2015 marks ten years since the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) began working towards victim-centred transitional justice in northern Uganda. As we celebrate this landmark, I am excited to invite you to contribute to a special issue of JRP’s magazine Voices.
Articles featured in this forthcoming issue will:
- Examine the relevance of transitional justice in 2015
- Highlight the accomplishment of groups and communities in the past decade, and
- Discuss best practices in justice and reconciliation in the context of JRP’s work with conflict-affected communities across northern Uganda over the past ten years.
A wide range of stakeholders in JRP’s work –from community group members to academics to civil society and government practitioners – are asked to share their views on past efforts in and the future of achieving justice and reconciliation in northern Uganda.
If you would like to contribute to this issue or request further information, please contact Oryem Nyeko at onyeko@justiceandreconciliation.com. Please note the deadline of 25 September 2015 for the submission of story ideas.
UPDATE, 28 September 2015: Please note the deadline of 2 October 2015 as a the deadline for article drafts.
Since 2012, Voices has featured over 130 articles on victim-centred views on a range of timely transitional justice issues including amnesty, reparations, truth-telling, SGBV and accountability. Limited copies of the magazine are available for free in print and online. To view past issues visit http://voices.justiceandreconciliation.com.
Submission guidelines for Voices magazine
28 September 2015
Voices is a publication of the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) which provide platforms for victim-centred views on transitional justice. Past issues have dealt with thematic areas such as amnesty, reparations, truth-telling, accountability and sexual- and gender-based violence. We welcome the submission of articles from conflict-affected community members, academics, civil society and government representatives on each issues’ given theme.
Writers should keep the following in mind the following as they prepare to contribute to the magazine.
JRP’s working definition of ‘transitional justice’
According to JRP’s working definition, transitional justice (TJ) is a response to widespread human rights abuses for situations of conflict transitioning to situations of peace. It aims to prevent such atrocities from happening again includes processes such as criminal prosecution, reparations, truth-telling and traditional justice.
Article requirements for Voices
- Articles may be in the form of opinion, feature, interviews or news pieces, depending on the subject matter and the interests of the writer in identifying the most effective way of presenting their writing.
- Articles are between 800-1200 words.
- Voices uses UK spelling
- Citations are important, but as Voices is not an academic publication please do not use footnotes to cite references.
Voices’ sections
Community Voices presents stories from the perspective of conflict-affected communities and individuals. These may be written by or about community or individual experiences, views, aspirations or challenges. Articles in this category are often classified as ‘Feature’ articles, but may utilise any style of writing.
Opinion articles express the writers’ opinions and critiques on a given issue. Writers are encouraged to be solution oriented and to provide recommendations where possible.
The Research Corner highlights on-going transitional justice research and provides a forum for sharing knowledge, feedback, lessons and upcoming research projects. Articles in this section may be in the form of summarised field notes and reflections, book reviews or proposed ideas for further or ongoing research.
News articles present information about recent developments in transitional justice. Writers should take into consideration the timeliness of the publication of the issue to which the writer intends to submit to.
Submission process
The editorial team at Voices uses a three-stage process for accepting, reviewing and editing submissions:
- Submission of story ideas to the editorial team based on the given theme an issue is based on. This may be in the form of a brief (150-200 word) title and abstract, or simply in the form of a proposed title.
- Submission of a first draft after a story idea is approved by the editorial team.
- Liaising with editors and submission of final draft.
Writers are encouraged to submit high quality photographs and a brief biography (60 words) along with their articles. Please ensure that photographs are separately attached in emails (i.e. not placed in a document, but rather attached as a separate file). Biographies may contain links to email addresses or websites of the writers.
Submissions must be made by email to the editorial team at voices@justiceandreconciliation.com.
Copyright and representations
By submitting content to Voices you represent and warrant that you hold exclusive rights to reproduce,
distribute, adapt, transmit, and publicly display that content and the authority to grant publication rights to JRP and Voices.
Other considerations
In submitting to Voices, please note the following:
- Voices is unable to compensate writers for their submissions.
- Prior to submission, articles cannot have been published elsewhere.
- Voices is not obligated to publish a submission
- Voices reserves the right to edit articles in order for them to comply with these guidelines
- Articles published by Voices cannot be published by the author anywhere else within three months without the express consent of JRP/Voices.
Thank you! We look forward to your submission.
