Submission Guidelines
for Contributors

Studies in Vocation and Calling (SVC) seeks to advance scholarly conversation about vocational discernment and exploration in higher education with specific attention to undergraduate education. While maintaining the integrity of that specific focus and of scholarly standards, SVC’s Editorial Board seeks to steward a conversation that is multidisciplinary in depth and scope, that bridges the curriculum and co-curriculum, and that celebrates a variety of genres. Authors should be guided by the specific focus of the journal in assessing the fit of their manuscript. Authors do not need to be employed by a CIC or NetVUE member institution in order to submit a manuscript for consideration.

1. Length: The ideal length for a standard “Scholarship” article is 6,000-8,000 words, including references and footnotes. “Reflection” pieces will be of variable length, depending on genre.
2. Focus: All submissions to SVC should respond to the journal’s specific focus on vocation and calling in higher education. Particularly in the Scholarship section, articles They should seek both to respond to the ongoing scholarly academic conversations about vocation and to offer something new.
3. Scholarly and/or Experiential Engagement: As a multidisciplinary journal, SVC articles are rooted in scholarly theoretical and experiential expertise while also being accessible to a broad academic audience. A specialist in the field will be able to tell that the author knows the central arguments and literature of their shared discipline, while a non-specialist reader will be able to benefit from the author’s particularly disciplinary perspectives and its the unique contribution that the written text makes to the contemporary multidisciplinary conversation on vocation and calling.
4. Copyright: Submissions must not be concurrently under review elsewhere, nor should submissions include material that is copyrighted without permission. Authors must provide information on prior dissemination of the manuscript (e.g., if some or all were was presented at a conference, or posted on a website or blog). This information must be provided as part of the Author’s Note. Contact the SVC managing editor if you have questions about the feasibility of publishing an article whose ideas in which the grounding themes have been previously disseminated in whole or in part.

1. Manuscripts will be initially screened by the managing editor.
   1. If the editorial team decides that the manuscript does not meet the editorial mission of the journal, the decision not to move the manuscript to the next phase of review will be communicated to the author with a brief explanation, and no further review will occur. Authors should feel free to communicate with the managing editor if they wish to offer a fuller explanation of the contributions that they believe the submitted material would make to the mission of the journal.
   2. If the editorial team determines that the manuscript meets the editorial mission of the journal, the editor will notify the corresponding author and will send the manuscript to two or more external referees for blind review (in the case of submissions to the Scholarship section) or to a member of the editorial board or another editorial consultant (in the case of submissions to the Reflection section).
2. Following reviews, the final decision about publication is made by the editors in consultation with journal leadership.
3. The editorial team and external reviewers, while committed to the mission of the journal, work in full-time roles as educators and administrators. Because of this, the review process normally takes three to four months. When submitting a manuscript, authors are accepting the possibility that their work may be published up to a year after the review process is complete.
4. During the first few years of the journal’s publication, the timelines described here may be extended. The first issue of SVC is scheduled for publication early in the 2026 calendar year. Authors who are under significant time constraints (for example, for reasons related to a tenure or promotion process or another form of professional advancement) and who need their work to be published during 2026 or 2027 should discuss their needs directly with the managing editor. That conversation may help the author decide whether to consider other venues for the submission of their manuscript.
5. Authors of accepted papers must provide to the editor on final acceptance all necessary permissions to reproduce in print and electronic form any copyrighted work. SVC may decline to publish any part of the article whose copyright status is unknown.

Managing Editor

Krista E. Hughes khughes@cic.edu

Book and Resource Review Editor

Erin VanLaningham evanlaningham@cic.edu