Journal Submissions
We are now accepting journal submissions!
We recommend that you read the FAQ's at the bottom of this page before submitting.
We recommend that you read the FAQ's at the bottom of this page before submitting.
About the Journal
Our purpose is to create a space for the unique bottom-up approach from micro-level foundations that this stream of work represents with a number of defining characteristics.
- Studying individuals and communities in these contexts in their own right and not as a means to another end, i.e., inside out
- Focus on consumers, entrepreneurs, and marketplaces in the broad range of low income – from extreme poverty to the lower end of lower-middle income
- Starting point of micro-level foundations of thinking, feeling, coping, relating, and sustaining
- Bottom-up approach to generating and aggregating insights
- For designing solutions
- For developing enterprise models
- For sustainable development
- An inter-sector, interdisciplinary orientation aimed toward an audience of researchers, educators, and practitioners in all sectors
- Synergies between research, teaching, and practice
- A multi-media portal that provides supporting material and presents voices from these contexts
- An active collaboration with practitioner partners interested in such insights
What are Subsistence Marketplaces?
We use the term subsistence to cover the broad range of low income, covering individuals who are barely making ends meet. Whereas a number of definitions focus on such metrics as daily income in dollars, our orientation is qualitative in this regard, with the term subsistence emphasizing this focus and allowing for local variations that quantitative metrics aggregate across. As such, we also examine the edges of the phenomenon in terms of sheer survival at the one end of the continuum and movement out of poverty into lower-middle class status as the other end. This contrasts with relatively macro-level approaches such as macro-economic perspective that examine country and region level trends or meso-level business strategy approaches such as the bottom of the perspective, which examines issues of business strategy of organizations working in these contexts. Instead we adopt a micro-level approach and begin with life circumstances at the individual and community level, with a particular focus on marketplace interactions.
A Bottom Up Approach
Not all subsistence marketplaces are the same. Some exist because of conflict and oppression; others because of climate severity; others because of chronic apathy or for other reasons. Therefore, subsistence marketplaces cannot be approached in the same way for a number of reasons. That's why we believe in a bottom-up approach - one in which we examine consumer, seller, and marketplace behaviors as our starting point.
FAQ's
This is a list of frequently asked questions about the journal, Subsistence Marketplaces. We invite you to read and consider submitting to this inter-sector, interdisciplinary orientation aimed toward an audience of researchers, educators, and practitioners in all sectors.
What is this journal about?
This journal and knowledge-practice portal on subsistence marketplaces is a platform to connect all scholars, practitioners and everyone else to share and disseminate knowledge related to bottom-up approach from micro-level foundations. It intends to achieve the following:
- Focus on consumers, entrepreneurs, and marketplaces in the broad range of low income – from extreme poverty to the lower end of lower-middle income
- Bottom-up approach to generating and aggregating insights
- For designing solutions
- For developing enterprise models
- For sustainable development
- An inter-sector, interdisciplinary orientation aimed toward an audience of researchers, educators, and practitioners in all sectors
- Synergies between research, teaching, and practice
- A multi-media portal that provides supporting material and presents voices from these contexts
- An active collaboration with practitioner partners interested in such insights
What this journal is NOT...
This journal is:
- not a social media group/informal community space. It is a refereed journal (with sections that are invited) that publishes original research about subsistence marketplaces. It is a forum for researchers, educators and practitioners at the forefront of work in this stream. It is coupled with a knowledge-practice portal for the development of research and practice as well as the cycle between published research and practice.
- not an outlet for substandard work but it is a refereed journal represented by researchers, educators and practitioners who conduct quality work.
How is the journal unique?
This journal is unique in a number of ways. It aims to support the research-practice endeavor end-to-end or, before, during and after, through:
The journal is also distinct in allowing for more balance between rigor and creativity, as well as between cleanly interpretable results and messy reality.
- connecting researchers to practitioners
- creating forums for development of research
- providing a space for protocols of planned research
- providing an outlet for research
- enabling the translation from research to practice
- enabling the translation from practice to research
- creating a platform for knowledge-practice or academic-social enterprise
- envisioning new metrics for gauging impact to a broad audience.
