Instructions to Authors

The Monatsschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform (abbr. MschrKrim) is a peer-reviewed forum for original contributions and discussion on research and criminal policy in the field of crime and crime control within German speaking countries. Since 2009 the journal is indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI).

The journal is published as six issues per year. Issue 1 contains an index of all articles from the previous year. Each year, one »special issue« is edited jointly by one or two of the journal's active advisory board members. A supplement addressing a special topic is published roughly every 2-3 years in addition to the six issues per annum. Special issues and supplements are not subject to peer review.

Language

The MschrKrim primarily publishes German language contributions from the broader area of criminology and its related disciplines. Abstracts of articles are published in German and English. Furthermore, English language articles are published when the article is an original contribution from a native speaker. British or American English are both acceptable, but must be used consistently.

Categories of Manuscripts

The MschrKrim is chiefly comprised of regular articles, conference proceedings, forum (research notes) and book reviews.

1. Articles

This category of submissions includes

- empirical work which is to be published for the first time;

- fundamental theoretical contributions, in which models, concepts and/or theories are represented, criticized or further developed in order to explain trends or to energise further scientific investigation;

- methodical work pertaining to investigation, collection and analysis procedures;

- articles offering an overview of research that is presently being undertaken;

- research from other countries.

Articles are subject to a process of peer review. This is carried out on an anonymous basis by two external evaluators. The length of an article is not to exceed 15 manuscript pages (12 point, single-line; see below).

2. Conference Proceedings

Reports concerning conferences, workshops and colloquia are not to exceed 3 manuscript pages. The content of reports should be limited to include only the newest and most important findings.

3. Forum (research notes)

This category is comprised of contributions relating to smaller projects, intermediate results from current research or advanced information concerning upcoming research projects. Contributions in this category are generally not submitted to a process of peer review and should run to no more than 6 manuscript pages in length.

4. Book Reviews

Book reviews can be submitted to the editorial office (u.auerbach@mpicc.de). Book reviews are not to exceed 3 manuscript pages. The Instructions for authors of book reviews are available separately from the Editorial Office.

Submission of Manuscripts

Manuscripts can be submitted electronically as attachment to an e-mail addressed to u.auerbach@mpicc.de. Preferably, a hard copy is additionally sent by regular mail to Editorial Office, Monatsschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform, Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Günterstalstr. 73, D-79100, Freiburg/Germany. Within 3-5 days, the Editorial Office will acknowledge receipt of the manuscript and later on, will communicate the publication decision of the Editorial Committee. When the contribution is from multiple authors, a contact address is also to be indicated.

Contributions must follow the format and style as outlined below.

Papers submitted to the journal must not previously have been published nor submitted for publication to any other journal or elsewhere. A second publication, including an abridgment or translation of the work, requires the express permission of the publisher and editorial office.

Upon publication, the Carl Heymanns Verlag GmbH (Wolters Kluwer Germany) receives the exclusive right to further publication. This expressly includes the exclusive right to reproduce facsimile copies of the work; and the exclusive right to communicate the work to the public via online availability or electronic transmission.

Content and Organization of Manuscripts

Manuscripts should be submitted as files prepared in MS Word (preferably RTF format), set in single-spaced 12-point Times New Roman in block format for ISO A4 pages with 2.5 cm margins. Please disable all automated word processing features such as word breaks, format templates, numbered section headings and so forth. Please only number pages and include footnotes with the functions provided in Word. To improve presentation, individual passages may be set in 10-point.

1. Sequence of Contents

Contents should be presented in the following sequence:

- Title of the article centered in 14-point, subtitle centered in 12 point.

- Surname and forename of author centered in 12-point italics.

- A summary with a maximum of 5 keywords in 10-point at the beginning of the article.

- Text of the article.

- References.

- Author's address in 10-point (academic title, forename, surname, institution, street, postcode, city, e-mail address).

2. Formal Organization of Text

Sections should be numbered with headings set in 12-point italics, for example:

1. Theoretical Background

2. Research Results

2.1 Questionnaire

2.2 Results

2.2.1 Sociodemographic Data

3. Adding Emphasis

Emphasis should be added only in italics (neither set in bold or underlined).

4. Footnotes

Additional comments should be presented as footnotes at the bottom of each page set in 10-point single-spaced block format. Please use the usual automated footnote program in Word that enters and corrects footnote numbers automatically. Please avoid too many footnotes. They may take up a maximum of one-quarter of a running page.

