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Home > About the Journal > Editorial Policies

• » Focus and Scope
• » Section Policies
• » Peer Review Process
• » Publication Frequency
• » Open Access Policy
• » Style Guidelines For Guest Editors & Authors
• » Sections and Formats
• » Statement of Principles
• » A Brief History of DSQ By Beth Haller Co-Editor, DSQ, 2003-2006

Focus and Scope

Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ) is the journal of the Society for Disability Studies (SDS). It is a multidisciplinary and international journal of interest to social scientists, scholars in the humanities, disability rights advocates, creative writers, and others concerned with the issues of people with disabilities. It represents the full range of methods, epistemologies, perspectives, and content that the multidisciplinary field of disability studies embraces. DSQ is committed to developing theoretical and practical knowledge about disability and to promoting the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in society.

Section Policies

Articles

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Interviews

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Roundtables

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Cultural Commentary

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Creative Works

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Book and Film Reviews

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Eulogy

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Tributes

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Peer Review Process

All articles (except Cultural Commentary and Creative Pieces) are peer-reviewed.

Publication Frequency

DSQ is published by The Ohio State University Libraries four times a year. Each volume is the same as a calendar year. Publication is targeted for the following dates: Winter issue (Jan. 15); Spring issue (April 15); Summer issue (July 15); Fall issue (Oct. 15).

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Style Guidelines For Guest Editors & Authors

Sections and Formats

DSQ Invites Submissions in the Following Categories * Peer-reviewed article: Full-length manuscripts on research, theory, or reviews of the literature. Keep tables, figures and other images to a minimum; all such material must be accompanied by a brief narrative description. These articles will be sent to appropriate experts for review according to suggested criteria, without identifying the author(s). For a peer-reviewed paper example, see Personal assistance policy in the UK: What's the Problem with Direct Payments? Length: No more than 6000 words, excluding references. * Non-peer-reviewed article: DSQ is a peer-reviewed journal publishing articles that meet the highest and most rigorous standards within their larger academic discipline. Manuscripts are anonymously reviewed by at least two scholars in the field. A limited number of manuscripts are published without peer review as Cultural Commentaries, specifically essays providing personal perspectives and analyses of timely topics relevant to the field of disability studies. All materials are reviewed by the co-editors for quality and appropriateness and are not guaranteed publication. Length: 3000 - 5000 words * Fiction & Poetry: The work submitted should be conscious of disability themes and issues and should adhere to the philosophy of DSQ as expressed in paragraph three of the Statement of Principles. Although DSQ has no restrictions as to school or form, work submitted in this area should exhibit an understanding of conventions of fiction and poetics. Work in this area will be peer reviewed by scholars and writers working with disability in the fields of cultural studies, humanities, and/or creative writing. For a poetry example, see "The Things I Forget". For a short story example, see "Window Offices." Regarding poetry and fiction accepted for publication: By agreeing to publish in DSQ, authors grant DSQ first rights to publication of the work(s) and subsequent archival on the DSQ web site. Rights revert to author upon publication. Length: Varies * Letter to the Editor: A direct response to a paper that was recently published in DSQ. The authors of the paper referred to are given a chance to respond to the letter in the same issue in which the letter appears. Note that letters may be edited for length and style and are not guaranteed publication. Letters are not peer reviewed. Length: Varies * Book, Film, or Video Review: Book, film or DVD reviews concentrating on disability, illness, or the body may be directed to the book review editor, Laurie Clements Lambeth, at . We are interested in reviews of both creative literature­fiction, poetry, memoir, graphic novels/memoirs­and texts relating to any of the branches of Disability Studies. With regard to film, we are interested especially in fresh representations of disabilities, or at least in fresh readings of the films. Please query before submitting a review. Ideally, reviews should be discerning and conscious of Disability Studies concerns. Length: 500 - 750 words * News and Notes: Unsigned short pieces announcing new publications, programs, resources, and events related to disability studies scholars or scholarship. Information, such as press releases or announcements, should be sent to the DSQ editors. The information will not be used in its entirety, but will used as source material for staff-written items. Length: Varies * Calls for Papers: Announcements of disability-related calls for papers for conferences, journals, symposia, funding, etc. Length: Varies

