Frequently Asked Questions
Author FAQs
Can I submit assignments from my course?
Yes! We'd recommend that you rewrite your work to incorporate the feedback you received from your tutor to help ensure it's the highest quality it can be before being reviewed by the Editor and Peer Reviewers (see also How do I deal with peer review comments?).
Can I submit an assignment as-is?
No. At a minimum, you need to format it to the Journal's template (see our submission page for information). Please also ensure your references follow Harvard-style (or OSCOLA for legal pieces). If you use reference management software, this is fairly simple to do.
We'd also recommend that you revise your work based on the feedback from your tutor, even if you get a high mark for your assignment.
Do I need permission to submit assignments from my course?
Generally, no.
However, if your assignment is based on or uses substantial amounts of someone else's work that isn't publicly available, for example data collected by a member of staff or another student, you will need their permission to share their data. This is most commonly a consideration for dissertations.
Additionally, you need to make sure you are adhering to copyright regulations for any publicly available 3rd-party materials you include in your work (e.g. images, graphics, figures, substantial quotes, data etc.)
If you have questions, please contact the Team before submitting.
Can I submit something other than assignments from my course?
Of course! In fact, we encourage students to write something especially for the Journal. We want the Journal to be the home of student research and expression at Essex, so if there's a topic you want to write about and share, consider submitting it to the Journal for publication.
We accept a wide range of formats different from a standard coursework essay, for example, short fiction, poetry, academic blogs, case studies, and more.
Even if we haven't explicitly identified a format as being accepted, please feel free to contact us and we'll discuss if we can accept it.
How many submissions can I make?
We do not currently limit how many submissions an author can make in total or at one time.
However, we want to ensure final publications are high-quality. It's likely you will have to revise the work you submit before it's published, so make sure you can dedicated the time and effort to improving all the pieces you submit.
What should I include in my abstract and keywords?
Your abstract should be a summary of the key points of your submission. It is different from an introduction in that an introduction signposts to upcoming key points without providing the full details, whereas an abstract summarises the important details of the key points.
You should include 5-10 keywords to help people find your publication. Think about what best describes your work and what people would be searching for if they wanted to read something like it. It may seem counterintuitive, but having few but more relevant and specific keywords is generally better as it means the people who find your work are the ones who actually want to read it.
How do I deal with peer reviewer comments?
Receiving peer review comments can feel scary and frustrating. Someone has criticised your work that you've spent hours writing and refining.
The best thing to do is read the comments and then take a pause. Come back to them when you've had a chance to think them through and the initial emotion has passed.
Think about how you can use what the peer reviewer has said to improve your work. Even if you don't agree with a comment, assume it's got positive intent and see what little you might be able to take from it.
You should address all the comments you've received. This doesn't necessarily mean adopting all suggested changes but you need to show that you've engaged with the feedback. Either adopt it in-full, build on it to improve your work, or justify why you haven't chosen to incorporate it.
We provide guidance to reviewers on providing effective and fair feedback, and the Editor will do their best to ensure the comments you get are fair, but if you feel that a reviewer has been too harsh or unprofessional in their comments, let the Editor know and they'll look into it.
Once you have made your revisions, you'll send them back to the Editor. It's common for Major Revisions to go through another round of peer review, so be prepared to revise your work multiple times.
Once my work is published, can I include it in my CV and applications for jobs or further studying?
Yes! Having a formal publication in your name has many benefits, including being evidence of your activities for future jobs or studies.
We recommend setting up ORCID and Google Scholar profiles to help raise your and your work's visibility, and provide more information about this as you progress through the publication process.
Peer Review FAQs
Do I have to be a PGR student to sign up as a peer reviewer?
Yes. Only current PGRs at Essex are allowed to sign up. However, if you signed up as a PGR and then leave the University, you are welcome to add a non-Essex email address to your profile and continue volunteering as a reviewer.
We want to ensure our reviewers have sufficient subject knowledge to provide good feedback to authors, so only PGRs are permitted to sign up.
If you are not a PGR but feel you have sufficient subject knowledge (e.g. have completed multiple degrees or have extensive experience in your area of interest), get in touch so we can discuss it with you.
Where can I find more info about being a peer reviewer?
Take a look at our Become a reviewer page. This contains information about what's involved in peer reviewing for the ESJ and how to sign up, and links to our peer reviewer guidance.
I'm not being assigned anything to review. What's up?
Usually, this is due to your profile not having any/enough interests listed. It may also simply be that we've not had any submissions recently in your areas of interest.
After you've signed up and created your account, you can add interests by editing your profile. We'd recommend listing the specific topics you feel confident reviewing. If you are looking to review creative writing, please also list Creative Writing as an interest so we can more easily find your profile on the system.
An author didn't take on my feedback. How come?
Your feedback is greatly valued and we expect authors to in some way address all points of feedback they're given by reviewers.
However, we also respect that creative control remains with the author and if they can justify why they don't think a piece of feedback should be incorporated into their work, we'll let them make that decision within certain limits, e.g. not ignoring factual inaccuracies. Where feedback boils down to stylistic choices or arguing something different from what the author intended, we'll usually allow the author to make the final decision.
It may also be that another peer reviewer gave conflicting advice to yours. Again, we'll accept the author's decision on which they go with assuming they justify their choice.