The journal is also distinct in allowing for more balance between rigor and creativity, as well as between cleanly interpretable results and messy reality.
What are grounds for desk-rejections
Apart from the lack of fit or lack of quality of the work, papers that need copy-editing will be desk-rejected. Papers that have been turned around without consideration of the nature of the journal or work that has come before in this stream and in related literature may also be desk-rejected. Research papers that do not devote attention to specific translation of research to practice may also be desk-rejected.
What are the Journal's objectives?
Our objectives are as follows:
1. To provide a forum for research, education, and practice at the intersection of a wide-range of low-income contexts and marketplaces.
2. To highlight work on subsistence marketplaces that is grounded at the micro-level or reflects ground reality and takes a bottom-up orientation.
3. To provide an ecosystem through the entire research and intervention value cycle from formulation to completion and translation to practice.
1. To provide a forum for research, education, and practice at the intersection of a wide-range of low-income contexts and marketplaces.
2. To highlight work on subsistence marketplaces that is grounded at the micro-level or reflects ground reality and takes a bottom-up orientation.
3. To provide an ecosystem through the entire research and intervention value cycle from formulation to completion and translation to practice.
What types of submissions will be considered?
A variety of papers are welcomed and supporting multi-media can be submitted with papers.
The journal will be fully online. Authors will hold all rights to their work. Authors will take responsibility for hiring copy-editing services to bring their work to the highest quality of presentation.
- Research Article (Up to 8000 words)
- Research Notes (Up to 4000 words)
- Commentary/Perspective/Opinion Article (Up to 3000 words)
- Case Study (2000-4000 words)
The journal will be fully online. Authors will hold all rights to their work. Authors will take responsibility for hiring copy-editing services to bring their work to the highest quality of presentation.
Where can I find details for submissions and formatting?
Details can be found at the journal website https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/subsistencemarketplaces
Who can I write to if I have any questions regarding my submission?
You may write to the Executive Editor at [email protected]
Who is on the Editorial Board of the Journal?
Our Editorial Board represent researchers, educators, and practitioners at the forefront of work in this stream. You can see a full list of our board members here.
Why do we need another journal?
To address a significant gap – by bringing out the unique, bottom-up, interdisciplinary approach of subsistence marketplaces that bridges research, education, and practice.
To address more generic issues with current-day journals by developing upstream and downstream value and allowing for reflection of messy reality.
To address more generic issues with current-day journals by developing upstream and downstream value and allowing for reflection of messy reality.
Which discipline is the journal primarily affiliated with?
It is not bound by discipline, but rather by the phenomenon of marketplace activities in the broad range of low income. The aim here is to be truly inter-disciplinary, bridging social and technical disciplines.
What is the rejection rate?
Our approach is to think of the entire ecosystem of value that is added before, during and after publication. Hence, we envision a journal and knowledge/practice portal. We aim to publish good quality work, defined broadly.
Do I need to pay to publish?
No. However, we are exploring the formation of an association with membership at a nominal fee. Membership may be required for at least one author in a team after a paper is accepted for publication.
Do I need to pay to access papers?
No.
Do I retain the rights to my work?
Yes.
Do I need to copy-edit a paper before submission?
Yes! This will be grounds for desk-rejection. We need to make sure that authors take full responsibility for professional copy-editing before submission and after acceptance.
Are there different types of submissions considered?
Yes. We aim to have a variety of submissions, demarcating primary foci and refereed versus non-refereed sections.
Can I turn a paper in that was rejected by another journal?
As noted, our focus is unique in being bottom-up and nurturing a space for symbiotic academic-social enterprise. Therefore, we heavily emphasize the cycle between research and practice and ask for very specific and detailed development of this aspect of the paper including but not limited to piloting. Turning a paper around from another journal is never a good idea and particularly not when our journal will require a distinct section that emphasizes the cycle
Will an article in this journal be recognized as serious work?
Our aim is to develop the journal. Our track record in developing this stream of work and the people involved in the journal is the best answer we can give to this question and we hope the reputation follows. We will seek the necessary credentialing. However, we also note that metrics such as citations are quite narrow in capturing impact on the ground and we aim for the latter as well. Perhaps, our approach can evolve new metrics that capture a wider form of impact.