Journal Special Issue CFP

Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship: Special Issue on Immigration and Immigrant Community Engagement

Call for Manuscript Proposals: Democracy Realized through Immigrant Integration

This special journal issue brings together an interdisciplinary and demographically diverse group of students, practitioners, policymakers, and scholars to examine U.S. immigration policy, practice, and the organizations which facilitate immigrant integration. We are specifically interested in community-based and community-engaged research that surfaces immigrant voices, those who work in partnership with immigrants, and those who do research in collaboration with and on behalf of immigrant communities.

In partnership with the Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship (JCES), the special issue editors are seeking manuscripts that align with the JCES’s mission as well as advance representative and direct democracy through the full incorporation and inclusion of immigrant communities throughout the U.S. As such, our collective aim is that this issue integrates the voices of diverse immigrant communities as well as the voices of emerging and established academic scholars and community researchers. We seek to transcend scale by including the experiences of small unincorporated rural areas to large cities, thus we anticipate creative approaches, analyses, and methodologies. Finally, we welcome writing in foreign languages (with English translation). Our aim is to advance scholarship that authentically captures the lived experiences of immigrants and those who facilitate their integration and democratic engagement.

Immigration and the immigrant experience are inextricably tied to the past, present, and future of the United States. Native Peoples, established U.S. residents and citizens, and newcomers all are part of the celebrated and controversial stories that shape “the story of U.S.” However, much is said about immigrants, without truly incorporating their own stories and contributions into the narrative; a narrative, we believe, has the potential to inform and inspire community change and scholarship. 

Guest Editorial Team

Drs. Rodriguez and McDaniel are long-term collaborators and have worked together for nearly a decade as co-PIs of the Atlanta Immigrant Crossroads Project, an interdisciplinary cross-college partnership and community-engaged research project. Their past collaborations have resulted in the establishment of the Georgia Immigration Research Network (GIRN) (2015); the creation of an Immigrant Integration Toolkit and Community Resource Guide for GIRN members (2016−2017); co-hosting GIRN convenings at KSU (2017 and 2018); co-editing and contributing to Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from an Atlanta High School (2018); and curating a traveling art exhibit on immigrant youth (2018−Present) that has been experienced by over two million people. To learn more about their work, those of GIRN members, and relevant literature on immigrant integration, visit the GIRN website.

Dr. Rodriguez has been awarded a research reassignment through the KSU Tenured Faculty Enhancement Program (i.e., sabbatical) to facilitate the successful execution of this Special Issue. A timeline will be shared with prospective authors, including information on a virtual summit in Spring 2023 to facilitate the distribution of substantive feedback, while also creating a gathering for scholars and immigrant community manuscript reviewers to provide peer review and shape the special issue’s tone in concert with JCES for its slated publication in 2024.

Submissions

Submissions should be in Times New Roman, 12-point font, in APA 7th edition formatting.

• A cover page should include the manuscript type, a working title, and a short bio of up to 200 words for each contributor and all their contact information, including corresponding author identification.
• A second page, blinded for review, will include an abstract of up to 1,000 words, followed by a reference page with citations included in the abstract. Or in lieu of an abstract, if you already have a full manuscript that fits the scope of this special issue, kindly send the full paper for consideration.
• The drop-down categories below summarize the submissions we are seeking, inclusive of maximum word count.

• Regular Manuscript (8,000 Words)

  Submissions are quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods empirical studies. We also welcome submissions that utilize new and emerging methodological techniques. Regular Manuscript submissions should be based on a solid theoretical or conceptual framework and the discussion of the research findings should include practical, theoretical, and/or policy implications. These submissions should demonstrate the central involvement of students and/or community partners and advance the field of community engagement scholarship.

• Research from the Field (6,000 Words)

  These articles have a practice or case study orientation and share best practices, practical wisdom, and applied knowledge. Context is an essential part of community engagement work; therefore, it is critical to situate Research from the Field submissions philosophically, historically, and theoretically in order to systematically extend our knowledge and understanding. Innovative partnerships that demonstrate the central involvement of students and/or community partners have the potential to make highly interesting pieces for this section. Research from the Field submissions should go beyond a simple project description to include innovative lessons learned or best practice principles with strong application and practice implications. 

• Community Perspectives (2,000 Words)

  Community members working with academic partners from all disciplines are invited to submit original work.  All forms of writing, analysis, creative approaches, and methodologies are acceptable for this section. Specific types of submissions appropriate for Community Perspectives include commentaries, critical reflections, and opinion pieces related to community engagement and/or engaged scholarship. 

• Student Voices (2,000 Words)

  Students from all disciplines and from high school to post-graduate are invited to submit original work. All forms of writing, analysis, creative approaches, and methodologies are acceptable for this section. Specific types of submissions appropriate for the Student Voices section include commentaries, critical reflections, and opinion pieces related to community engagement and/or engaged scholarship.

• Synergistic Submissions

  This type of submission provides authors the opportunity to publish either a Regular Manuscript or a Research from the Field piece and then publish accompanying Student Voices and/or Community Perspectives pieces. The accompanying Student and/or Community pieces should be written by student or community authors involved in the engaged scholarship featured in the Regular or From the Field submissions and further explore some important aspect(s) of the effort. In this way, Synergistic Submissions provide space for authors to feature the experiences and insights of their student and community collaborators in a way that is connected to, not apart from, their presentation of research. 

• Book Reviews (1,500 Words)
  Submissions should give the reader a well-developed sense/description of the book but should also go beyond description to discuss central issues raised by the text. Reviewers are encouraged to address how the reviewed book addresses theory, current scholarship, and/or current issues germane to the subject of the book and engagement scholarship. Reviewers may reference other material that has bearing on the book being reviewed, particularly when these sources position the book within larger discourses regarding the topic. 

Interested contributors should submit their proposals with the subject line “JCES-Special Issue” by Saturday October 1, 2022, to Dr. Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez at darlene.rodriguez@kennesaw.edu.