The RMAA Information and Records Management Annual (iRMA) is an academic, refereed* publication. It is not a trade magazine. As such, all statements or assertions made by the author must be backed up with credible sources. This means that within the text the credible sources should be cited within endnotes.
If papers are received in incorrect format (see below) they will be returned to the author for amendment, before being sent out for refereeing. This will extend the process and the paper may miss the deadlines set below for the 2009 edition of iRMA.
Abstract:
- Papers for iRMA 2009 may be on any recordkeeping topic.
- Abstracts of proposed papers should be approximately 300 words in length.
- Please submit in MS WORD format, 12 point Times New Roman font, double spaced (no PDFs).
- Abstracts will be accepted until 31 August 2009. Early submission of abstracts allows more time for authors to write their full paper and allows greater time for revisions after the referee process.
- It will not be possible to extend this deadline. Early submissions will be gratefully accepted.
- Please send abstracts to either editor at the email addresses below.
Written papers:
- Papers should be between 3,000 and 8,000 words in length.
- Papers should be submitted in MS WORD format, 12 point Times New Roman font, double spaced.
- Do not use any special formatting techniques as all papers will be formatted in a consistent style for publication.
- Please use endnotes for referencing. Endnotes are inserted using MS Word in a similar manner to footnotes. Please use Arabic numerals to number your endnotes. Note that the MS Word default numbering for endnotes is Roman, not Arabic.
- Please use APA (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association) as your referencing style. See http://library.curtin.edu.au/research_and_information_skills/referencing/apa.pdf for this style.
- Papers must be submitted by 30 September 2009.
Biographical note
If your paper is accepted for publication you will be asked to submit a biographical note. You will need to include:
- Name without post-nominals – Affiliation without address
- A biography of 100-150 words in MS WORD format, 12 point Times New Roman font. This should include qualifications and a career synopsis.
- A recent colour image, head and shoulders as a JPEG.
* Peer Review/Referee Process
The referee process entails the review of scholarly papers by professional peers, typically other scholars, researchers, consultants, etc. in the field. It confers on the paper and so the author, a higher level of academic standing than an un-refereed paper.
The referee process is also aimed at ensuring that a publication is reflective of the peer community, rather than an editor’s personal preferences or knowledge, or popular opinion.
An appropriate core Editorial Board will be selected in readiness - additional reviewers will be co-opted as required, depending on the focus of the paper. Reviewers will be listed, in acknowledgement of their work, in the publication.
Reviewers make recommendations about whether the editor should accept, reject or ask for revision of the paper. Revision is the most common outcome, 80% of papers are returned to authors for revision.
The review process will be anonymous (blind) to ensure that reviewers are neither ‘for nor against’ the author. Likewise, it is usual that reviewers remain anonymous to the author.
The final decision remains the responsibility of the editors, but they will normally trust the recommendations of the reviewers, although an author may mount an argument against reviewers’ comments.
