Notes for authors

General information: The Journal of Evaluation (Zeitschrift für Evaluation - ZfEv) publishes articles in German and English and is divided into two categories:

– Original articles: Scientific, theoretical and conceptual contributions, results of empirical studies as well as practical contributions on current topics are published either under the heading 'Theory, Methods and Practice of Evaluation' or summarized under a 'Thematic Focus'. All manuscripts submitted as original contributions are subject to a double-blind review process. The manuscripts will be evaluated with regard to (1) relevance to the journal's focus, (2) adherence to scientific standards and (3) knowledge gain. Irrespective of the subject of evaluation, the contributions should be of interest to a wider audience with regard to methodological, theoretical or utilization aspects. We therefore ask authors to align their manuscripts with these criteria before submission. Contributions published under the heading Methodology should either present a new method that is suitable for evaluation purposes, present a method that is not yet or less associated with evaluation but may be of use here, or outline the use of a proven evaluation method based on an empirical evaluation example. The requirement of originality demands that submitted manuscripts have not already been published elsewhere or have not been submitted for publication elsewhere until final acceptance or rejection.
 

– Information & Service: This section contains practice reports, contributions to debates, conference reports, reviews, presentations of evaluation institutions etc. as well as the DeGEval ...Info section. Practice reports are concise presentations of evaluations, training and further education programs, evaluation institutes, etc., which are primarily intended to provide an application reference. For the evaluation management and policy category, it is particularly important that the article addresses a practical topic related to evaluation implementation, such as data protection or public procurement law issues. Under the heading Reviews, both individual and collective reviews can be printed, which refer to monographs as well as anthologies. In addition to a brief summary of the content, the review should highlight and critically assess the contribution of the reviewed publication to current academic discourse.

– Manuscript submission: Manuscripts should be submitted by e-mail to the editorial office (redaktion@zfev.de) in a format compatible with Microsoft Office Word. Inquiries and contributions to the DeGEval ...Info section should be addressed to Dr. Angela Wroblewski at wroblewski@degeval.org. By submitting your manuscript, you agree to unencrypted communication by e-mail and to the processing of your personal data in direct connection with your submission.

– Manuscript guidelines: When writing manuscripts for the ZfEv, please note the following:

– External layout: Please use the format templates provided in the sample file to adhere to the external layout. Highlighting should be in italics only (no bold print, underlining, etc.); proper nouns can be placed in single quotation marks; double quotation marks should only be used for direct quotations.

– Length: Original articles should be between 15 and 30 printed pages (approx. 4,500 to 9,000 words). Contributions for the category 'Information & Service' should generally not exceed 10 printed pages (approx. 3,000 words), collective reviews a maximum of seven printed pages (approx. 2,000 words), individual reviews a maximum of four printed pages (approx. 1,000 words) and contributions to DeGEval ...Info a maximum of five printed pages (approx. 1,500 words).

– Cover page: Contains the title (short and descriptive), subtitle if applicable; the names of the authors (academic title if applicable), their institutional affiliation (name and address of the institutions) and e-mail addresses.

– Second page (applies only to original articles): As cover page, but without name, institution and address, plus abstract (max. 1,000 characters incl. spaces, approx. 120 words) and a maximum of four keywords as well as the German translation of the title, subtitle if applicable, abstract (max. 1,000 characters incl. spaces, approx. 120 words) and four keywords.

– Text from the third page onwards: Chapters must be organized numerically; footnotes must be numbered consecutively, identified by superscript numbers without brackets and listed at the bottom of the page.

– Gender-inclusive language: Manuscripts must be written in gender-neutral language. In order to be inclusive towards all people we advise our authors to avoid using expressions including „man“ or „men“ and to employ a more neutral wording e.g. “all people“ or “everybody“ instead of “mankind”.

– Legibility: Before submission, manuscripts should be checked for grammar, spelling and appropriate linguistic quality. For English-language contributions, both British and American spelling can be used. Please proceed consistently.

– Tables/figures: Tables and figures are to be numbered chronologically according to the 7th version of the APA Publication Manual using the heading 'Table' or 'Figure' and provided with a title. A reference should be included below the figure. Printing is in black and white, which is why different elements in curves or columns should be delineated using different shades of gray or patterns. Each table should be understandable on its own. All abbreviations (other than the usual statistical abbreviations) used in tables should be explained and the unit of measurement should always be stated. Lines, preferably only horizontal ones, should only be placed in the table to increase clarity. These should mainly be used to separate table headings, table captions, table body and notes. The respective text and data in the table should be formatted centered. We recommend using the sample file provided to help you format the tables. Graphics or illustrations should also be attached as editable PowerPoint or Excel files (other formats should be clarified with the editorial team in advance). The respective files should also be attached as a stand-alone PDF to ensure correct reproduction in the printed version.

– References: Direct and indirect citations should be incorporated into the text by means of parenthetical references to the bibliography. The guidelines of the 7th version of the APA Publication Manual should be followed, whereby the German equivalents should be used for abbreviations in German texts. There is a semicolon between different references, and a comma if the same author is cited more than once. If there are more than two authors, 'et al.' should be added after the first author. Examples: (Scriven, 1967, 1991); (Wottawa & Thierau, 1990; Mertens et al., 1994); (Brandtstädter, 1990, pp. 217-219); (Levine, 1984, p. 99).

– Bibliography: All references in the text must be listed in alphabetical and chronological order in the bibliography at the end of the manuscript. The specifications of the 7th version of the APA Publication Manual should also be followed. The bibliographical details should therefore correspond to the following order: Surname, 1st letter of first name. (year of publication). Title. Subtitle (edition if applicable). Publisher. If applicable, DOI link in the following form: h t t p s://doi.org/10...

– Examples of references:

• Brandtstädter, J. (1990). Evaluationsforschung. Probleme der wissenschaftlichen Bewertung von Interventions- und Reformprojekten. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 4(2), 215–228.
• Levine, R. A. (1984). Programmevaluierung und Politikanalyse in Europa, USA und Kanada – Ein Überblick. In G. Hellstern & H. Wollmann (Hrsg.), Handbuch zur Evaluierungsforschung (Bd. 1, S. 94–133). Westdeutscher Verlag.
• Rossi, P. H., Freeman, H. E., & Lipsey, M. W. (1999). Evaluation: A Systematic Approach (6. Aufl.). Sage.
• Wottawa, H. & Thierau, H. (1990). Lehrbuch Evaluation. Hans Huber.