About the Journal

ABOUT

Launched in 1999, idea journal is an international, double-blind peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to publishing scholarly and practice-based research on interiors and interiority. idea journal is an open-access publication and produces one journal issue annually. It is a subsidiary of the parent institution IDEA – The Interior Design / Interior Architecture Educators Association (www.idea-edu.com).

SCOPE

idea journal recognises interiors and interiority as an emerging, discursive, and interdisciplinary field of research concerned with conceptual, material, and social relationships between people and environments. It identifies the study of interiors and interiority as necessarily expanded and non-canonical, derived from the confluence of knowledge distributed across many spatially oriented design, art, and architecture fields. Promoting the production of new knowledge and critical practices of interiors and interiority, idea journal provides a space of scholarly engagement for text- and visual-based research. idea journal serves an international academic, professional and student readership and welcomes contributions from those involved in bolstering theoretical and creative discourse.

AIMS

idea journal aims to foster, publish, and disseminate peer-reviewed research on interiors and interiority; to provide a valuable resource for the advancement of design practice and its associated theory, and further support the exploration of interiors and interiority in relation to historical and contemporary issues and events.

PUBLICATION POLICY

All manuscripts are subjected to double-blind review to maintain the high standard quality of the content. Author(s) are responsible for ensuring the submitted manuscript for peer-review does not contain any identification of the author(s). 

The journal does not charge any submission or processing fees for the author(s) to submit and publish their manuscripts in this journal. As of April 2022, every issue and article is free and open-access through the journal website.

The journal accepts manuscripts written in the English language. It follows UK English language. Manuscripts that include the use of other languages are encouraged to do so and to include close translation of those keywords, concepts or quotations. To ensure the readability and the quality of the journal, all manuscripts go through language editing and copy editing before publication.

The journal only accepts original manuscripts that have not been previously published nor are being considered for publication elsewhere. All manuscripts submitted to the journal are subjected to similarity check procedures to identify any indication of plagiarism. 

idea journal publishes two types of essays on interiors and interiority:

  • A text-based research essay is an academic essay that examines and presents new knowledge. It is a form in which the text leads, and images and/or figures may supplement the text.
  • A visual-based research essay communicates new knowledge with image/text assemblages. It is a form in which the space and composition of the page are used in a conceptual manner.

See Author Guidelines on Submissions page for further detail.

PEER REVIEW PROCESS

Below is the process idea journal undertakes to review each submitted manuscript. This process has been established in adherence to the Publication Ethics listed below.

A Call for Proposals (CFP) is developed by the editorial board and disseminated widely to all institutional members of IDEA and the journal's registered members as well as through international discipline-related servers.

Expressions of Interest (EOI) are submitted directly to the journal Executive Editor and comments are sent to authors offering advice for further development as full manuscripts.

All authors must register on the journal website before submitting their full manuscript. Manuscripts must not include any reference or information that identifies the author(s). Each submission is blind refereed by two or more reviewers selected on the basis of their expertise and experience. Reviewers verify any potential conflicts of interest at this point, and if deemed necessary, reviewers are reassigned. A list of peer-reviewers is published for each issue in the front matter.

The Executive Editor reviews the reports, seeks consultation when needed from the Editorial Board and then distributes the reports to each author. At this point, authors are advised if the manuscript has been declined, requires major or minor revisions, or is ready to proceed to production.

Authors respond to the referee reports with a revised manuscript, which is reviewed by the Editorial Board. At this point, authors should include all identifying information, images, permissions, image credits and all references. Often further revisions are required. Once a manuscript has met the necessary level of refinement for publication, all materials have been submitted and proofs have been approved by the author, the manuscript is formally accepted for publication.

The decision of the idea journal Editorial Board is final. 

PEER REVIEW ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

For text-based research essays:

  1. Does the title reflect the content? If not, offer some suggestions to refine. 
  2. Does the submission explicitly address the journal provocation? 
  3. Does this article constitute original research, i.e. contribute new/innovative knowledge or critique to the current discourse on the topic or in the field of concern?
  4. Is the research focus clear? Has the author(s) identified problems, issues, questions or specific areas of concern? Does the article outline methods of inquiry, evidence-based discussion, resultant claims, critical reflections and/or conclusions? 
  5. Is the submission substantially and critically positioned in the context of appropriate precedent works, history, and or theoretical inquiry? Are these elements correctly cited? Are there key references that are missing that may enrich the article?
  6. What are the strengths of the article? Are parts of the submission weak or lacking? If so, how could these be improved?
  7. Are images, illustrations, figures and diagrams etc., relevant? Do they augment and enrich the article text? 
  8. Does the article comply with the journal’s spelling, punctuation and referencing guidelines?
  9. Other comments (if any):

For visual-based essays: 

Visual essays can take many forms. In some cases, authors will have included a contextual statement, perhaps even a somewhat brief overview of the creative work and some critical reflections along with image pages that may or may not include text. Others will offer image pages that use collages or assemblages as the primary means of communication and supplement these with little to no text. These submissions often ask reviewers to employ interpretive modes of review that draw on their skills as visual, auditory and spatial practitioners. This does not mean visual essays are less than, non-critical or intellectually un-informed. Many visual essays present creative work, which asks the author to decide how much explaining is needed to welcome a reader into the work without exhausting the reader's responsibility to 'read' images, audio files and videos differently than text. Please consider these points and comment accordingly.

