Contribute

PARSE journal publishes 2-3 issues each year. Open calls for papers are released by the specific issue editor(s), often after development through the PARSE theme page. From 2026, PARSE will announce an annual open call for external editors. PARSE does not accept proposals for individual articles.

General Checklist

As part of the submission process, contributors are required to check off their submission’s compliance with all of the following items. Submissions may be returned if they do not adhere to these requirements. Note all articles will undergo peer review by members of the PARSE Working Group and external reviewers.

The submission has not been previously published, nor is it being considered by another journal or publication.
The submission is a Microsoft Word file.
Manuscript preparation guidelines have been followed. The guidelines specify requirements such as maximum size, format of the article and referencing style (Oxford).
You have permissions to use all images, reprinted material and adapted material.

Guidelines for Editors

Publishing Agreement

Editors must deliver a completed issue, ready for publication, by the agreed deadline.
If this deadline cannot be met, the PARSE working group reserves the right to revise or cancel the agreement.

PARSE Themes Pages

The PARSE themes pages serve dynamic spaces to share the ongoing exploratory nature of artistic research. Content here may include:

Public dialogues, events, and discussions.
Open calls and workshops.

Themes are archived but never deleted. There is no time limit on these research themes, usually (but not always) when an issue is published the theme moves from the current themes pages section to previous themes. A theme may or may not lead to a journal issue.

To communicate research themes effectively on the PARSE website, we require:

Editors names and bios (150–250 words).
A short description of the theme.
A hex colour code for visual representation. This colour will also be used for the potential issue connected to the theme.

PARSE Issues

Budget Allocation
Each issue receives a maximum of 100,000 SEK budget based on receipt of proposed budgeting. Editors have discretion over its distribution. However the final budget will be approved in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief.

Typical costs include:

Editor and contributor fees (rate sheet available at request)
Event operational costs (e.g., symposia, workshops).
Transcription fees.

Non negotiable costs:

In house Copy editing: 14,000–20,000 SEK.
Image Permissions

Note: Payments must go through the e-portal invoicing system due to Swedish tax regulations. We seek to process payments as quickly as possible, but please note that delays can occur.

Content Overview

Each issue typically includes 7–10 articles. These can be selected, commissioned and/ or sourced via open calls.

First draft communication and Workflow

Issue editor/s are responsible for commissioning and/or coordinating open call for contributions.
Issue editor/s receive the first draft submissions of articles directly from contributors and communicate to contributors first draft deadline.
PARSE Coordinator to act as a sounding board for peer reviewer suggestions/introductions.
PARSE Working Group are expected to peer review articles when asked by editors.
PARSE Coordinator ensures progress through an issue content tracker shared with editors.

Article formats that PARSE Journal currently supports

Slideshow: A structured visual presentation that communicates key ideas, research findings, or artistic processes. Example: https://parsejournal.com/article/oral-origin-of-the-village/
Full Paper (max. 7,000 words): A traditional academic paper on the work presented at the conference. Regular text (vertical scroll): https://parsejournal.com/article/there-are-no-extinctions-in-relations-without-bodies/
Visual Essay (max. 2,000 words + visual content): A combination of text and images presenting your work. Regular text (vertical scroll): https://parsejournal.com/article/in-reverie/
Video Essay: A concise audiovisual work demonstrating artistic research in motion. Example: https://parsejournal.com/article/not-propaganda/
Audio essay, see e.g.: https://parsejournal.com/article/cranial-nerve-number-eight/
Essay: poetic, choreographic scores

Open Call Protocol

Any partner agreements must be reviewed and signed before drafting calls.
Calls need long and short formats for website and social media, respectively.
Include terms of remuneration (if applicable) in the call.
Submissions are managed via a Google Form template, which outputs data in Excel format for review.

