Category: NVSQ News

Transparency is a key condition for robust and reliable knowledge, and the advancement of scholarship over time. In order to improve the transparency of research published in NVSQ, the journal is introducing a policy requiring authors of manuscripts reporting on data from experiments to provide, upon submission, access to the data and the code that produced the results reported. This will be a condition for the manuscript to proceed through the blind peer review process.

The policy will be implemented as a pilot for papers reporting results of experiments only. For manuscripts reporting on other types of data, the submission guidelines will not be changed at this time.

Rationale

This policy is a step forward strengthening research in our field through greater transparency about research design, data collection and analysis. Greater transparency of data and analytic procedures will produce fairer, more constructive reviews and, ultimately, even higher quality articles published in NVSQ. Reviewers can only evaluate the methodologies and findings fully when authors describe the choices they made and provide the materials used in their study.

Sample composition and research design features can affect the results of experiments, as can sheer coincidence. To assist reviewers and readers in interpreting the research, it is important that authors describe relevant features of the research design, data collection, and analysis. Such details are also crucial to facilitate replication. NVSQ receives very few, and thus rarely publishes replications, although we are open to doing so. Greater transparency will facilitate the ability to reinforce, or question, research results through replication (Peters, 1973; Smith, 1994; Helmig, Spraul & Temp, 2012).

Greater transparency is also good for authors. Articles with open data appear to have a citation advantage: they are cited more frequently in subsequent research (Colavizza et al., 2020; Drachen et al., 2016). The evidence is not experimental: the higher citation rank of articles providing access to data may be a result of higher research quality. Regardless of whether the policy improves the quality of new research or attracts higher quality existing research – if higher quality research is the result, then that is exactly what we want. Continue reading “New NVSQ Data Transparency Policy for Results Based on Experiments”

Chao Guo, Angela Bies and Susan Phillips – NVSQ Editors-in-Chief

The novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, has brought a global health crisis that is having a profound impact on all of us on this planet. As the world scrambles to respond to this pandemic, the nonprofit and voluntary sectors across countries and regions are joining forces with government, businesses, and individuals to protect their communities. In the meantime, many organizations in the sector are facing tremendous financial challenges as they continue to serve the most vulnerable populations in these difficult times. In the midst of this, nonprofits have also needed to consider ways to protect and respond to staff and volunteer vulnerabilities.

This symposium aims at sharing insights, experiences, and observations from nonprofit scholars and practitioners regarding how the nonprofit and voluntary sectors worldwide are responding to this pandemic. This call for proposals is quite open thematically: manuscripts can address individual, managerial, organizational, cross-sectoral, and policy responses, and address any nonprofit field or national context. Of particular interest are manuscripts that hold implications for the nonprofit studies literature and practice/policy, and especially future research. Authors are encouraged to submit their high-quality short articles (3,000 words or less, inclusive of references) that address the theme of this symposium issue.

Authors should follow the NVSQ manuscript submission guidelines and submit to the manuscript submission portal, selecting as article type “COVID-19”. We ask that you indicate prominently in your cover letter that your manuscript is related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Editors-in-Chief will follow our usual procedures and conduct a quick initial review of submissions to assure a fit with the theme of the symposium and with the type of articles published in this journal.

Those manuscripts selected for further consideration will be peer reviewed and fast-tracked for publication if accepted. We will strive to make the initial review within one week of completed submission, and those that survive the initial screening will go through an expedited peer review process. Authors will be expected to revise manuscript promptly, and editors will make the final decision within four weeks of submission.

Accepted articles will be posted online within a short time frame and prioritized for publication in our December issue.

Important Dates:
Deadline of Manuscript Submission: July 15, 2020
First Decision: July 29, 2020
Revisions submitted by: August 24, 2020
Final Decision: August 31, 2020
Publication Date: December 2020.