Submissions

Author Guidelines

Xàgots’eèhk’ǫ̀ Journal welcomes submissions across genres on topics important to Northerners. Our journal aims to share, strengthen, and celebrate Northern peoples’ relationships to land, language, culture, and way of life.

As such, the journal publishes a variety of work including but not limited to:

• Articles: A previously unpublished manuscript, between 5,000 and 10,000 words, reporting on research original to the author(s).
• Literature or Critical Reviews: Assessment of existing knowledge on a topic, usually around  5,000 words.
• Book Reviews: A review of a publication relevant to Northerners, written for a scholarly or public audience. Book reviews should not exceed 2,000 words including references.
• Storytelling, narratives, or interviews: Open in format and length, these share knowledge, experience, and insight in written, audio, or visual form.
• Reports: These are short summaries of programs, research, conferences, or workshops and are usually between 1,000 and 2,000 words. They often include visuals.
• Media/Arts-based or creative work: We will publish any media-based, arts-based, or creative work that can be shared on our open-access website. This can include paintings, photography, video, and poetry. For all media, art, and creative work, please include a brief description or artists statement of 250-750 words.

Contributors must affirm at the time of submitting that the work has not been, and will not be, published or submitted elsewhere while under consideration by Xàgots’eèhk’ǫ̀ Journal.

Authors are responsible for the factual accuracy of their work and for obtaining permission to reproduce text or illustrations from other publications.

OUR REVIEW PROCESS

The Journal Co-Editors and Editorial Committee use a relational review process that includes scholarly and Indigenous community reviewers. Reviewers with scholarly expertise and community members with lived experience and knowledge are invited to assess and strengthen submissions as peer reviewers. The relational process:

• Acknowledges the interpersonal, where knowledge is produced, shared and co-created through relationships;
• Operationalizes accountability, respect, relevance, reciprocity, and responsibility to northern Indigenous peoples, languages, cultures, and ways of life;
• Brings knowledge systems into dialogue and encourages working within frameworks like Strong Like Two People; Two-Eyed Seeing; and ethical space;
• Is welcoming, inviting and supportive.

Co-editor(s) will provide feedback to the contributor(s) in a timely and constructive manner and dialogue is encouraged to ensure the piece meets editorial guidelines and timeline for publication while also respecting the ideas and experiences of the contributor(s).

If you are interested in participating as a reviewer for the journal, please email the Editors at xagotseehko@auroracollege.nt.ca.

GUIDELINES

1. General

Consistency for most matters of style *other than referencing* is maintained through reference to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary (2nd ed), Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples by Gregory Younging, and the Chicago Manual of Style.

All body text should be double-spaced in Times New Roman, Calibri, or Arial style at a font size of 12. The article should use headings and italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables should be placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.

2. Referencing

• Please proof, and double proof, your references & citations.
• As a multidisciplinary, multigenre journal, authors may follow the referencing style that is most common in the author's discipline, and should be internally consistent. Please indicate the reference style used when the manuscript is submitted.
• When citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers, follow the templates developed by NorQuest College: See Lorisia MacLeod, "More Than Personal Communication: Templates for Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers." KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies 5, no. 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.18357/kula.135
• Use italics, not underlining.
• Where bibliographic format is used, please use endnotes instead of footnotes, unless agreed upon in advance.

3. Language

Xàgots’eèhk’ǫ̀ Journal will publish work in any NWT official language, or audio/visual media relevant for arts-based methods. For all Indigenous langauages, we acknowledge the diversity of dialects and spellings at the current time and accept spelling and orthography as submitted by authors.

Cover Letter Details

Please include a cover letter addressed to the editor(s) with your submission. This letter should be a maximum of one page, and should include:

• Contact information for at least one author (phone number, email, and mailing address);
• Word count of submission;
• Significance of the submission and how it relates to the journal focus and the issue theme;
• Ethics approval, research license, photo permissions (as relevant);
• Statement confirming the referencing style used in the manuscript;
• Optional: names of potential community and scholarly reviewers;
• Optional: Song and artist for journal playlist.