Reviewer Guidelines

The Foundry, like its partner, Including Disability, is written, reviewed, and edited with a commitment to furthering equity, access, inclusion, and justice for disabled people. It is peer-reviewed, but in an inclusive and supportive way. The role of the Editorial Team is to help contributors create the best materials possible. Disabled people may face many barriers; being able to share their work in a disability-focused policy publication should not be one of them. 

The Foundry is open access and freely available. It is supported by the all-volunteer Advisory Board, Editorial Team, and Including Disability team. 

Review Process and Timeline

The Disability Policy Foundry accepts submissions at any time. We publish on a rolling basis (with crip time built in!). Submissions will be assigned to available members of the Editorial Team and Advisory Board for anonymous review via email. 

Reviewers will receive an email from disabilitypolicyfoundry@gmail.com with the subject line: “Disability Policy Foundry Submission for Review.” The email will include the general topic of the submission and its word count.

Reviewers will not be given access to the submission file until they have agreed to review it. Once they agree, reviewers will receive a submission via Word document, with all identifying information removed from the submission. Please respond within 3 business days confirming whether you can review the submission. If not, the submission will be sent to another reviewer.

Typically, reviewers are given two weeks to review submissions. In the event that a submission requires a faster turnaround (for instance, a policy piece tied to a specific news story, bill introduction, or event), that will be stated in the review request. We anticipate most submissions will be under 1,500 words.

Reviewers will remain anonymous. If contributors have questions about the publication process, they can email disabilitypolicyfoundry@gmail.com.

Reviewers must treat submissions as confidential and should not share or discuss them outside the editorial process.

If you recognize a submission or believe you have a conflict of interest, please notify the editorial team so we can reassign the review.

Reviewers will review the submission in its entirety, use track changes in Word to make appropriate edits and comments, and send the reviewed Word document back to disabilitypolicyfoundry@gmail.com as a reply to the initial assignment email.

Per our submission guidelines, all AI use must be disclosed by submitters.

DO NOT submit any content to an external AI platform such as ChatGPT, Grammarly, Gemini, JotBot, or others to support the review process, as this pushes individual contributors' content into publicly accessible digital spaces without their consent. 

There are 5 possible recommendations a reviewer can make about a submission. Please include this recommendation in your email reply.

• Accept Submission: Accept the submission in its current form with no edits necessary. 

• Revisions Required: Accept the submission contingent upon minor revisions being made.

• Resubmit for Review: The submission is not currently ready for acceptance, but it can be after a major revision by the submitter.

• Resubmit Elsewhere: The paper does not suit the topics explored by the Disability Policy Foundry, but it might fit another publication venue.

• Decline Submission: You feel the Disability Policy Foundry should not publish this submission. Please provide rationale for this decision in your email reply to disabilitypolicyfoundry@gmail.com.

Reviewer Responsibilities

As a reviewer, you are responsible for determining whether a submission is suitable and ready for publication by the Disability Policy Foundry. At the same time, our review process is designed to support contributors in developing their ideas and growing as policy writers.

Whenever possible, begin by identifying what is already working well in the submission before suggesting revisions. Specific, encouraging feedback helps contributors strengthen their work and supports the Foundry's mission of expanding disability policy leadership.

To guide your review, we suggest using the following steps:

• Review the submission in its entirety. Use "track changes" to help keep track of your thoughts and any edits you feel are necessary.

• Is the submission related to policy? Refer to "What do we mean by policy?". If not, the Foundry may not be the right place for publication.

• Would policymakers, advocates, journalists, or community members learn something from reading it?

• Does the submitter cite their sources if writing beyond their own experiences? 

• If a submission includes original research, like survey or interview data, does the submitter explain their methods, findings, and limitations?

• Overall, has the submitter left anything important out? If so, what?

• Is the writing clear and to-the-point?

  • Note: Reviewers should not recommend changes solely to make a piece sound more academic or conform to traditional scholarly writing. We welcome a range of writing styles and formats, provided they are clear, accurate, and accessible.

• Check the citations (in pieces that use citations). Submitters may use hyperlinks or end-text citations that follow one of the major style guides (APA, Chicago, MLA, etc.). Hyperlinks recommended.

  • Are end-text citations in alphabetical order? Do they correctly follow one of the major style guides?

  • Click on some of the hyperlinks or links provided in the references. Do they lead where you expect them to? Do things like the title, journal name, vol/issue number, page numbers, etc. match?

• Do you believe this submission will make a meaningful contribution to disability policy #ScholarCrip if published? Please write up your thoughts however it makes sense for you. You can include them as comments in a track changes document or include in the body of your email reply.

Ultimately, your goal is to justify your recommendation.

If you use track changes in a Word document, they will be shared with the submitter, but the email reply to disabilitypolicyfoundry@gmail.com will stay internal. Please track changes anonymously, meaning your name is not included in your edits and comments.

To track changes anonymously, please follow these instructions:

Mac: Click Review, then Protect, then Protect Document. Under the Privacy heading, click "Remove personal information from this file on save." Your comments will remain but will be attributed to "Author" when you save the document.

PC: Click File, then Info. Beside Inspect Document, click on Check for Issues, then Inspect Document. Clear all the check boxes except Document Properties and Personal Information and click Inspect. Word may find some personal information and offer you the option to Remove All. Click that and then click Close. Your comments will remain but will be attributed to "Author" when you save the document.

Again, DO NOT submit any content to an AI platform.

Thank you for serving as a reviewer. You make this work possible!