Submissions

New Submissions

Topics of interest should address the use of geek and gaming culture in treatment, community building, and education. Submissions should address practical applications, and not media analysis. Topics of interest may include, but are not limited to, the following. 

• Video games for physical education
• Tabletop roleplay games (TTRPG) in therapy
• Community building through fandoms
• Fandoms as pedagogy 
• Identity exploration through Geek and Gaming culture
• Individual and/or community resilience building through media
• Case studies using Geek or Gaming culture 
  

At this time, the Journal of TAGGC is accepting original research articles, brief reports, systematic reviews, case studies, best practices, and perspectives. 

Original Research

Original research articles are those which consist of in-depth literature review, methods of data collection, data analysis, and discussion of novel research in the field of mental health and geek and gaming cultures. Original research articles should include a brief statement regarding the process of approval by an institutional review board (IRB) or other official, approving body tasked with the role of protecting human subjects. An exception to this is if research was collected on data that exists in the public domain (e.g., qualitative analysis of publicly published fanfiction). While IRB approval is not required for publicly accessible data, a statement should still be included about privacy and safety considerations, where appropriate. Some data, such as archival and quality improvement projects, may be deemed exempt by an IRB or other approving body. While it is acceptable to use exempt data in submissions, confirmation of exemption should still be included in the text of the submission. Original research should be no less than 4,000 worlds and no more than 10,000 words. 

Brief Reports

Brief reports present original research findings that are preliminary or limited in scope (e.g., data derived from a small sample size). Brief report articles should include a brief statement regarding the process of approval by an institutional review board (IRB) or other official, approving body tasked with the role of protecting human subjects. An exception to this is if research was collected on data that exists in the public domain (e.g., qualitative analysis of publicly published fanfiction). While IRB approval is not required for publicly accessible data, a statement should still be included about privacy and safety considerations, where appropriate. Some data, such as archival and quality improvement projects, may be deemed exempt by an IRB or other approving body. While it is acceptable to use exempt data in submissions, confirmation of exemption should still be included in the text of the submission. Brief reports should not exceed 3500 words. 

Systematic Reviews

Systematic reviews are reviews of the literature concerning a specific topic or questions which follow a structured methodology to identify and evaluate the state of existing research. Systematic reviews need not be approved by an IRB or other approving authority so long as the methods used to identify research include only that which is already accessible by the public. Systematic reviews should be no less than 3500 words and no more than 10,000 words. 

Case Studies

Case studies are articles which highlight the utility of addressing geek and gaming culture in mental health practice with 1-3 clients. Case studies should address a novel approach to practice, the adaptation of a specific theoretical framework or evidence based practice, or an atypical clinical presentation illustrative of a gap in the field of research and practice. Case studies do not need IRB or other official approval so long as they are deidentified. It is the ethical and legal responsibility of the author(s) to ensure that any cases included in submissions are thoroughly deidentified. A guide to deidentification can be found here. A statement of deidentification should also be included in the submission. Composite cases may be used to address work with specific cultural groups for whom deidentification of a single case would be difficult without compromising client privacy and cultural significance of the study. For case studies in which the demographic details of a single case are important to the study’s contribution to the field and can not be deidentified, IRB or other approval will need to be obtained, similar to original research and brief reports. Case studies should not exceed 3500 words. 

Best Practices

Best practice articles are those which discuss the ethics, design, or systems management in relation to a specific clinical or research practice. If these articles use data that involves human subjects or other protected information, such as that internal to a hospital, clinic, university, etc., then IRB or other appropriate approval will need to be stated in the submission. If the article does not use such data, no such statement of approval is required. Best practice articles should not exceed 10000 words