Social Inclusion is a quarterly peer-reviewed open access journal, which provides academics and policy-makers with a forum to discuss and promote a more socially inclusive society.

Conditions for Manuscript Submission
A manuscript can only be accepted for consideration if:

1. Submitted via the journal’s online submission system to one of the forthcoming thematic issues (see the Next Issues webpage). This journal does not accept spontaneous submissions for publication;
2. Submitted in Word or .odt format, using the template file provided in the instructions for authors, and respecting the word limit and reference style (Download Manuscript Template and APA Style Guide);
3. It has not been previously published nor under consideration elsewhere;
4. It is prepared in accordance with the instructions for authors.

Type of Manuscripts
The journal accepts the following types of articles for publication (all must be original and can not have been published elsewhere):

Language
All submitted articles must be written in English. Both British and American spellings are accepted, as long as one spelling is used consistently throughout the text. Authors whose native language is not English are strongly advised to ensure the grammatical correctness of their paper prior to submission. Papers with serious deficiencies in English may be returned without review.

It is the author’s responsibility to guarantee that the English language is flawless. Therefore, all authors must have their accepted manuscripts proofread by a proficient/native English speaker before we proceed to the next stage of copy-editing. The authors may choose between an independent English editing service, a colleague/peer, or Cogitatio’s own English editing services.

In the first two cases a certificate or confirmation by the author confirming the performance of English editing servicer must be provided to the Editorial Office. Should the author opt for Cogitatio’s English editing service, the task will be performed immediately after receiving the copy-edited file from the authors. Cogitatio’s English editing charges are as follows:

• Articles up to 8,000 words: €250 (plus VAT if applicable)
• Articles from 8,001 to 9,000 words: €300 (plus VAT if applicable)
• Editorials, Commentaries, and Book Reviews up to 2,000 words: €150 (plus VAT if applicable)
• Editorials, Commentaries, and Book Reviews from 2,001 to 3,000 words: €200 (plus VAT if applicable)

Structure of the Manuscript
The template file provided by Cogitatio must be used when preparing a manuscript. Manuscripts shall have the following ordered elements: type of article, title, authors, affiliations, abstract (200 to 250 words), keywords (4 to 10, alphabetically ordered), text (introduction… conclusion), acknowledgements, conflicts of interests, and references. Epigraphs, endnotes and footnotes are not allowed.

Length Restrictions
Articles and reviews shall have a maximum length of 6,000 words upon submission (the word count limit includes title, abstract, tables, figures, and references list). During a potential revisions stage, after peer-review, authors can extend the article length to a maximum of 8,000 words to better address the reviewers and editors’ comments.

Book reviews, commentaries, editorials and short notes shall have a maximum length of 2,000 words upon submission (the word count limit includes title, abstract, tables, figures, and references list).

Blinded Manuscript
The journal undertakes a double-blind peer-review process (the identity of the authors is concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa). Submitted articles shall always include the authors’ names and affiliations on the title page, but in the main text and article’s metadata there shall be no elements that disclose the authors’ identity. Self-citations should be kept to a minimum, and citation of any of the authors’ published work must be done in the third person.

Reference Style
Articles shall be submitted using the APA reference style. APA style requires both in‐text citations and a final references list. For every in‐text citation, there should be a full citation in the reference list and vice versa. When you need to cite two or more works together, arrange the in-text citations alphabetically in the same order in which they appear in the reference list. In-text citations must list the author’s last name, date of publication, and page number(s) when applicable:

Evans (2014, p. 52) or (Evans, 2004, p. 52)
Howlett and Mukherjee (2014) or (Howlett & Mukherjee, 2014)
Vrooman et al. (2015, pp. 77-78) or (Vrooman et al., 2015, pp. 77-78)

Tables and Figures
Tables and figures are limited to a combined total of 10. Tables and figures must be numbered, an explanatory title must be added, and each table and figure must be mentioned at least once in the main text. Figures should be supplied in a suitable size for printing, and tables should be inserted using the ‘Insert Table’ function provided by the software.

It is the author's responsibility to obtain permission from the copyright owner to reproduce figures and tables that have been published elsewhere. Tables and figures without such evidence are assumed to originate from the author.

Supplementary Files
Authors may submit supplementary files to be made available alongside their article. Supplementary material is available online only on the article’s webpage (it is not published in the PDF of the article). Supplementary files are not copy-edited nor proofread by the Editorial Office, and it is the authors’ responsibility to guarantee the scientific accuracy of these files.

Supplementary files are also sent to peer-review alongside the article; thus, authors are also responsible for guaranteeing that there are no elements (including in the file’s metadata) that disclose the authors’ identity.

Online Submission
Authors must submit their manuscripts through the online submission platform, comply with our instructions for authors. Submissions by email will not be considered. Authors will receive an automatic acknowledgment email upon a successful submission. This email will also request that they provide a list of 5 potential reviewers for their manuscripts.

First Check
The Editorial staff will make a first assessment of the submitted article. Manuscripts that do not comply with the instructions for authors may be returned to the authors or rejected altogether.

Contact by Editorial Staff
The Editorial staff will contact the corresponding author with a decision as to whether the manuscript will be considered for publication in the journal and sent for peer-review. At this point of the process, authors should have already emailed the Editorial staff their list of 5 potential reviewers, otherwise they will be reminded to do so. The list will be carefully reviewed by the Editorial staff and it is not guaranteed that the suggested researchers will be contacted to review the manuscript. Authors who fail to provide a list of suitable and trustworthy reviewers may see their manuscripts immediately rejected for publication.

Peer-Review
Manuscripts will undergo a very stringent double-blind peer-review process, where both the identities of authors and reviewers remain undisclosed in order to guarantee the highest quality of the journal. All manuscripts (except for Editorials, Commentaries and Book Reviews) will be sent out for review and at least two review reports per manuscript will be collected. All reviewers will be carefully selected by the journal’s Editors for each submitted manuscript and must fulfill the following criteria:

Even if, in principle, a double-blind peer-review system could allow this task to be performed by scholars who are acquainted with the authors, our Editorial Office still wishes reviews to be completed only by reviewers who do not have any recent professional contact with the authors in order to fully guarantee that there are no conflicts of interests and that reviews are indeed totally unbiased. Spontaneous applications from scholars to join the journal’s pool of reviewers will not be considered. All reviewers will be selected and invited by the Editorial Office to review manuscripts according to the field of expertise of the submissions received.

Reviewers will be asked to complete their review within two weeks, but are allowed to extend the review period in order to complete and submit their report. All relevant information for reviewers can be consulted in the Instructions for Reviewers.

In order to guarantee swiftness of the editorial process, each manuscript will only be allowed two rounds of review and revisions. Authors are thus urged to address all issues raised by the reviewers directly after the first round of peer-review.

Copyediting
After the manuscript is accepted for publication it will undergo a first stage of copy editing where the Editorial staff will correct any minor mistakes (such as punctuation or references) and check that all necessary information regarding the manuscript and authors has been provided.

Authors will receive an edited version of their manuscript for author copy editing after acceptance of the manuscript for publication. This is the last stage where any substantial copy editing changes to the text are allowed (the next stage—proofreading—is restricted to correcting typographical and layout errors).

It is the author’s responsibility to guarantee that the English language is flawless, and authors who are not proficient or whose native language is not English must have their manuscripts edited by a proficient/native English speaker. Please consult our “Language” section for further information.

Proofreading
The Editorial staff will create the final version of the manuscript in the journal’s template and the PDF proof will be sent to the author for final proofreading before publication. Authors should carefully check the proofs for typographical or layout errors, and use the sticky notes tool to mark and explain any changes necessary.