About the Journal
Marketing Libraries Journal (MLJ) is an open-access, peer reviewed scholarly journal that is international in scope. It is devoted to advancing research in library marketing and its components (public relations, publicity, outreach, advocacy, and marketing communications). The Journal is open to all libraries; public, academic, and special. We invite article submissions from authors who are trained librarians (MLS/MLIS) and library professionals working in marketing positions. Marketing Libraries Journal (MLJ) is independently published, and open access.
Types of Submissions
There are two types of manuscripts for this journal:
- Scholarly articles (double blind peer reviewed, 20-25 pages): research-driven articles that aim to provide original scholarship in the field of library marketing, communications, and outreach.
2. Practical articles (peer reviewed, 15-20 pages): articles that focus on best practices and advice. They are written in a formal, academic tone. Although they might not include original research, they must contain a literature review.
Practical Articles are reviewed by a team of Column Editors. Column editors seek submissions in the following columns below:
Advocacy: articles that focus on developing relationships with stakeholders to help raise awareness and loyalty for library services and resources. This may relate to communicating with government, administration, and the greater community
Book Reviews: provides a descriptive evaluation of the main themes of the book. Typically 1000-2000 words, they offer commentary and a critical analysis of the book’s subject matter.
Branding: articles that illustrate how libraries develop their visual identity for their services and resources.
Campaigns: case studies of a marketing campaign and the desired outcomes and objectives sought.
From the Trenches: articles that show outcomes of a particular marketing initiative or campaign.
Technology : reviews of particular tools or resources that help them in their marketing efforts. They should be focused on library marketing, graphic design, public relations, social media promotion, and outreach. They should be written in a formal, academic tone. They should be unbiased and provide a critical analysis of the specific technology tool with comparisons to other technology tools.
Frequency
Marketing Libraries Journal (MLJ) is published once a year.
Peer Review
Marketing Libraries Journal undergoes a double-blind peer review process for scholarly submissions and a single-blind peer review for practical submissions. If you are interested in volunteering to serve as peer reviewer, copy editor or proof reader (during production), or serve in another capacity, please email map@marketinglibraries.org
Open Access
The Journal is classified as open-access “platinum” and “green”. All articles are open access (OA). There are no author processing charges (APCs). Authors are never charged any article submission or processing fees. Both readers and authors can access and read articles for free. Authors can self-archive their articles at the time of publication. Authors can self-archive their work in digital repositories or on their own personal websites at publication. Please ensure to indicate the URL of the Journal when self-archiving. Authors retain copyright and full publishing rights. Articles are published under a CC-BY-NC-SA license.
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Statement
Authors must exercise academic honesty. They may use AI tools and applications (such as ChatGPT) in some circumstances.
Authors must declare and state if they used Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in any part of the manuscript. Generative AI may be used to condense content (i.e. your abstract) but the original content must be created by the author(s). Generative AI cannot be used on previously published material, as this constitutes academic dishonesty and will not be accepted.
Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism is the act of copying another person’s words or ideas and passing them as your own. Plagiarism is unethical and Marketing Libraries Journal (MLJ) will not accept or publish manuscripts that have been plagiarized. Authors may not copy or incorporate ideas without proper attribution. They also must not reuse previously published work, unless the publication allows the author to reuse or repurpose their work. Self plagiarism, the act of copying or reusing your own work in another manuscript is also considered plagiarism and Marketing Libraries Journal (MLJ) will not publish any manuscripts that have been published in other publications. Plagiarism can occur with any text (book, newspaper, magazine, academic journal, or web site). Plagiarism may be accidental, intentional, or self plagiarized. Please ensure that your manuscripts are properly cited. To ensure that all manuscripts are published with appropriate ethical standards, Marketing Libraries Journal (MLJ) will submit all manuscripts to TurnItIn, a plagiarism prevention software application. Turnitin will help the editors in detecting passages that may have been copied without proper attribution.
Author name changes
If authors wish to change their names following publication, we will update the manuscript with the name changes and/or pronoun changes, with no legal documentation required. Upon receiving the name change request, we will update all metadata, published content, and associated records under our control to reflect the requested name change. Further, we respect the privacy and discretion in an author’s request for a name change. To protect the author’s privacy, we will not publish a correction notice to the paper, and we will not notify co-authors of the change.
Indexing and Discoverability
Marketing Libraries Journal is indexed in WorldCat, Directory of Open Access Journals, Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, Google Scholar, and the international ISSN database.