Publishing Workflow Guidance for Editors

First draft is reviewed by the issue editor/s and when considered “accepted” the first draft files are uploaded to the PARSE coordinator’s google drive by editors.
PARSE coordinator and/or editor/s contact peer reviewers (dependent on contacts responses are sometimes faster when editors handle directly).
First drafts undergo peer review. Peer review feedback is recorded in google doc template set up by PARSE coordinator for the issue. Editor/s send peer review to contributors.
Revised drafts are finalized with editor/s through iterative feedback rounds.
Final first draft (including abstract, keywords, contributor’s bio) ready for copy editing is submitted to the “Final First Draft” folder of the google drive by editor/s. Editor/s flag to PARSE coordinator any “unusual” article formatting requests.
Contributors to confirm any image permissions required for the article.
Editors to provide cover image for issue.
PARSE coordinator shares final first draft with copy editor.
PARSE coordinator and web developer contact contributors, if necessary, regarding extra formatting requests. (Note: these requests should be kept to a minimum)
Issue editor/s submit editorial text for copy editing to google drive.
Copy editor returns feedback and issue editor/s facilitate feedback with contributors.
When necessary, a further draft may be sent to copy editor.
Editor/s upload final draft, images, image captions, contributor bio, abstract and keywords to google drive.
Editors provide launch communication content for social media/ newsletter: overall issue description, key quotes/ and or images to represent issue articles.
PARSE coordinator and web developer format and published articles behind a password for final contributor review before public launch.
Editor/s confirm final minor editing requests from contributors. Please note that significant changes such as the removal/insertion of endnotes or new contributor bios will result in delays to the journal launch.

Timeline

The entire process, from final contribution submission to publication, takes approximately 20 weeks.

First draft deadline: Once full finalized contributions are received.
Peer Review Process: Allow 6 weeks. Each article requires 2 external peer reviews. Peer reviewers are given 2-3 weeks to return reviews. The editorial team will provide a proposed peer reviewer list + contact details (unremunerated).
The editorial team checks peer reviews, returns them to the contributor with comments and suggestions within 2-4 weeks.
First Copy Edit: Issues containing no more than 7 articles require up to 4 weeks for the Copy editor.
Turnaround time post copy-edit feedback: 2 weeks. Contributors are given 2 weeks to amend text and return it to the copy editor.
Final Copy edit, final formatting + production: 4 weeks. Contributions that require more production and testing may take up to 6 weeks (e.g., slideshow, audio, video, image layout).
Launch: Approximately 20 weeks after the initial finished contributions deadline.

Example timeline

Open call announced: 01 August 2026
Call closed: 01 October 2026
Editorial review: November 2026
Final contributions due: 09 January 2027
Peer review: January–February 2027
Copy editing: February–March 2027
Formatting/production: March–April 2027
Launch: 24 May 2027

Process Steps

Peer Review: Articles undergo open peer review by two reviewers. Feedback covers interest, relevance, revisions, and recommendations. Peer reviewers indicate whether they think the submission should or should not be considered for publication.
Copy Editing: Initial drafts go through detailed editing. Contributors address feedback before submitting a revised draft.
Final Formatting: After all revisions, articles are formatted and tested for the website.

Post-Publication Tasks
Indexing and Archiving

PARSE Ensures the issue is indexed with DOAJ and each article is assigned a DOI. in relevant databases and archives.

Review

Conduct a debrief with the editorial team to document lessons learned and suggest process improvements.

Guidelines for Contributors

Submission Requirements

Submissions must be nuanced, unpublished work in Microsoft Word format.
Manuscripts should follow the Oxford referencing style (notes).

Formatting and File Requirements

Manuscripts: Use 11-point Calibri font, 1.5 line spacing, maximum 7,000 words (excluding references).
Images: JPEG/PNG, 1200 pixels (longest side) at 300 dpi. Contributors to provide full captions and credits.
If importing references from reference programs (Zotero, Mendeley), turn the settings off/ remove the code, as this makes it much trickier to edit / correct.
When producing articles / whole issues containing in-/external hyperlinks, agreement must be made in discussion with coordinator and copy editor, as well designer, in advance of submission. A consistent approach with attention to referencing must be applied.

Images

JPEG, PNG or GIF are the preferred file formats for raster photographs and images, and should target a resolution of 1200px on the longest side at 300 dpi. WebP is also accepted where available. Use SVG for vector images. Animated GIFs are supported for short loops. For longer or high-quality animations, use video formats.

Please provide a clear caption indicating image source and any required image/photo credit for each image.

Videos

Video will be played through PARSE Vimeo account: Hence all common video containers, codecs and resolutions are supported. Provide video download links with article submission. For more information visit About preparing video file for upload at Vimeo.

