:
- Original research with a discussion of its consequences (with or without an argument for action) that makes a unique, significant contribution to the professional literature.
- Articles using autoethnography, testimonios, or other accounts of the author’s own experience to analyze, theorize, situate, or otherwise contribute new insights to the professional literature.
- Articles arguing for a particular approach, strategy or development in librarianship, with suggestions for how it might be achieved.
- Transformative works with additional explanatory or interpretive content. For example, a transcription of an interview or panel discussion, with a substantial introduction explaining the importance of the subject to librarianship and a discussion of related literature.
Note: We encourage authors to write about marginalized populations they are part of and hope that authors will feel comfortable sharing those identities with the editorial team as a part of the Framework Questions. We also know that researchers might want to research and write about marginalized populations they don’t belong to. In those cases, we strongly encourage you to demonstrate to us that you are in community with people in that population. For example, if you are not Indigenous and you want to write about improving services for Indigenous people, consider writing with Indigenous people as co-authors, sharing who in that specific Indigenous community would be able to peer review your article, or identifying how you will ask the people you are in partnership with to review your article prior to publication. You can share this kind of information with the editorial board as a response to the second question in the Framework Questions.
AI Policy in Brief
We expect all submitted drafts to be fundamentally based on the original thinking and in the original voice of the human author(s). We encourage authors to contact us if they have concerns or need support.
Any content generated by AI must be disclosed in the article’s proposal and cited within the manuscript. This includes (but is not limited to) data analysis, generated text, images, or translations.
AI Disclosure Checklist:
- Did you use a generative AI tool as part of your process to write this manuscript, analyze data, or create images?
- Name of the generative AI tool used. (e.g., ChatGPT, Copilot, Meta AI, etc.)
- Brief description of how the AI tool was used in your writing process.
- Rationale for AI use.
- If you included AI generated text in your submission, did you fact check the manuscript, review for plagiarized text, and significantly revise it first?
- Final prompt given. (You will need to log in to the genAI tool to track this, unless you track your prompts another way.)
- Final response generated. (You will need to log in to the genAI tool to track this, unless you track your responses another way.)
Please read our Full AI Policy for a more in-depth discussion of this policy.
How To Propose An Article
You may propose an article using our Article Submission Form, whether you are submitting an abstract or a complete draft of an article. Due to length limitations on responses to Google Forms, you will need to use the form and also email your abstract or draft to itlwtlp at gmail dot com. We recommend that you prepare your responses to the Framework Questions in advance of submitting them through the form.
Submissions Windows
We have switched away from rolling submission and publication as of 2022. Instead of accepting submissions on a rolling basis, we now have a more structured cycle, accepting submissions within specific windows of time.
The most recent submission window closed at 11:59pm Hawaii Time on August 31st, 2024.
The next submission window will be the entire month of January, 2025. We will begin accepting submissions through our Article Submission Form on January 1st. The form will close at 11:59pm Hawaii Time on January 31st, 2025. In the meantime, we invite you to email the Editorial Board if you have inquiries about future submissions.
Abstracts
If you are submitting an abstract, please provide the following:
- An abstract of your proposed article. The abstract should be 500–750 words. Your abstract should ideally both summarize the contribution your article will make and situate that contribution within the existing conversation in library fields.
- Your responses to our Framework Questions.
- A writing sample. Please provide this either as an attachment or as a link (if the sample is available outside of a paywall or password online). The writing sample lets us experience your writing style and authorial voice. It does not need to be a traditional or formal publication. A blog post, a class paper, or even a draft of a portion of your proposed article are fine.
- A 3 to 5 sentence bio, a resume, or a CV—whichever can highlight the perspective and experience you will bring to your proposal. For proposals with multiple authors, please provide one for each author.
Drafts
If you are submitting a complete draft of an article, please provide the following:
- A complete draft of your proposed article. It should be approximately 2,000 to 5,000 words with citations as appropriate. If submitting a completed article, please ensure it follows our style guide.
- Your responses to our Framework Questions.
- A 3 to 5 sentence bio, a resume, or a CV—whichever can highlight the perspective and experience you will bring to your proposal. For proposals with multiple authors, please provide one for each author.
Framework Questions
All proposals, whether submitted as abstracts or as complete article drafts, should be accompanied by responses to the Framework Questions.
Your answers to the Framework Questions are vital for giving the Editorial Board a stronger sense of your proposed article, your thesis, and what your article would contribute to the professional literature. We are particularly interested in well-written articles that have actionable solutions, and we intend that these questions will help frame your idea appropriately.
We expect these Framework Questions to be answered thoughtfully and completely:
- Briefly explain what specific event or experience led you to pursue this topic, what motivates you?
- How does your positionality or identity inform your relationship to this topic? Positionality is the social and political context that creates your identity in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability status. Positionality also describes how your identity influences, and potentially biases, your understanding of and outlook on the world. A strong answer will be transparent about your identities and the extent to which these facets of yourself inform how you navigate the world and your research. Potential authors should consider whether the design or framing of their research reinforce negative stereotypes about any minoritized populations (such as racialized, ethnocultural, disabled, etc. individuals or groups). Could your research or writing be misinterpreted or misused to negatively affect minoritized groups? If so, how are you accounting for this responsibility in your proposal?
- What are the 3 most important things to consider about your topic and why are they the most critical?
- What problem is your article addressing and what actions do you want readers to take after reading it? What do you want your readers to remember after they finish reading your article?
- How can Lead Pipe help you connect with your intended audience for this article? How is your topic meaningful to someone not in that target audience?
- In what ways does your article build upon and/or contribute to the existing literature? Provide 3 sources. Depending upon your topic, these citations may be for research on which your article is based; examples of conversations to which you are adding reinforce issues that you’re raising in your article; articles to which yours is responding; conversations to which you are adding; etc.
- If your article involves research on human subjects, have you secured proper permissions and approval to report on this data?
- Does your article include images that require permissions to publish?
Positionality
Social science associations such as the American Psychological Association (APA) call for researchers to engage in reflective practice around their positionality or identity. The APA’s Standards for Equitable Research Reporting explain that “Positionality statements are intended to address potential author bias by transparently reporting how the identities of the authors relate to the research/article topic and to the identity of the participants, as well as the extent to which those identities are represented in the scientific record.” For more detail, refer to the APA Guidelines on Race and Ethnicity in Psychology.
As part of our journal’s commitment to improving libraries, library work, and library-related scholarship, we expect all submissions to address how multiple facets of the author’s identity or positionality relate to their topic and article. Dr. Sherry Hamby’s Know Thyself: How to Write a Reflexivity Statement has useful guidance on how to write a positionality statement. (Link to return to second framework question.)
Response
Regardless of whether you submitted an abstract or a complete draft of your article, a member of the Editorial Board will respond to your message within 4 to 5 weeks.
In general, we will make a decision based on how well your proposal seems to fit our goals, content, and style. We will include in our initial decision email any thoughts your submission raised among the Editorial Board.
If Your Proposal Is Accepted
If we choose to accept your proposal, you will be assigned a Publishing Editor who will guide you through the Lead Pipe Publication Process.
Please see the About Page for information on Open Access, Copyright, Licensing, and Article Processing Fees.