Author Guidelines
Updated November 14, 2006

The Forum is the official publication of ADEC, Association for Death Education and Counseling, a multi-disciplinary professional organization dedicated to promoting excellence in death education, bereavement counseling, and care of the dying. ADEC is committed to providing information, support, and resources to its international, multicultural membership and, through them, to the public.

The Forum is published quarterly and serves dual purposes. First, in support of ADEC’s mission of education, counseling, research, and care of the dying, The Forum provides critical and up-to-date information to ADEC members on a variety of professional development themes. This normally includes summaries of research findings, analysis of the literature, critical commentary and discussion of issues pertinent to death education and counseling. In this aspect, The Forum is similar to other professional periodicals, and to coin a phrase, a “journalette.” Second, The Forum is a vehicle for disseminating important association news and developments that are of interest to the general membership. Thus, it serves as ADEC’s newsletter as well.

Many of the articles that appear in The Forum are written by invited authors who are specifically solicited by the editorial staff in the interest of furthering an identified professional development theme . However, The Forum staff also welcomes articles from ADEC members and non-members alike. These articles undergo an editorial review by The Forum Editor, Associate Editor and Review Editor. If you are interested in submitting an article to The Forum for publication, keep in mind that content articles are organized around identified professional development themes. Themes identified or under consideration may be requested from the editorial staff and also are listed in The Forum and the ADEC Web site. Articles submitted that do not reflect one of these professional development themes are less likely to be published. Please also note that production schedules require articles to be submitted substantially in advance of the print date for each issue. Deadlines for each issue are printed in The Forum.

Ideas for professional development themes for future issues of The Forum are welcome. Several themes of The Forum in the past few years were inspired by members’ suggestions.

Articles that report on important developments within ADEC are considered association news and generally are printed in the latter sections of the publication.

In light of budgetary constraints, potential authors should follow the guidelines enumerated here both to facilitate the editorial process and to streamline layout and copy editing. The editorial staff serves on a volunteer basis. Layout and copy editing are publication-related expenses that are charged directly to the association’s budget.

Accepted articles become the property of ADEC. Authors who desire to use their material in other publications must obtain permission from the editorial staff at ADEC Headquarters (adec@adec.org).

Topics
Articles should be associated with an identified professional development theme in the field of thanatology and use a title that in some way reflects that theme. Articles and ideas that may constitute a unique professional development theme are welcome also. Contact the editor directly if you have an idea.

Length
Generally, each issue of The Forum will include one or two longer articles (2400 words for the lead article; 1800 for the second article) and three or four shorter articles (900 words). Occasionally, two very short articles (500 words) may appear together on the same page. Only very rarely will articles longer than two publication pages be accommodated. More lengthy scholarly papers would better be submitted elsewhere for publication.

Model
Review a recent issue of The Forum as a guide for content, length, style and layout considerations. ADEC members may view a recent issue of The Forum on ADEC’s Web site (www.adec.org). Alternately, a complimentary copy of The Forum can be obtained upon request from ADEC’s Headquarters (adec@adec.org).

Style
The Forum follows the style of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5 th Ed.). This applies particularly to the citation of references.

Use of scholarly references to support ideas and assertions is encouraged in all articles, especially longer ones. Verify that all references imbedded in the text are found in the reference list itself and that dates and name spellings match between the text and the reference list.

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically as file attachments using Microsoft Word (other word processing packages such as WordPerfect are less preferred and may result in delay or your original e-mail being returned).

Have a colleague proofread your article prior to submitting it. Sometimes, a “fresh eye” can catch spelling and grammatical errors beyond what electronic spell checkers find.

About the Author
A brief biographical sketch of the author is appended to all content articles. Include your current professional position or occupation, your geographic location, and any special contributions you have made to either ADEC or the field of thanatology. Again, refer to a recent issue of The Forum for examples.

Photographs

Consistent with current journalism standards, it is preferred to include a headshot photograph of the author with any published article . The picture can be either color or black and white and needs to be clear and crisp. Photographs can be sent electronically to the editor or to ADEC Headquarters (dmarchetti@adec.org) or mailed to The Forum, ADEC Headquarters, 111 Deer Lake Road, Suite 100, Deerfield, IL 60015

On behalf of the Board of Directors, the ADEC membership and the editorial staff, I thank you for your interest in The Forum. Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments.

Kathleen (Kay) Fowler, PhD, FT
Editor, The Forum
(kfowler@ramapo.edu)

or, mailing address:

School of Social Sciences and Human Services
Ramapo College of New Jersey
505 Ramapo Valley Road
Mahwah, NJ, 07430

Advertising
Questions about advertising in The Forum should be directed to Managing Editor Deanna Marchetti at ADEC headquarters at dmarchetti@adec.org.

Updated: December 1, 2008