Alcohol Research: Current Reviews (ARCR) currently accepts submissions by invitation only. If you have been invited to submit a review article, you can learn more about submission guidelines and the peer-review process on this page.
On this page:
- Invitation
- Types of Reviews
- Manuscript Preparation
- Target Audience and Topics
- Submission
- Peer Review and Manuscript Revision
- Copyediting
- Contact Us
Invitation
ARCR editorial staff emails invitations to authors through Editorial Manager, a manuscript submission and peer-review tracking system. Authors are provided a link to the ARCR Editorial Manager site for manuscript submission, both within the invitation and in a follow-up email after they accept the invitation.
Types of Reviews
Authors who have accepted the invitation to write an ARCR review have the choice to submit either a narrative or scoping review.
Narrative Reviews
Narrative reviews, ARCR’s standard article type, provide a non-exhaustive synthesis of studies conducted on a topic, identify gaps, and suggest areas for future research. The main body of a narrative review typically consists of 6,000 words or less. This does not include the abstract, which is typically 200 to 400 words.
Scoping Reviews
ARCR welcomes the submission of scoping reviews for authors who are interested in submitting one. A scoping review assesses the scope or coverage of current literature to identify main concepts, theories, sources, and knowledge gaps in a field. Scoping reviews must follow the guidelines outlined by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) for Scoping Reviews. There is no word limit for scoping reviews.
Other Types of Publications
ARCR does not accept original research articles or other types of reviews, such as systematic reviews or meta-analyses.
Manuscript Preparation
ARCR Instructions for Authors provides general requirements that apply to all of the journal’s manuscript types and includes templates for narrative and scoping reviews.
Download Instructions for Authors:
ARCR Instructions for Authors [PDF – 769 KB]
Below are templates and checklists available for download to help prepare manuscripts:
Narrative Review Template [Word – 328 KB]
Narrative Review Checklist [PDF – 834 KB]
Scoping Review Template [coming soon]
Scoping Review Checklist – https://prisma-statement.org//documents/PRISMA-ScR-Fillable-Checklist_11Sept2019.pdf
Target Audience and Topics
As feasible, reviews should be written in a style that is accessible and understandable to a broad audience of scientists and clinicians, including trainees, with varying specialties and degrees of expertise in alcohol research.
Article topics are proposed by members of the ARCR Editorial Advisory Board or NIAAA staff and cover a wide range of areas relating to the effects of alcohol use and misuse on health, function, and well-being across the life span, in addition to basic science, genetics, epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of alcohol-related conditions.
Submission
When submitting manuscripts in Editorial Manager, authors also must include the following items:
- A completed checklist to ensure submissions comply with ARCR guidelines. The required checklists are available for download below.
Narrative Review Checklist [PDF – 834 KB]
Scoping Review Checklist – https://prisma-statement.org//documents/PRISMA-ScR-Fillable-Checklist_11Sept2019.pdf
- Disclosure of Interest forms for each author. The form can be downloaded from the manuscript submission page in Editorial Manager or at http://www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to obtain the Disclosure of Interest forms from all coauthors and to upload them when submitting the manuscript.
Invited authors are given instructions for logging into the ARCR Editorial Manager site for manuscript submission in the emailed invitation and in a follow-up email once authors accept the invitation.
Submit Invited Manuscript: https://www.editorialmanager.com/arcr
Peer Review and Manuscript Revision
All submissions to ARCR are subjected to independent peer review by experts in the field. A team of reviewers (including ARCR editors, NIAAA staff, and external researchers) review each submission. Based on the provided recommendations, authors may be asked to revise their manuscript. Authors should address all comments, revise their manuscript accordingly, and resubmit by the deadline provided to them in Editorial Manager.
Copyediting
ARCR editorial staff copyedits accepted manuscripts for clarity, grammar, punctuation, journal style, and format. The ARCR managing editor emails the corresponding author a copyedited Word document with tracked changes to resolve any queries. All queries are to be addressed by the authors, and the corresponding author emails the revised manuscript back to the managing editor within 7 days.
The ARCR managing editor emails a PDF proof of the manuscript, including tables and figures, to the corresponding author for final review. Authors are urged to review this draft for any errors; however, only the most critical changes to the accuracy of the content may be made at this point in the process. Rewriting sections of text, revising tables and figures, adding or subtracting references, and making stylistic changes are not permitted unless approved by ARCR. The corresponding author should return any final comments within 7 days. Final edits will be incorporated by ARCR editorial staff and the manuscript will be published online with open access.
Contact Us
For more information or to contact journal staff, please email arcriq@iqsolutions.com.