Audio

Max size 256 MB .mp3, .m4a, .ogg (will not work on all browsers), .wav Beware of file sizes on .wav files. Consider compressing your .wav files into .mp3 or .m4a before submission.

Article Structure

Title and abstract: 150–300 words.
Keywords: 5–10 descriptive tags.
Contributor bio: 150–250 words.

Workflow

First draft undergoes peer review (feedback facilitated by editors).
Revised drafts are finalized through iterative feedback rounds.
Articles are published behind a password for final contributor review before public launch.

Licensing

This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or their institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright Notice

PARSE is an open access journal and is published under a creative commons license. The authors retain full copyright and publishing rights.

Author Charges

PARSE journal has no author charges.

Permissions

Permissions to use reprinted material, adapted material, and material owned by other parties are the responsibility of the authors.

References Style

Author(s) should broadly follow the Oxford reference system. Examples of reference style are shown below.

Book with one Author

Include (if available): author’s family name and first name. title. edition (if not 1st). place of publication, publisher. year of publication (copyright).

Example:
Bryman, Alan. Social research methods. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2008.

Books with two or more Authors

Fabozzi, Frank J., Modigliani, Franco and Jones, Frank J. Foundations of financial markets and institutions. 4th ed. Boston: Prentice Hall. 2010.

Books which are Edited (Anthologies)

For edited books include editor(s) in brackets after the name of the editor(s)

Example:
Allen, Jeffner and Young, Iris Marion (eds.). The thinking muse: feminism and modern French philosophy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 1989.

E-books

The same information should be provided as for printed books, see examples above. For books that have been read or downloaded from a library website or bookshop you should add information about e-book at the end of the reference.
Bowen, Natasha K. & Guo, Shenyang. Structural equation modeling. New York: Oxford University Press. 2012. E-book.
Some books whose copyright have expired are sometimes freely available on the internet. In those cases you should add the complete URL (http ://….) and access date, the date you downloaded/read the book. If the URL is very long it could be sufficient to use the URL of the web site where you found the book e.g. http://books.google.se/

Strindberg, August. Three plays: Countess Julie; The Outlaw; The Stronger. Boston: International pocket library. 1912. http://books.google.se/ (Accessed 2012-05-21).

Book Chapter

Include (if available): family name(s) and first name(s) of author(s) of book chapter; title of book chapter. In, title of book. first and family name(s) of editor(s) and ed(s) in brackets. edition (if not 1:st). place of publication and publisher. year of publication (copyright). page numbers of chapter.

Example:
Ellet, Elizabeth F.L. By rail and stage to Galena. In Prairie state: impressions of Illinois, 1673-1967, by travelers and other observers, Paul M. Angle (ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1968. pp. 271-79.

Journal Article

Include (if available): family name(s) and first name(s) of author(s). title of article. journal name. volume and issue. year of publication. page numbers of article.

Lundmark, Linda. Economic Restructuring into Tourism in the Swedish Mountain Range.Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism 5. no. 1. 2005. pp. 23–45.

If full first names are not provided in the article provide only initials.

Graham, E and Boyle, P. Editorial introduction: (re)theorising population geography: mapping the unfamiliar. International Journal of Population Geography 7. no. 6. 2001. pp. 389-394

Electronic Journal Article

Same information included as for journal articles (see example above) and a DOI-number. DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is used to uniquely identify an object such as an electronic article. DOI-numbers are permanent, which makes it possible to easily locate articles even if the URL of the article has changed. Articles are assigned DOI-numbers by major academic publishers. If there is no DOI-number you should give the URL-link of the article and in some cases access date (mainly articles that are freely available on the internet). Today the publisher often states how to write the reference.

Lundmark, Linda. Economic Restructuring into Tourism in the Swedish Mountain Range. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism 5. no.1. 2005. pp. 23–45. doi: 10.1080/15022250510014273.

Larsen, James E. and Blair, John P. The importance of police performance as a determinant of satisfaction with police. American Journal of Economics and Business Administration 1. no.1. 2009. pp. 1-10. URL: http://scipub.org/fulltext/ajeba/ajeba111-10.pdf (Accessed 2010-09-29).

Newspaper Article

Include (if available): author of article; title of article; magazine and date of article

Jowit, Juliette. Corporate lobbying is blocking food reforms, senior UN official warns. Guardian. 2010-09-22.

