Journal Policies
The journal policies of Tradition Innovations in Arts, Design, and Media Higher Education are designed to ensure integrity, transparency, and fairness throughout the publication process. They outline the standards and expectations for authors, reviewers, and editors, covering areas such as submission guidelines, peer review, ethical considerations, and data practices. By clearly defining these principles, the editorial board aims to support rigorous scholarship, foster trust in published work, and create a respectful and accountable research environment for all contributors.
Open AccessThe journal is a Diamond open-access publication. This means that there are no Article Processing Charges (APCs) or any other fees for submission, peer review, or publication of accepted work. All content is freely available worldwide without registration, subscription or paywall barriers. Readers may share and distribute published works with appropriate attribution for non-commercial purposes.
This peer-reviewed open-access journal - entirely supported by volunteers - follows an intermittent publication model, common in the arts and humanities, with content released on a rolling or issue-based basis as contributions complete editorial and peer review rather than according to a fixed schedule. Published content is clearly dated and made permanently accessible upon release, in alignment with Directory of Open Access Journals [DOAJ] guidance for Diamond open access journals.
Editor-in-Chief
For all submission, peer review, journal policy, and ethics inquiries, including AI use and conflict of interest disclosures, please contact Editor-in-Chief Dr. Yvonne Houy at Yvonne.Houy@unlv.edu
UNLV College of Fine Arts
4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, Box 455013
Las Vegas, NV 89154-5013
Organizations sponsoring Tradition-Innovations in Arts, Design, and Media Higher Education
Contents
- Information for Authors - Journal policies in brief
- Editorial Process
- Information for Peer Reviewers
- Archiving and Preservation
- References
Information for Authors
The information in this section includes a succinct summary of the journal’s policies. You can see the full text of the policies in the sections below this “Information for Authors” section.
Tradition-Innovations in Arts, Design, and Media Higher Education welcomes submissions from scholars, artists, and educators working across arts, design, and media higher education. The journal values thoughtful and carefully developed contributions that engage diverse perspectives, methods, and forms of knowledge.
The editorial board welcomes both traditional academic scholarly formats, and innovative voices not bound by typical academic formats.
- Research articles
- Creative and practice-based work with critical reflection
- Editorials and commentaries
We actively encourage submissions that move beyond traditional academic article formats. Contributions may be written, structured, or presented in the voice, form, or medium of the contributor’s artistic or disciplinary practice. This may include hybrid forms, multimodal work, or alternative scholarly formats that integrate creative and critical approaches.
Practice-based and non-traditional submissions must include a critical reflection that situates the work within an appropriate scholarly, disciplinary, or cultural context and helps readers understand its contribution.
For any questions about your potential submission, please contact the editor-in-chief Dr. Yvonne Houy at Yvonne.Houy@unlv.edu for a conversation
Open Access & Publication Model
This journal is a Diamond open-access publication.
There are no fees for submission, peer review, or publication.
All content is freely available worldwide without subscription or registration.
Articles are published on a rolling basis as they complete peer review and editorial processes, and are permanently accessible upon publication.
Authorship & Originality
Submissions must be original and not under consideration elsewhere.
Contributions should reflect substantial intellectual or creative contribution. All authors must approve the final version and agree to be accountable for the work.
AI tools may not be listed as authors.
Copyright & Licensing
Authors retain copyright of their work and grant the journal first publication rights.
Authors select a Creative Commons license at the time of publication. The journal recommends the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). All published work may be shared with appropriate attribution in accordance with the selected license.
Preparing Your Submission
The editorial board actively encourages both traditional academic scholarly and innovative voices not bound by typical academic formats.
We encourage you to read through past contributions to the journal to get a feel for both the more traditional academic contributions and the creative contributions, and how they engage critically and creatively with traditions and innovations in arts, design, and media higher education.
Engagement with critical and creative perspectivesSubmissions should demonstrate engagement with relevant critical perspectives and/or creative practice. Clear citations and references to relevant work by others are expected.
The journal supports citation practices informed by anti-racist scholarly reviewing frameworks. Authors are encouraged to consider whose work is cited, how knowledge is situated, and how citation practices can reflect a diversity of canons, epistemologies, and ways of knowing. While contributions to the journal so far have used APA style citations, the editorial board welcomes communication and citation practices that reflect a breadth of canons, epistemological foundations, and ways of knowing.
Draft DevelopmentWe encourage contributors to view submission as part of an ongoing scholarly and creative process.