Statement of Principles

Statement of Principles By Rosemarie Garland-Thomson and Paul K. Longmore Approved Fall 2003 by the Society for Disability Studies Board The values and ideologies that shape social arrangements, public policies, professional practices, and, most important, the experience of "disability" are in the midst of a classic paradigm shift. Disability issues are demanding attention in every sphere and institution of society. Everything related to disability and people with disabilities is in the process of being rethought and needs to be rethought. The academic study of disability has primarily been shaped by ideologies that define it as limitation in the performance of expected social roles due to underlying physiological pathology. That definition inevitably prescribes medical treatments and habilitation or rehabilitation as the appropriate solutions to the problems of people with disabilities. Yet those approaches have had only limited impact in ameliorating disabled people's socioeconomic marginalization. In contrast to these traditional modes of addressing and studying disability, Disability Studies takes as its domain the relationship of social values to societal organization and public policies, professional training and delivery of services, individual behavior and interpersonal encounters, cultural representation and technological and architectural design. Disability Studies utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to analyze the intricate interactions among social, cultural, political, economic, and physiological variables. It seeks neither to jettison, nor to embrace medical paradigms of disability, but to transcend them. It explains personal experiences of disability, not simply in terms of the functioning of bodies that operate in nonstandard ways, but by locating those differences within the larger context of the cultural milieus that shape disability experiences. Disability Studies also seeks to supply the rigorous research and critical analysis essential to any effort at social reconstruction. Statement of Purpose In pursuit of this vision and in support of an agenda that builds the academic field of Disability Studies in both the United States and globally, the Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ) will provide a peer-reviewed forum for scholarship. It will represent the full range of methods, epistemologies, perspectives, and content that compose multidisciplinary Disability Studies. DSQ aims to play a leading role in developing the field of Disability Studies by providing scholars with a vehicle to publish academic research that is credible within their particular fields of specialization. Discipline-specific articles must therefore match the highest and most rigorous standards in those fields. At the same time, all articles must be accessible to readers outside of those particular disciplines. DSQ will seek articles that cut across disciplines and have implications for the full range of the field of Disability Studies. The ideal DSQ reader will be the general academic reader in Disability Studies. In addition, the journal will publish nonacademic essays that reflect the perspectives of the disability community. Finally, DSQ intends to fashion itself as a model of accessibility for academic journals. Organization and Content DSQ will have a rotating editorship. The editor will serve for a term of three to five years. The DSQ editorial offices will be located at the home academic institution of the editor. The editor may hire a managing editor(s). The editor will recruit an editorial board that represents the various disciplinary perspectives of Disability Studies. In collaboration with the editorial board, the editor will develop a roster of referees to evaluate articles submitted for publication. The journal will be produced permanently at the journals division of an academic press. The formats for DSQ will be special issues dedicated to topical themes, refereed articles, both short book reviews and essay length book reviews, and announcements regarding professional opportunities. In terms of accessibility, DSQ will not only offer alternative formats, but will also utilize the best access practices in terms of print readability, language style, and color contrast.

A Brief History of DSQ By Beth Haller Co-Editor, DSQ, 2003-2006

The Society for Disability Studies (SDS) was founded in 1982 as the Section for the Study of Chronic Illness, Impairment, and Disability (SSCIID) within the Western Social Science Association. It became a national organization and was renamed the Society for Disability Studies in 1986. One of SDS' founders, Irving Kenneth Zola (1935-1994), Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University, had earlier taken over a publication called the Disability Newsletter. This newsletter was started by sociologist Natalie Allon (1941-2001), who published the first issue (Vol. 1, No. 1) in July 1980, as part of the disability subsection of the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. After an accident left Allon unable to continue the newsletter, Zola published Vol. 2, No. 1 in July 1982 and renamed it the Disability and Chronic Disease Newsletter. In 1986, Zola changed the name to Disability Studies Quarterly and as the first president of the Society for Disability Studies, he established the connection between the publication and SDS.

The early DSQ issues were in a photocopied and stapled format. They contained reviews of disability-related materials from numerous disciplines, an extensive event calendar of disability-oriented meetings, and calls for papers. Early in the history of DSQ, Zola began assigning themes to three of each year's issues. (Winter issues were typically left as non-themed, general issues.) Themes ran the gamut, e.g. from public policy to media to the body to technology to aging, and each theme issue had a guest editor with expertise on the theme. Articles were generally short, more often "think pieces" than research reports, and were not peer reviewed beyond the guest editor's review, backed up by Zola's final editorial review.

The journal was published from Brandeis University until Zola's death in 1994. After his death, his widow, Judy Norsigian, and SDS established a Disability Studies Quarterly Steering Committee. It was composed of: Howie Baker (Heller School, Brandeis University), Gunnar Dybwad (Heller School, Brandeis University), Janet Boudreau (former DSQ Managing Editor), Elaine Makas (Lewiston Auburn College of the University of Southern Maine), Adrienne Asch (Wellesley College), and David Pfeiffer (Suffolk University). Norsigian struck an agreement with SDS at that time stating that DSQ would transfer to SDS as long as it continued to be published. If publication discontinued, the right to revive DSQ would revert to Norsigian.

