Submissions

Author Guidelines

Manuscript Categories 

Review Article 

Review articles are critical and constructive analyses of the literature in LIS and related fields. They cover discourses and current debates, as well as new discoveries and gaps presented through systematic or narrative review. Each manuscript should comprise of 3000 up to 6000 words, excluding references, abstract, and appendices (if any). Review articles undergo double-blind peer-review process. 

Original Article 

Original articles are original research or investigations that employ quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods to address particular research inquiries. Each manuscript should comprise of 3000 up to 6000 words, excluding references, abstract, and appendices (if any). Original articles undergo double-blind peer-review process. 

Case Study 

Case studies present innovative programs, projects, and/or services in a particular institution or community. Each manuscript should comprise of 3000 up to 6000 words, excluding references, abstract, and appendices (if any). Case studies undergo double-blind peer-review process.

Historical Article 

Historical articles are short papers relating to the history, origin or context of library materials, institutions, and personalities in LIS and related fields. The manuscript should comprise of 2000 up to 3000 words, excluding references, abstract, and appendices (if any). Historical articles undergo editorial review.

Commentary/Viewpoint 

Commentaries/viewpoints are short papers about relevant topics and timely issues on LIS and related fields. This section allows authors to freely express their constructive opinions and/or suggestions. Each manuscript should comprise of 2000 up to 3000 words, excluding references, abstract, and appendices (if any). Commentaries/viewpoints undergo editorial review.

Resource Review 

Resource reviews are assessments of various information resources (e.g., published books, continuing resources, documentary films, library and archives systems, databases), providing an overview of the scope and content of said resources for their readers’ consideration. The manuscript should comprise of 1000 up to 2000 words. Resource reviews undergo editorial review.

Special Paper 

Special papers are pertinent articles which do not fit any of the above manuscript categories. These may include paper versions of lectures delivered in the annual Gabriel A. Bernardo (GAB) Memorial Lecture, keynote addresses, and distinguished papers. Manuscripts under this category are usually solicited by the PhJLIS Editorial Board, but prospective authors may inquire with the editorial board for consideration. Special papers undergo editorial review.

Writing and Editorial Style 

PhJLIS follows the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition, for writing and citation style, including presentation of tables and figures. Authors should conform to the guidelines of the aforementioned style manual prior to manuscript submission to PhJLIS.

Use of Third-Party Materials 

It is the responsibility of authors to obtain the necessary permission to use third-party materials in their manuscripts.

Submission Guidelines 

1. All manuscripts are expected to be original contributions and not previously published or currently being considered for publication in a refereed journal, or in any other forms of publication.
2. The text used in the manuscript is single-spaced; uses a 12-point serif font (e.g. Times New Roman, Garamond); employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
3. All manuscripts (except for commentaries/viewpoints and resource reviews) should be accompanied with a 150- to 250-word descriptive/indicative abstract, followed by 3-5 keywords.
4. All manuscripts for peer-review should be prepared for blind review before submission, to ensure the integrity of the double-blind peer-review process of PhJLIS. 
   1. Name/s of manuscript’s author/s should be deleted from the text. Use “Author” and year in the references, when citing works written by manuscript author/s.
   2. Author identification should be removed from the properties of the file to be submitted containing the manuscript.
5. All manuscripts must be submitted via the PhJLIS online submission system.
6. Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) is the preferred format for submission.

Review of Manuscripts 

Each paper submitted will be initially reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief to determine if the paper conforms with the editorial policies and guidelines. The paper will then be forwarded to the Issue Editor for review. All manuscripts for review will undergo double-blind peer-reviewing for evaluation. The reviewers (minimum of two, maximum of three) will be chosen by the Issue Editor with the guidance of the Editor-in-Chief based on their field of expertise and the subject or topic of the paper. Upon the recommendations of the Issue Editor and reviewers, accepted manuscripts will be forwarded for production. The Editor-in-Chief will then make the final publication decisions.

Manuscripts for editorial review shall be evaluated by the PhJLIS Editorial Board (Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors). 

The members of the Editorial Advisory Board may suggest potential reviewers, recruit content (supplements, individual articles, and special papers), and recommend topics/themes for the publication.

Articles that have already appeared or published in other journals or in any other forms of publication will not be considered.

There is no monetary reward for the authors, peer reviewers, and editors.

Plagiarism

The PhJLIS upholds ethical standards and best practices in academic publishing, and does not tolerate any act of plagiarism. Submitted articles are evaluated and may be checked using duplication-checking software (i.e. Turnitin). If the work is found to have exhibited a significantly high similarity score or failed to properly acknowledge or secure the use of a third-party copyrighted material, the journal has the right to send back the work to the author for rectification, withdraw the work from the journal, or pursue appropriate legal action.

Conflict of Interest 

All authors are required to disclose any potential source of conflict of interest (financial, commercial, legal or professional). They should provide a disclosure statement as part of the text of the manuscript. If there is no conflict of interest to disclose, authors should also state it as part of the text of the manuscript, using the following statement: “The author/s declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.”

Source of Funding 

All authors should identify all funding sources by providing a statement of declaration as part of the text of the manuscript. If there is no source of funding to declare, authors should likewise state it as part of the text of the manuscript, using the following statement: “The author/s received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.”