National Journal of Speech & Debate

The Forensics Files announces the National Journal of Speech & Debate. The Journal will contain articles, written by members of the speech and debate community, that address current issues in speech and debate. The Journal’s issues will be published by TFF periodically throughout the school year. The Journal will be the only periodical that is dedicated to publishing such scholarly and academic articles on speech and debate issues.

We founded the Journal to:

Encourage academic discussion about current trends in the various speech and debate events;

Provide a forum in which current issues involving competitive practices can be analyzed and debated;

Update and prepare coaches for recommending rule and policy proposals and changes at district meetings and organizational conferences;

For debate events, prepare students for arguing issues of debate theory.

SUBMIT YOUR ARTICLE TO THE JOURNAL

TFF is seeking submissions from coaches, judges, and qualified students on current issues in speech and debate.

Current Deadline for Submissions for Volume 2 Issue 1: September 1, 2013.

Why Publish With the Journal?

Publishing scholarly articles may, for coaches, count toward professional development and raise one’s profile in the community. For students and judges, publishing articles can also enhance one’s ability to get admitted into college and graduate school and qualify for scholarships.

The Journal’s editors have editorial experience on academic journals including the Texas Law Review, the Review of Litigation, and the McGeorge Law Review. The editors also have published articles in several academic journals and in the NFL Rostrum, and have a combined twenty years of experience in the speech and debate community. Our articles will undergo some peer-review and cite-checking, if applicable, by the editors.

Unlike the NFL’s Rostrum agreement, our authorship agreement permits you to keep all copyrights and gives the Journal a license to publish your article. Please consider submitting your article to us before you submit to the Rostrum, as submitting your manuscript to the Rostrum could result in your loss of the rights to your work. See Rostrum Themes and Submission Guidelines (“Submissions must not have been submitted previously or simultaneously to other publications, except in cases of express consent from the NFL Executive Director. . . . All submissions become the property of the [NFL].”).

Submission Process and Guidelines

Submissions must:

1. Be in Word format (.doc or .docx); acceptable range of word count varies from about 500 to 1500. Longer manuscripts may be considered.

2. Be in Size-12, Times New Roman font;

3. Contain a title, and subtitle if applicable, at the beginning of the document;

4. Contain a short biographical statement about the author (1-2 sentences);

5. Be written in English (occasional foreign words, such as tabula rasa, are permissible);

6. Contain citations, if applicable, in footnotes. Each citation should include:

(a) an individual or organizational author’s name if available;

(b) title of referenced material;

(c) date of publication or copyright if available;

(d) name of the publication or website; and

(e) sufficient information to enable a reader to find the information on the material.

7. Be submitted to webmaster@theforensicsfiles.com with the Subject line of “Journal Submission by [Your Name]”

Your submission is more likely to be selected for publication if it:

1. Addresses a current issue in the speech and debate community;

2. Presents well-reasoned arguments in support of any position the author takes or a well-explained analysis of the current issue;

3. Contains sufficient citations to other materials that your article refers to; and

4. Is well-written and professional.

We will get back to you as soon as practical with regard to whether we will publish your submitted article. Submissions will be returned to you with editorial changes via email for final approval prior to publication. Failure to reasonably comply with the Journal’s editorial schedule may result in the removal of your article from publication. Questions should be directed to Michael Ritter at webmaster@theforensicsfiles.com.