Call for Blogs Guidelines

MADAR, Dec. 15, 2021

Call for Blogs: Forced Migration in Maghreb Countries: Submit Now!

Table of Contents:

1. About the MADAR Network
2. About the Forced Migration Blog
3. Themes
4. Eligibility
5. Types of Submission
6. Submission Guidelines
7. Copyright and Exclusivity
8. Review Process
9. Contact Details

1. About the MADAR Network:

The Maghreb Action on Displacement and Rights (MADAR) – a four year project – is a network which aims to directly impact the lives of people affected by displacement in the Maghreb region, which hosts thousands of refugees fleeing conflict and poverty in countries across Africa and the Middle East

MADAR will shape and influence national and regional policies and practices that stimulate and facilitate the protection for displaced people in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia respectively.

The network is funded by the UKRI AHRC Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Collective Program (Network Plus).

2. About the Forced Migration Blog:

The Forced Migration blog is an initiative of the MADAR Plus team that aims to create an active dialogue about displaced people in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia to express and share experiences, opinions, and analytical views on this topic. Through this blog, we also aim to create a knowledge exchange platform to engage research scholars, practitioners, academicians, and students of related fields and to provide them with news, information and updates on the latest scientific research results.

3. Themes :

The Blog welcomes posts in the form of articles, short notes, opinions, case comments and submissions analyzing or critiquing existing academic research on a topic. We are now calling for submissions on the theme “Forced Migration in the Maghreb Countries”. We are looking for submissions from interested authors and welcome your writing and research on this topic.

MADAR's key themes include:

Vulnerability and protection in the Central Maghreb

• How do migration and displacement render people vulnerable?
• What are the protection needs arising from this, and how might these be addressed?

Interculturality and the arts:

• How can we use the arts to build mutual understanding and social cohesion?
• What can art express that other forms of communication (whether written, policy-oriented, quantitative, or otherwise) cannot?
• How can these approaches be used to improve the lives of migrants and vulnerable people?

Space, community and integration

• What is day-to-day life like for displaced people and migrants in Central Maghreb host societies, and what are the barriers to integration economically, socially, legally and politically?

Advocacy and action research

• How can action and research, together, address urgent protection needs?
• How might actors and organizations across sectors collaborate to enhance inter-institutional knowledge?

The Editorial Board is inviting submissions on a rolling basis.

4. Eligibility:

Academic researchers regardless of institutional affiliation, educators, students, practitioners, and professionals interested or involved in work on forced migration are eligible to submit their original work for publication on the blog. Submissions will be chosen based on merit. The blog intends to publish passionate writing that moves the readers and makes them reflect on the questions posed in the article.

5. Types of submission:

We welcome submissions of the following types:

• Book Reviews: A book review must contain a critical review of any book pertaining to one or more themes mentioned in this call. The word limit (1500-2000 words).
• Short Articles: Contributions on an area within the theme encompassing theoretical arguments, comprehensive and comparative analysis. We encourage originality and a creative outlook in the analysis of the issue. The word limit (1000-1500 words).
• Case Comments: Analyses of any case falling under the theme of the issue. It must have a detailed analysis of the judgment along with the author’s opinion / stance on the same and must directly engage with one or more of the themes mentioned here. The word limit (1000-1500 words).
• Legislative Comments: Analyses of legislations and law related to the theme. The word limit (1000-1500 words).
• Social Spotlight: A case study of obscure social issues looked through the lenses of law. The word limit (1000-1500 words).
• Policy Analysis: A policy analysis must contain a thorough analysis of any policy including its formulation, adoption and implementation. It must pertain to one or more of the themes mentioned here. The word limit (1000-1500 words).

The word limit in each blog post is exclusive of endnotes.

6. Submission Guidelines:

• The author needs to submit their original unpublished work in an MS Word document format to madar.networkplus@keele.ac.uk with the subject line “Submission MADAR Blog” “Title of the Submission” “Type of the submission”.
• You will be sent an acknowledgment email of receipt of submission within 48 to 72 hours.
• Your submission should be accompanied by a set of information in the body of the email and in the first page of the document:

- Full name of author(s) ;

- Institutional affiliation ;

- Title, sub-theme and type of the submission;

- Brief description of the submission;

- Contact details of the author(s) (phone number and email);

- Short biography of the author.

• The submissions can be in English, Arabic or French.
• Co-authorship is allowed.
• All references must be in the form of hyperlinks wherever possible and must cite the source as endnotes where strictly necessary.
• The article should be an original work of the contributor(s) and neither published nor under consideration for publication in any other blog, journal, book, website, or magazine. Aside from limited overlaps in project summaries and/or author biographies etc., any form of plagiarism including self-plagiarism will result in an automatic rejection.
• Once a submission is accepted, the same cannot be sent elsewhere for publication.
• No personal details or identifiable marks of the author(s) should be mentioned in the submission.
• We encourage sharing of published articles via social media platforms.
• Accepted blog post shall be cited as:
• Name, et al., "Title of Blog", MADAR Blog, Date, (Link)

7. Copyright and Exclusivity:

• Upon acceptance of the manuscript for publication by the editorial board, the copyright over the manuscript is vested in the Blog. However, the moral rights over the manuscript shall vest in the author(s).
• An E-certificate of publication will be awarded to only those contributors whose blog gets published on our website.
• All selected works will be hosted by the MADAR website.

8. Review Process:

• The blog follows a double-blind peer review. Reviewers shall not be informed of the author’s information.
• The assessment is based on originality, quality, clarity, and significance of the blog.
• The acceptance or rejection of the blog will be communicated to the authors through an email within 21 days of the submission of their blog.
• For any editorial changes suggested after preliminary acceptance, the authors will be able to make the necessary changes that may be suggested by the editorial board. It is expected that the authors will make all changes in good faith.
• Submissions may be accepted / rejected based solely at the discretion of the Editorial Board and peer reviewers. In relation to all disputes, the decision of the Editorial Board shall be final and binding.
• For each blog post submitted, the principal contact associated with the submission is asked to register to a pool of reviewers that the committee could use in case of a too large number of submissions.
• The views expressed in this publication are purely personal opinions of the authors and do not reflect the views of the Editorial board, so the author(s) bear sole responsibility for the accuracy of facts, opinions or views stated in their articles.

9. Contact Details:

In the case of any queries, please feel free to contact us at : madar.networkplus@keele.ac.uk

Furthermore, the following people can be contacted:

- Kay McEvoy: k.h.mcevoy@keele.ac.uk

- Laure Astill: l.astill@keele.ac.uk

- Khaled Benmakrelouf: benmakrelouf_khaled@yahoo.com

- Soumia Bouchouk: souma5763bouchouk@gmail.com

- Rajaa Essaghyry: ess.rajaa@gmail.com

- Marwen Bounab: marwenbouneb@gmail.com

Thank you - we look forward to your submission!

Feb. 23, 2024, 4:18 p.m.

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