Newspaper Article on the Internet

Same informaton as for a printed article (see above) and URL of article and date of access in brackets. If the URL is very long it could be sufficient to use the URL of the newspaper e.g., http://www.time.com/time/

Jowit, Juliette. Corporate lobbying is blocking food reforms, senior UN official warns. Guardian. 2010-09-22. URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/22/ food-firms-lobbying-samuel-jutzi (Accessed 2010-09-30).

Web Pages/Internet Sources

Include (if available): author. Organization. authority or company. year. title of document or page. name of web site or owner of web site. last update of web page. complete URL (http://…..) and date of access.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Health: OECD says governments must fight fat. 2010. URL: http://www.oecd.org/document/35/ 0,3343,en_21571361_44315115_ 46064099_1_1_1_1,00.html (Accessed 2010-10-10).

For blogs include title and posting date of individual blog entry:
Parker, Matt. 2010. The simple truth about statistics. Guardian.co.uk Science blog. 2010-09-29. http://guardian.co.uk/science/blog/ 2010/sep/29/ statistics-lies-abuse (Accessed 2010-10-10).

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries

For articles/entries in online encyclopedias include (if available): author of article. title of article. name of encyclopedia. year of publishing. complete URL (http://…..) and date of access. If there is no author, use the title of the entry or article first.

Example:
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2010. http://britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/142824/ Creutzfeldt-Jakob-disease (Accessed 2010-10-30).

Dissertation

Include information about university of graduation and title of degree.
Examples:
Eckerberg, Katarina. Environmental protection in Swedish forestry: a study of the implementation process. PhD diss. Umeå University. 1987.

Landström, Mats. Two essays on Central Bank independence reforms. Lic. diss. Umeå University. 2009.

Conference Proceedings

Lectures/presentations at conferences and seminars are published in anthologies called proceedings. Title, year and city of conference are to be included if known. Individual contributions to conference proceedings are treated as chapters in books. Sometimes those contributions are published in journals and are treated as journal articles.

Hall, C. Michael. North-south perspectives on tourism, regional development and peripheral areas. In Tourism in peripheries: perspectives from the north and south. In Dieter K. Müller and Bruno Jansson (eds.). Perspectives on tourism in Nordic and other peripheral areas, 2004. Umeå, Wallingford: CABI. 2007. pp.19-38.

Television program

Lindsjö, Lars. UR Samtiden – Hur kan utåtagerande barn bemötas? [Television]. Stockholm: Sveriges utbildningsradio. 2011. http://uraccess.se/

Personal Communication

Personal communication includes more informal sources: e.g. letters, e-mails, phone calls or conversations. Permission should be sought before these sources are quoted, and a copy retained for reference. If you have promised an interviewee anonymity you must keep that promise. You will find more information about rules and guidelines for research at CODEX. http://www.codex.uu.se/en/index.shtml

Please note that personal communication is sometimes not included in the reference list as the sources normally are not traceable. In those cases information about personal communication are provided only in the footnotes.

A reference to personal communication should include as much information as possible; name, profession/position, details of personal communication; date

Examples:
Svensson, Anna: student at Umeå University. Interview 2010-05-11.

Informant 1: Grammar school, Umeå. 12 boys and 12 girls, individual interviews 2010-05-09.

Smith, Veronica: Professor at the department of physics, Umeå University. Northern lights, lecture 2010-03-12.

Please note that e-mail addresses belonging to individuals should only be provided if the owner has given permission.

Peer Review

Review Process

(a) to establish suitability for publication in terms of content, relevance and quality
(b) to provide critical feedback to enable the author(s) to finalise the article for publication in PARSE.

The peer review process is based on an open review process in which there is no anonymity between the author(s) and the reviewer(s). Each contribution is referred to at least two peer reviewers, who are asked to recommend on the suitability of the contribution for publication. In the event that there are recommended adjustments to the contribution before publication, the issue editors are responsible for discussing this with the authors.

After approval for publication has been established through the peer review process, contribution is subsequently professionally copy-edited and proofread, and if any substantive changes are made the author will be contacted and a finalized version of the article/contribution will be provided by the author(s) to the Editor.

We regret, that it is not possible for the editorial team to enter into dialogue or provide feedback for all submissions. Typically, this is reserved for those submissions that have been identified as suitable for potential publication in the particular volume number.