Recommendations to authors

DEMO

 

Format of articles

The Quetelet Journal publishes both standard scientific articles and scientific contributions in an unconventional format - as long as they deal with demographic or population-related issues - such as:

  • theoretical articles focusing on literature review,
  • articles with methodological aims, focusing on the issues and limitations of a data source, the development and discussion of a measure, etc. ,
  • more descriptive articles using original and/or new data,
  • discussions around heterodox or controversial ideas,
  • articles with a negative result (not confirming the assumptions),
  • articles whose objective is the replicability of previous studies,
  • articles based on original methods (mixed methods, etc.).

 

Submission Procedure

The Quetelet Journal operates based on a classic peer-review process: every article is anonymously forwarded to at least two reviewers, one of whom is a member of the Quetelet Journal editorial board. The submission of an article goes through the OJS (Open Journal System) platform.

The evaluation of articles is carried out in two stages. The first involves an overall re-reading of the article by one or more members of the editorial committee to assess the admissibility of the article. As the editorial committee meets monthly, authors will be promptly notified in case of non-admissibility/refusal of the article following this first step. If the article is considered admissible, it is then shared with one or more external reviewers, who decide on the quality of the article. At the end of this stage, the article is either accepted (with or without revisions, major or minor) or rejected, and the principal author is notified of this decision.

From the moment the author(s) submit an article to the Quetelet Journal, they accept not to submit the same article for publication in another journal until the editorial board has sent a decision letter to the authors. The Quetelet Journal will not publish an article that has already been published - in full or in part - elsewhere or that is in the process of being evaluated by another journal/book. However, if research reports or working papers have been made available in advance (pre-print, Green Access on institutional repository), this does not preclude publication in the Quetelet Journal.

The authors undertake to have all the authorizations required for the exploitation of the data, whether they are authorizations concerning privacy or legal and ethical constraints.

Once the reviews of both reviewers have been received by the editorial board, the latter contacts the authors again and, if necessary, asks them to modify their article, to improve its content, via the OJS platform. The authors agree on a deadline with the editorial board for which they can reasonably make the requested changes. The reviewed article will then be returned to the editorial board who will assess whether the changes made meet the expectations of the reviewers. To this end, the authors must produce a synthesis of their changes and explain the content of these changes in response to the reviewers' comments. A final reading under the direction of the editorial manager will be carried out, again with possible discussions with the main author of the article.

After approval by the editorial committee, authors agree not to modify the content of their article, which will be copy-edited: changes in the margins are still feasible (spelling mistakes, missing words, etc.) but should be avoided as much as possible. Authors will be required to approve a final version of their article before it is posted online.

 

Formatting

A few rules of usage concerning the formatting of articles submitted to the Quetelet Journal:

 

Presentation of the article

  • Articles may be written in English or French, in a language suitable for scientific publication.
  • The article must be sent in an anonymised version so that the authors cannot be identified by the reviewers (the text submitted on the OJS platform must not mention any author).
  • If the article is written in English, the choice of spelling - British or American - should be harmonized throughout the text.
  • Writing: Times New Roman, 12.
  • Double-spaced.
  • Word or PDF format.
  • Maximum 40,000 characters (including spaces, legends, bibliography, notes and annexes).
  • Page numbering.
  • Maximum three levels of subtitles (level 4 titles - e.g. 1.3.2.2. - and above are not allowed).

 

Metadata

At the time of online submission, authors should complete the 'Metadata' sections by indicating the title of the proposal, as well as the full names, institutional affiliations and email addresses of all authors/co-authors of the paper. However, this information should not appear in the main text to guarantee the anonymity of the authors for the reviewers. The principal author of the article will be identified. He or she will submit the article to OJS and will serve as the contact with the editorial board.

Acknowledgements can be added in the main document, once the paper has been accepted by the editorial board. If the article is part of a specific research project or funding, this must be indicated.

 

Abstract

  • Mandatory abstract for any proposed article.
  • Written in English and French.
  • Maximum 1,200 characters (including spaces).
  • Must present (briefly) the context of the study, objectives, methods, results and conclusions.
  • Abstracts in English and French will each include 5 keywords.

 

Figures and tables

  • The title, numbering and source must be indicated for each figure or table.
  • Tables and figures must be treated and numbered separately.
  • Tables and figures should be sent to the editorial board preferably in Excel or csv format (with source data to work on their formatting). Any other format must first be approved by the editorial board before publication.

 

Annexes

Appendices - including text, graphs, tables, formulas, etc. - may be added. They will be attached directly after the article, in the same document. Any figures, tables or formulae shall include a title, a numbering (in continuity with the figures, tables or formulae in the body of the text) and a source. The tables and figures in the appendix will also be provided preferably in Excel or csv format.

 

Notes

Footnotes may be inserted in the text but their number will be limited. They will not contain charts or formulas but may refer to annexes. They will appear in the text in the following format: Times New Roman, 10.

 

Bibliographical references

Authors should take particular care to respect the format of bibliographical references used by the Revue Quetelet. The bibliography will be included at the end of the article and sorted in alphabetical order.

  • Review article: White M. J. (2013), "Moving Migration into Century 21", Revue Quetelet, 1 (1), pp. 7-31.
  • Monograph: Bocquier P., Traoré S. (2000), Urbanisation et dynamique migratoire en Afrique de l'Ouest. La croissance urbaine en panne, L'Harmattan, 148 pages.
  • Chapter in a book: Konseiga A., Zulu, E., Bocquier P., Muindi K., Yé Y. (2009), « Assessing the effect of mother's migration on childhood mortality in the informal settlement of Nairobi », M. Collinson, K. Adazu, M. White, S. Findley (eds.), The Dynamics of Migrations, Health and Livelihoods, Ashgate, pp. 123-138.
  • Oral communication: Sanderson J.-P., Eggerickx T. (2019), "Stratégies migratoires des divorcés après 50 ans en Belgique de 1991 à nos jours : effets de genre et de groupe social", paper presented at the CUDEP 2019 colloquium, Unions/Désunions/Non union, Dijon, 21-24 May 2019.
  • Working paper/research report: Bureau Fédéral du Plan, Direction générale Statistique (2016), Perspectives démographiques 2015-2060 Population, ménages et quotients de mortalité prospectifs, Mars, Bruxelles, 70 p.

In the text, the authors will make use of bibliographical references as follows: (Eggerickx, 2010), (Bocquier et al., 2008; Rizzi and Gourbin, 2012).

 

Open data

In a desire to become part of the "Open Science" movement, the Quetelet Journal supports replicability and transparency. For this purpose, codes and scripts may be published in one or more additional files separate from the main article, so that they are readable by the scientific community. The format of this document is the choice of the authors (*.txt, *.do, *.R, *.sps, etc.).

To make the codes and scripts understandable, the provision of a sample of data or fictitious data to apply the codes and analysis programs is strongly encouraged, via public directories (https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/) or directly on the journal's website. It is also advisable to refer to the full data file if it is deposited at an appropriate site, independently of the RQJ.