Before submitting their work, potential contributors are strongly encouraged to seek feedback on their possible contribution. This may include consultation with a writing center, peer colleagues, or other forms of editorial support. Submissions should be carefully revised and ready for review before submission and peer review.
Using Article Templates for traditional article submissionsAuthors preparing more traditional, text-based scholarly articles are encouraged to use the journal’s recommended templates available on the Tradition-Innovations in Arts, Design, and Media Higher Education Themed Issue Call for Contributions
If you are submitting a traditional article, these templates support clarity, organization, and alignment with common academic conventions. Use of templates is optional, but highly recommended, since they can help streamline the review and publication process.
Peer Review & Editorial Process
The journal is committed to fair, transparent, and inclusive review practices, and welcomes work that engages diverse disciplines, methods, and perspectives, including experimental, practice-based, and non-traditional forms of scholarship.
- Research contributions undergo double-blind peer review by at least two reviewers.
- Creative work, editorials, and commentaries undergo an editorial review process by at least two editors.
We strive to give feedback and a clear editorial decision and a timeframe for publication within 10 weeks of submission. Since the anonymous peer reviewers are volunteers who freely give their time for feedback, we have to be respectful of their availability: This means that delays beyond 10 weeks might occur.
Ethics & Research Standards
Academic IntegritySubmissions must be free from plagiarism, fabrication, or falsification and must appropriately acknowledge all sources.
Research Involving Human ParticipantsAuthors must follow relevant ethical review and informed consent practices. Documentation may be requested.
Media & PermissionsAuthors are responsible for securing permissions for all images, audio, video, or other media prior to publication.
Data & MaterialsWhere applicable, authors are encouraged to retain and share supporting data in line with ethical and legal requirements.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The journal supports transparent and responsible use of AI tools.
- AI tools cannot be listed as authors.
- Meaningful use of AI must be clearly disclosed.
- AI-generated or AI-assisted content must be labeled.
- Authors remain fully responsible for the integrity and accuracy of their work.
- Undisclosed AI use may result in rejection or retraction.
See the Ethics Statement sidebar link for more information on our commitment to the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and a full coverage of our AI policies.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility
We value contributions that reflect diverse intellectual traditions, creative practices, and lived experiences.
Authors are encouraged to:
- Engage a wide range of voices and perspectives
- Consider accessibility and inclusive design
- Reflect on the broader social, cultural, and environmental contexts of their work
Archiving & Preservation
All content is published through the UNLV Digital Commons (OAsis) repository and is preserved for long-term public access.
Authors may deposit the final published version in institutional or other trusted repositories, provided the original publication, DOI, and license are clearly cited.
Contact
For submissions or questions about journal policies, peer review, or ethical considerations, please contact:
Editor-in-Chief Yvonne Houy, Ph.D.Editorial Process
Editorial Independence
In alignment with Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (Committee on Publication Ethics — COPE), the editorial board operates autonomously to ensure intellectual diligence, care, inclusivity, and fairness, free from conflicts of interest in the publication process.
Peer Review Process
All research and creative scholarship submissions undergo double-blind peer review by at least two qualified peer reviewers. Review criteria include originality, clarity, ethical methods, and contribution to the field.
Curatorial statements, introductory editorials, commentaries, and opinion contributions undergo an editorial review of at least two qualified editors, and are clearly marked.
Decision Transparency
Contributors receive detailed reports and rationales for editorial decisions. Editor strive to provide peer reviews and a realistic timeframe for publication within 10 weeks of submission.
Editorial Governance for Special Issues and Guest Editors
The Editor-in-Chief holds responsibility for the content and integrity of the journal, including all special or thematic issues, which must align with its mission and scope.
Special issues must adhere to the same editorial and ethical standards as regular issues, including external peer review and clear labelling of the issue as a “Special Issue.”
Guest Editor PoliciesAuthorship and Contribution
The journal follows COPE and ICMJE recommendations.
- Authorship must reflect substantial intellectual or creative contribution to conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the published contribution.
- Collaborative, interdisciplinary, and collective authorship models are welcomed.
- A statement of contribution is required for all multi-authored works.
- Named authors must follow the ICMJE (2024) criteria for authorship:
- All named authors must have contributed substantially to the work;
- All named authors must approve the final published version;
- All named authors must agree to accountability for integrity; and
- All named authors must meet all authorship requirements.
- “Guest” or “ghost” authorship is prohibited.
- AI tools cannot be credited as authors.