Steering committee member David Pfeiffer (1934-2003), a political scientist and chair of the Department of Public Management at Suffolk University in Boston, took over as editor in summer 1995. The content continued to expand with much original research in the growing field of Disability Studies appearing within it. Pfeiffer appointed a book review editor, Elaine Makas of the University of Southern Maine, who held this appointment during Pfeiffer's time as editor. He also created an editorial board of Barbara Altman of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Harlan Hahn of the University of Southern California, Karen Hirsch of ParaQuad, Paul Longmore of San Francisco State University, Lynn Schlesinger of SUNY-Plattsburgh, and Richard Scotch of The University of Texas at Dallas.

In Fall 1996, Pfeiffer began having DSQ printed as a bound 6x9-inch journal. It was also offered by email or on computer disk. In Summer 1997 Pfeiffer joined the Hawai'i University Affiliated Program at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Richard Scotch, a professor of sociology and political economy at The University of Texas at Dallas, became the managing editor of DSQ with that issue as well. At that time, the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Suffolk University, and The University of Texas at Dallas shared the duties of producing DSQ.

With the advent of the Internet and the high cost of producing a paper journal, DSQ became an exclusively online journal in Fall 2000. At that time the content of DSQ was open to anyone with access to the Internet. In 2002 the SDS Board put out a call for editor applications for DSQ. In fall 2003, Beth Haller, associate professor of journalism at Towson University in Maryland, and Corinne Kirchner, Director of Policy Research and Program Evaluation at the American Foundation for the Blind in New York City were named the co-editors of DSQ for a three-year term. At that same time, the SDS Board codified a Statement of Principles for DSQ, written by Disability Studies scholars, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson and Paul Longmore. See the principles at:
http://www.dsq-sds.org/principles.html.

Under Haller and Kirchner, DSQ continued theme sections, commentaries and reviews, but added anonymously peer-reviewed research papers to its content. Working within the guidelines developed by the American Foundation for the Blind, DSQ built its Web site to fit with the highest standards of Web design that relate to accessibility for people who use screen readers; it also purchased a distinct url, www.dsq-sds.org, to build awareness of the journal. In Spring 2006, DSQ published its first international section. This new section grew from the suggestion of SDS members, who connected with German Disability Studies scholars during a conference in Germany on eugenics in 2004. Also, an occasional section for "Pedagogy" was added, and two editors were appointed to handle the many book, film, theater, and video reviews, as well as adding an editor for literary works. The other major change implemented by Haller and Kirchner, at the request of the SDS Board, was to return DSQ to being a journal that was a benefit of SDS membership or purchased by subscribers. In Winter 2005, DSQ became a password-protected Web site, meaning only members of SDS whose subscription was part of their membership or paid institutional or individual subscribers could access DSQ.

At the 2006 SDS meeting, the Board announced the new editors for the next three-year term at DSQ. They are Brenda Brueggemann, associate professor of English and coordinator of the American Sign Language program, and Scot Danforth, associate professor of integrated teaching and learning, both of The Ohio State University.

Sources:

• Disability Newsletter .(1980). Publication of the disability subsection of the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. Vol. 1, No. 1.
• Garland-Thomson, R. & Longmore, P. (2003). DSQ Statement of Principles. http://www.dsq-sds.org/principles.html.
• Haller, B. & Kirchner, C. (2006, Spring). Editor's preface. Disability Studies Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 2.
• Haller, B. & Kirchner, C. (2005, Winter). Editor's preface. Disability Studies Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 1.
• Lorber, J. (2002, January). Natalie Allon obituary. Footnotes. Publication of the American Sociological Association. http://www2.asanet.org/footnotes/jan02/departments.html.
• Norsigian, J. (2006, Aug. 31). [Personal electronic mail message].
• Pfeiffer, D. (1995, Summer). Editor's preface. Disability Studies Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 3.
• Pfeiffer, D. (1996, Fall). Editor's preface. Disability Studies Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 4.
• Zola, I. K. (1990, Fall). The Editors' letter. Disability Studies Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 4.

Finding print versions of DSQ before 2000

A project is underway to digitize all the early DSQs for posting on the Web. But until that time, here are the universities that have been identified as having a full set of print DSQs: (If you know of others, please contact the current DSQ editors).
-- Brandeis University
-- Temple University
-- University of Wisconsin, Madison
-- York University (Canada)

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Barbara Altman, Howie Baker, Corinne Kirchner, Maria Molnar, and Judy Norsigian for contributing their memories and research to this history.

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Copyright © 2009, The Society for Disability Studies.

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