  1. Does the title reflect the content? If not, offer some suggestions to refine it. 
  2. Does the submission explicitly address the provocation? 
  3. Does this visual-based essay constitute original research, i.e. contribute new/innovative knowledge or critique to the current discourse on the topic or in the field of concern?
  4. Does the visual-based essay communicate what is driving or informing it as research? Are the reflections critical? 
  5. Does the visual-based essay need more/less contextual framing?
  6. What are the strengths of the visual-based essay? Are parts of the submission weak or lacking? If so, how could these be improved?
  7. Are the images, illustrations, figures and diagrams, etc., relevant and communicate well? Do they lead the essay? 
  8. Might this visual-based essay work better as a text-based research essay with large or numerous images?
  9. Does the essay comply with the journal’s spelling, punctuation and referencing guidelines?
  10. Other comments (if any)

CITATION

The journal employs the MHRA referencing style using notes only, no bibliography. Please refer to the Author Guidelines on Submissions page.

COPYRIGHT

Author/s and or their institutions retain copyright ownership over works submitted to idea journal, and provide the Interior Design / Interior Architecture Educators Association with a non–exclusive license to use the work for the purposes listed below:

  • Make available/publish electronically on the idea journal website
  • Publish as part of idea journal's online open access publications
  • Store in electronic databases, on websites and CDs/DVDs, which comprise of post-publication articles to be used for publishing by the Interior Design / Interior Architecture Educators Association.

Reproduction is prohibited without written permission of the publisher, the author/s or their nominated university. The work submitted for review should not have been published or be in the process of being reviewed by another publisher. Authors should ensure that any images used in their essays have copyright clearance.

OPEN ACCESS POLICY

The journal promotes the dissemination of the high quality research by providing open access to all journal articles upon publication. The open access of the journal means its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself.

PUBLICATION ETHICS

idea journal has adopted the standards of publication ethics as stated in the Core Practices of the Committee of Publication Ethics (COPE). These include the policies regarding authorship and contributorship, the procedure for handling allegations of misconduct, handling of complaints and appeals, handling of conflicts of interests/competing interests, policies on data and reproducibility, ethical oversight, intellectual property, journal management, peer-review process, and post-publication discussions and corrections. 

AUTHORSHIP AND CONTRIBUTORSHIP

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author is responsible to ensure that all appropriate co-authors have been included in the paper and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to the submission of the paper for publication. 

PLAGIARISM

The journal only accepts manuscripts that have not been previously published nor being considered for publication elsewhere. All manuscripts submitted to the journal are subjected to similarity check procedure to identify any indication of plagiarism. The Editorial Board is responsible to follow up any indication of plagiarism conducted by the author(s).  

DUTIES OF EDITORS, REVIEWERS AND AUTHORS

The following statements describe the ethical behaviour of all parties involved in the act of publishing an article in this journal: the editor, the reviewer, and the author.

Duties of Editors

Decision on the publication of articles: The Editors are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The Executive Editor are guided by the policies of the journal's Editorial Board and subjected to such legal requirements regarding copyright and plagiarism. The Executive Editor may confer with Editorial Board members or reviewers in making this final decision.

Fair play; Manuscripts shall be evaluated solely on their intellectual merit without regard to author's race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, or citizenship.

Confidentiality; The Executive Editor, the Editorial Board Members, and any editorial staffs must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by anyone who has a view of the manuscript (while handling it) in his or her own research without the express written consent of the author.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to editorial decision: Peer review assists the editors and the editorial board in making editorial decisions while editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.

Promptness: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the assigned manuscript or unable to provide a prompt review should notify the Executive Editor and excuse themself from the review process.

Confidentiality: Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to, or discussed with, others except as authorized by the Executive Editor. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

Standards of objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. There shall be no personal criticism of the author. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgement of sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that had been previously reported elsewhere should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editors/editorial board member's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Duties of Authors

Reporting standards: Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the essay. 

Data access and retention: Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with an essay for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such, if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Originality and plagiarism: Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others this must be appropriately cited or quoted.

Multiple and concurrent publications: An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Acknowledgement of sources: Proper acknowledgement of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Authorship of the essay Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental errors in published works: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the essay.

INDEXING AND ABSTRACTING

idea journal is currently indexed by:
CrossRef
Google Scholar

It is in the process of applying to be indexed in:

Scopus
Directory of Open Access Journal (DOAJ)
Scilit
Sinta
Garba Rujukan Digital (Garuda)
Copernicus