Retraction, Correction, and Withdrawal
The journal follows COPE Retraction Guidelines. Articles involving ethical breaches or undisclosed AI use may be retracted. Corrections and clarifications will be published transparently and linked to the original record.
Data and Material Accessibility
Authors are encouraged to make supporting data and materials publicly available through institutional or trusted repositories, in accordance with privacy, copyright, and consent requirements.
Information for Peer Reviewers
Overview
- The editorial board asks that reviewers provide constructive, respectful feedback.
- Reviewer identities will remain confidential throughout the review and publication process.
- Reviewers must declare actual or potential conflicts of interest, and recuse themselves from the review process when a conflict of interest exists.
- All contributions under review are confidential. Contributions may not be used or shared. This includes the prohibition to upload any part of the contribution into an AI platform.
Conflict of interest
Reviewers must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their evaluation of a submission. Such conflicts may be personal, professional, financial, institutional, or intellectual in nature. Reviewers who identify a conflict of interest must notify the editor promptly, decline to review the contribution, and not use, share, or retain any information from the manuscript.
Use of AI tools
No part of the contribution under review may be uploaded into an AI platform connected to AI training. Uploading any part of a contribution under review into an AI connected to AI training violates the strict policy of not sharing article content.
Confidentiality
When preparing reviews, peer reviewers should omit any references that could reveal their identity. The journal values the wide range of expertise that contributors and peer reviewers bring to the publication. Peer reviewers are encouraged to draw on diverse scholarly traditions in their evaluations and, where appropriate, to recommend citation practices that reflect a breadth of canons, epistemological foundations, and ways of knowing.
Openness to diverse methods and ways of knowing
Since Tradition-innovations in Arts, Design, and Media Higher Education publishes work that may experiment with format, media, and ways of knowing, peer reviewers are asked to approach unfamiliar methods, creative practices, or knowledge frameworks with openness and intellectual curiosity. When a submission falls outside a reviewer’s primary disciplinary training, this may signal an opportunity for careful engagement rather than grounds for early dismissal. The journal recognizes that concepts such as rigor, maturity, and even “research” are shaped by disciplinary background, and it encourages reflective awareness of how such frameworks inform evaluation.
Peer reviewers are also asked to remain attentive to scholarship that may unintentionally reproduce harm, exclusion, or inequity. Thoughtful and critical engagement strengthens individual submissions and helps the journal recognize, address, and prevent harmful dynamics within both the review process and the scholarship it publishes.
In evaluating submissions, peer reviewers are encouraged to consult the following resource, especially the sections on recognizing different kinds of expertise and epistemologies: Anti-racist scholarly reviewing practices: A heuristic for editors, reviewers, and authors (2021), available at https://tinyurl.com/reviewheuristic .
Archiving and Preservation
Institutional Preservation
The journal is hosted by University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) OAsis using the Elsevier Digital Commons platform, which operates as a long-term open access institutional repository. In accordance with the UNLV OAsis Collection Development Policy, content deposited in the repository forms part of the University’s scholarly record and is intended to remain publicly accessible indefinitely.
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, provides institutional stewardship of all published journal content and is committed to maintaining public access even in the event that the journal ceases publication or transitions to another platform. Published materials remain part of the UNLV OAsis repository under this institutional preservation framework.
All journal content is preserved within the Digital Commons repository infrastructure and supported by the bepress Archive system, which provides managed digital preservation services, including secure storage, redundancy, and integrity safeguards through Amazon Web Services (AWS S3), to ensure long-term stability and accessibility of deposited materials.
Author Archiving Permissions
Authors retain copyright and may deposit the final published version of their article in institutional, disciplinary, or other trusted long-term digital repositories of their choice.
Archived versions must clearly acknowledge the journal as the original place of publication. They must include the full citation and DOI, and link to the original publication. All deposits must preserve the Creative Commons license under which the article was originally published.
References
American Historical Association. (2024). Guiding principles on artificial intelligence in historical scholarship.
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). (n.d.). Principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing.
Creative Commons. (2019). https://creativecommons.org/
European Parliament, EU AI Act: First Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (2024).
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. (2024). Recommendations for the conduct, reporting, editing, and publication of scholarly work in medical journals.
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (DOAJ). (n.d.). Principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing.
Modern Language Association & Conference on College Composition and Communication. (2024). Task force on writing and artificial intelligence.
UNESCO. (2021). Recommendation on the ethics of artificial intelligence.
World Wide Web Consortium. (2018). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.
