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Author Guidelines

Articles

Submitted manuscripts will be evaluated in relation to:

  • Relevance to the Canadian context in respect to either the programs subjected to evaluation or issues applicable to the practice of evaluation in Canada and elsewhere;
  • Clarity and conciseness, articles of less than 6,000 words are encouraged;
  • Originality;
  • The mix of theoretical, methodological, and reported findings available for publication in any particular issue of the Journal.

Addressing Challenges in Evaluation Practices

We encourage submissions that highlight real-life challenges encountered in evaluation design, conduct, reporting, knowledge transfer, and utilization.  Rich descriptions of challenges and of approaches to addressing challenges are invited.  Articles must include the following three sections and provide answers to all of the following "interview" questions:

  • Description of Case and Evaluation Context
    • Why was the evaluation conducted? What did the client want to learn?
    • What resources (time, money, in-kind, etc.) were available for conducting the evaluation? Were they suitable for answering the evaluation questions?
  • Description of Challenges and how they Impede the Evaluation Process
    • What challenges did you face in conducting this evaluation?
    • To what extent did you or could you have anticipated these challenges?
    • How did these challenges affect the implementation of the evaluation?
  • Description of how Challenges were addressed
    • How did you address each of these challenges?
    • What should evaluators do to avoid these challenges to start off with?
    • What would you recommend for others faced with similar challenges?
    • What, if any, are the systemic issues that the evaluation community should address?

Submissions must follow this general structure and be written as interview questions and answers. Authors may add additional "interview" questions. Authors should aim for 1,500 to 3,000 words. All submissions will be subject to blind peer review. Review comments connecting the case to evaluation research literature will be published alongside the article.

Research and Practice Notes

The purpose of Research and Practice Notes is to provide illustrative cases and practical examples of program evaluations. Manuscripts will be reviewed in relation to the following:

  • Relevance to the Canadian context in respect to either the particular programs subject to evaluation or issues applicable to the practice of evaluation in Canada and elsewhere;
  • Clarity and conciseness; notes of less than 1,500 words are encouraged;
  • Overall contribution to the objectives of the Society and the Journal;
  • Provision of a variety of examples of evaluation applications.
Book Reviews

Reviews of current publications relevant to theory and practice in program evaluation are reported in each issue.  There is a particular interest in publications relevant to the Canadian experience. Reviewers are solicited by the Book Review Editor.

Language

Manuscripts accepted for publication will be published in either official language with an abstract in the other official language.

Manuscript Submission Guidelines

  • Manuscripts may only be submitted in electronic format.
  • Manuscripts should not exceed a maximum of 6,000 words.
  • Manuscripts must include an abstract in both official languages of no more than 100 words.
  • All copy must be doublespaced on 8.5 x 11 inch pages. One inch margins are required on all four sides.
  • All tables and figures must be numbered separately and grouped together at the end of the manuscript. Clearly visible notes within the text should indicate their approximate placement.  Figures must also be submitted in individual JPG, TIF, or PDF files with a minimum of 300-dpi resolution.
  • Manuscripts must conform to the referencing format of the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2009).  All authors of manuscripts accepted for publication that do not conform to APA style will be charged a copyediting fee that must be paid before the manuscript is published.
  • Content footnotes are discouraged and should be used only when absolutely necessary.
  • All submitted manuscripts will be subject to blind review by up to four (4) expert members of the evaluation community.  Authors are required to ensure that all clues to their identity are removed from manuscripts submitted for potential publication.  Copies of reviewers' comments will be sent to all authors with identities withheld.

 

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

  1. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  2. The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
  3. Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.

  4. The text is double-spaced; uses a 12-point font and employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses).

    All tables are numbered separately and grouped together at the end of the manuscript.

    Illustrations and figures must be submitted under 'supplementary files' as individual JPG, TIF, or PDF files with a minimum of 300-dpi resolution.

    Clearly visible notes within the text indicate the approximate placement of tables, illustrations and figures.

  5. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
  6. If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.
 

Copyright Notice

The Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) owns the copyright to all material published in the Journal. Authors are informed of this policy prior to submission of the final copy for publication. Requests for permission to reprint, post or distribute copies of articles (electronic or hardcopy) come to the Editor-in-chief, who has the authority to decide on behalf of CES.

 

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