About the Journal

Aims and Scope

The Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal (RDS) is an anonymous peer-reviewed, open-access academic journal published quarterly that is targeted towards any person interested in disability studies. We have readers and authors from all over the world. We accept submissions in English of a scholarly nature covering a range of disciplines within disability studies as well as creative works expressing ideas in the area of disability. The RDS journal contains the following sections:

  1. Research and Essays

    • While lengths of papers may vary, articles should generally be no longer than 7,500 words, including references and tables. Additional word restrictions may apply to articles that are part of a forum and will be determined by the guest editor. Use the most current guidelines set forth by the American Psychological Association (APA 7.0) for all headings, citations, references, paragraph formatting, and quotes.

  2. Special Themed Issues

    • Special Themed Issues are collections of articles on special topics or geographical areas, conference proceedings, or "up and coming disability scholars" collections. To submit a preliminary proposal for a Themed Issue that you wish to serve as editor for, please email Editorial Team directly at [email protected]

  3. Creative Works

    • Creative works (poetry, fiction, visual arts) must engage with the experience of disability. Creative works will be published in the format in which it was submitted. Fiction generally should not exceed 10 single spaced pages or 5,000 words. Multiple poems may be submitted for consideration as one submission but may not exceed five single spaced pages. Visual art should be submitted as a JPEG file with a resolution of 150. All visual material must be accompanied by a short paragraph describing the image in detail.

  4. Global Perspective on Disability Studies

    • Global Perspective on Disability Studies is for narratives from across the globe, commentary, curriculum, teaching texts and resources, strategies for integrating disability studies into various disciplines, community updates on social justice struggles, and historical pieces or discussion concerning disability.

  5. Multi-Media Review

    • This section is for media submissions (films, videos, audio, photography) as well as reviews of films, social network sites, blogs, online magazines, and websites.

      Film, video, and audio submissions should be in the form of a YouTube video link, should generally be no longer than 3 minutes in duration, and all attempt should be made to ensure work is as accessible as possible, e.g., captioning and audio description. Ensure captioning is accurate (if using automatic captions, edit for accuracy.)

      Photography should be submitted as a jpeg file with a resolution of at least 150. All visual material must be accompanied by a short paragraph describing the image in detail.

      Reviews generally should be no longer than 1000 words, including references. Use the most current guidelines set forth by the American Psychological Association (APA 7.0) for all headings, citations, references, paragraph formatting, and quotes.

  6. Notes from the Field

    • This section provides a space for the extended disability studies community to include notices and releases about items of interest. These may include conferences, events, book releases, etc. Items received should provide the basic who, what, when where and why, all the important information a reader might expect, with the final text provided carefully proofed and ready for review.

  7. Dissertation Abstracts.

Peer Review Process

General

All works submitted to RDS are evaluated by peer reviewers. All research articles and essays are assigned review by two anonymous peer reviewers and the Research & Essays Editors. Authors can expect peer review to take a minimum of 4 -6 weeks, although review time may vary based on volume of submissions and availability of reviewers. While we work with assigned reviewers to ensure timely reviews, unforeseen circumstances may cause considerable delay in peer review process.

Evaluation Criteria

The relevance and originality of the manuscript, its interest to scholars of Disability Studies, and its contribution to knowledge in the field. Put another way: does the article make a significant contribution to the literature in its subject area? Does the paper stand out in some way from others in its field? How relevant is the submission to the mandate of RDS?

  1. Does the article frame disability in such a way that it embraces non-medicalized, socio-cultural perspectives of disability? If not, are there simple things that the authors could do to revise their approach (such as use of language, inclusion of more relevant citations) or is the article in need of a greater shift of perspective that would require significant redevelopment? Are there other journals that might be a better fit for the article?
  2. Does the article strike a reasonable balance between meeting the specialist standards and language of Disability Studies, and being accessible to general readers?
  3. Are the claims appropriately discussed in the context of earlier literature?
  4. The quality of arguments, the soundness of methodology and reasoning, the quality of data, and the validity of analysis. How convincing is the argument?
  5. Is the argument balanced? Would the manuscript benefit from shortening or expanding of any sections? Have any relevant points not been considered?

Authorship Criteria

Credited authors must have contributed substantially to the submitted work and approved the final version. The journal does not consider submissions under consideration elsewhere or works that have been published elsewhere.