5. Tables

Keep tables to a minimum. They should be generated with the Word table program (or with Excel), entered directly into the text at the desired position, and easy to read. Use 10-point characters. After the first column, center all column content. Number tables and give them a heading set in 12-point italics that provides an overview of their content.

Explanations of tables (such as sources of data, notes, or definitions of single terms) should be placed underneath and outside the table in 8-point and indexed with * or **.

Example:

^{* Legal regulations contain: Corporate Governance Codex, Global Compact, US-Federal Sentencing Guidelines, US-Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, US-Patriot Act, Sarbanes-Oxely Act, local corruption legislation, economic crime legislation in general.}

6. Figures

^{Figures should also be kept to a minimum. Text should be set in Times New Roman.}

^{Figures are to be delivered as a separate file. If possible, size graphics to fit the journal's column width. As the journal is set in Word, figures set in Word or PDF are preferred. If this is not possible, please specify which graphic program you have used.}

^{Deliver figures fully corrected for printing so that no additional changes need to be made to their content. Graphics should be completely stable, so that they can be shifted, scaled down, or modified as a whole without any loss of single lines or text or changes back into other printing types.}

^{When possible use no or only one or two grey tones as shading (or alternatively use hatching but no colors).}

^{The figure caption (e.g. Figure 1) should not be part of the graphic, but entered as a heading in the running text. Do not frame graphics, as this may well result in large gaps between figures and text that can no longer be deleted.}

7. References

^{References in text should give the authors' surnames (in italics), the year of publication, and, if possible, the page without using the abbreviation p. (Brandis 2004, 321). For two authors use an ampersand (Meier & Brauer 2005, 12 ff.). For three authors, cite all authors the first time the reference appears (Schmidt, Hermann & Kurze 2005, 41); in subsequent citations, give only the surname of the first author followed by either u.a. for German titles (Schmidt u.a. 2005) or et al. for non-German titles (Carter et al. 2005).}

^{When a work has more than three authors, cite only the surname of the first author followed by u.a. or et al. and the year.}

^{Identify works by the same author with the same publication date by adding lowercase letters, for example, 2004a, 2004b, and so forth.}

^{When citing two works by the same author, separate publication dates with semicolons (Meier 2003; 2005). The same applies when citing several authors within the same parentheses (Schmidt 1999; Brandis 2004; Gebauer u.a. 1998; Myers et al. 2006).}

^{A reference list should be added at the end of the article. This should only contain references to literature cited within the text and be presented in alphabetical order. Character size is 10-point. Individual references should be entered in succession as continuous text separated by an em dash. When listing more than one work by the same author, start with the most recent publication.}

^{Journal Articles:}

^{LaFree, G. & Birkbeck, C. (1991). The neglected situation: A cross-national study of the situational characteristics of crime. Criminology 29, 73-98. – Lonsway, K.A., Welch, S. & Fitzgerald, L.F. (2001). Police training in sexual assault response. Criminal Justice and Behaviour 28, 695-730.}

^{Entire Books:}

^{Bange, D. & Deegener, G. (1996). Sexueller Missbrauch an Kindern. Ausmaß, Hintergründe, Folgen. Weinheim. – Farrington, D.P. (2005) (ed.). Integrated Developmental and Life-Course Theories of Offending. New Brunswick/NJ. – Gibbs, J.P. (1975). Crime, Punishment, and Deterrence. New York. – Kerner, H.-J. & Kaiser, G. (1990) (Hrsg.). Kriminalität: Persönlichkeit, Lebensgeschichte und Verhalten. Berlin.}

^{Articles in Edited Books:}

^{Leygraf, N. (2000). Begutachtung der Prognose im Maßregelvollzug, in: U. Venzlaff & K. Foerster (Hrsg.), Psychiatrische Begutachtung, 350-358. 3. Aufl. München, Jena. – Painter, K. & Farrington, D.P. (1995). The crime reducing effect of improved street lightning, in: R.V. Clarke (ed.), Situational Crime Prevention, 209-226. New York.}

Peer Review

^{All potentially suitable contributions will be anonymously submitted to two external evaluators. On the basis of these evaluations the editorial board will decide whether a manuscript is accepted for publication. Upon conclusion of the procedure, the reports of the external evaluators will be sent, along with the editors final decision, to the author. The external evaluators shall remain anonymous.}

Copies

^{For each successfully published article, forum contribution or report the author will receive 5 free copies of the respective issue, for book reviews 1 copy.}