Publication Decision Categories

Accept

The submission (i) has a clear argument that is (ii) supported convincingly by sufficient evidence; (iii) is aware of existing literature in the field; and (iv) through its argument and evidence makes a contribution to the field. Only small textual changes are necessary for the manuscript to be ready for publication.

Accept with Revisions Required

The submission (i) has a clear argument that is (ii) supported convincingly by sufficient evidence; (iii) is aware of existing literature in the field; and (iv) through its argument and evidence makes a contribution to the field. More significant changes are needed than for “accept” in order for the manuscript to be ready for publication, but with revisions the manuscript is of publishable quality.

Revise and Resubmit

The manuscript merits eventual publication, provided revisions (sometimes extensive) are carried out satisfactorily. Examples of the sorts of revisions commonly required include the following:

  • Development of the argument and analysis;
  • Sharpening of the focus;
  • More supporting evidence;
  • Greater knowledge of relevant existing literature/publications in the field;
  • Fuller documentation and/or answers to queries on specific points of fact;
  • Rhetorical improvements, especially those affecting clarity, e.g., excessive use of the passive voice, vague pronouns, weak transitions, etc.;
  • A reduction in the overall length through elimination of redundancies and wordiness.

Decline

The manuscript is deemed unpublishable. This decision could be reached for a variety of different reasons, including methodology, argumentation, evidence, or prose. Please note: if the style is thoroughly confusing (to the point wherea decision to “reject” has been reached), examples should be cited. If the submission makes no original contribution, this point should be made with reference to existing Studies.

Publication Frequency

RDS is published online quarterly, with 4 issues a year.

Posting of Published Articles

RDS articles are archived on its website at https://rdsjournal.org/index.php/journal/issue/archive and printed articles are deposited in Scholar Space at https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/.

Advertising Policy

The review is supported by the University of Hawai'i Center on Disability Studies. It is a free online scholarly journal that may consider appropriate advertising, reprints, and other revenue sources as determined by the editors. However, no funding source outside of the Center on Disability Studies influences or will influence the editorial decisions made by the editorial team.

The Review of Disability Studies reaches an international audience in the field of disability studies. Inquiries regarding affiliations with other major organizations in the field may be directed to [email protected].

Subscribers are academics, advocates, and libraries. It is a highly receptive audience for appropriately targeted advertising. Research shows that specialty journals such as the Review of Disability Studies are cited by professionals as the most useful source of information for the purchase of products and services, more so than conferences, direct mail, and direct sales.  Organizations who wish to be vetted as potential advertisers or affiliates are invited to contact the editors at [email protected].

Marketing Policy

Marketing campaigns are currently limited to supporting the service and outreach of the Center on Disability Studies and its activities.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the ISSN? 1552-9215 (online)
  • How long has the journal been in existence? Since 2003
  • What is the average number of downloads for the online version? 1000 average per issue
  • What countries are the readers from? RDS has readers from all over the world, but some of the most common countries represented are Australia, Canada, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States
  • How often is RDS published?  4 issues /year
  • Where is RDS published? University of Hawaii at Mānoa, USA
  • What is the name of the publisher? Center on Disability Studies
  • What is the scope/audience for RDS? Persons interested in disability studies
  • What is the rejection rate? 60%
  • How long does it take for a manuscript submission to be reviewed? Allow at least 1-3 months
  • What is the average amount of time between a publication decision and publication? It varies significantly with amount of revisions needed, number of articles waiting to be published, topic/country of origin of the article, and type of article. One year is a typical amount of time between acceptance and publication, but the wait can sometimes be longer.
  • Is the journal refereed (peer reviewed)? 2 types of review (a) anonymous peer review (2 anonymous peer reviewers) (b) regular peer review (1 non-anonymous peer review.
  • Is paid subscription required to access RDS Journal articles? No, RDS is an open-access journal.

Journal History

To address the need for an internationally-focused academic journal in the field of Disability Studies, in 2003 the late David Pfeiffer and other faculty at the Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, including the late Dr. Steve Brown and Drs. Megan Conway, Tom Conway and Robert Stodden, founded The Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal (RDS).

RDS provides an international forum for people with disabilities, academics, professionals, artists and others from all backgrounds and expertise to express ideas relevant to disability studies and people with disabilities. RDS is open to a wide variety of perspectives, approaches, views, and paradigms relevant to the study and experience of disability.