Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities
Learning Disabilities & Rehabilitation | Program Evaluation | Severe & Multiple Disabilities
Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities (RPSD), published in association with TASH, is a critically acclaimed and widely read scientific journal in the field of disabilities. RPSD publishes breakthrough articles on such topics as inclusion, augmentative and alternative communication, supported living, supported employment, early childhood issues, self-advocacy, positive behavioral supports, disability rights and issues of concern to families. This journal is the most influential vehicle for progressive research in the disability field. Published quarterly, RPSD occasionally focuses on special topics, such as cultural competency, covered by many of the most notable authors and researchers in the field.
Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities (RPSD) is a quarterly journal published by TASH (formerly The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps) that addressed issues and concerns relating to, or relevant for, persons with severe disabilities/extensive support needs across the lifespan. RPSD publishes articles that report original research; comprehensive literature reviews; policy analyses; and databased descriptions of innovative programs, practices, or service delivery models.
| Craig Kennedy | University of Connecticut, USA |
| Andy Masud | University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA |
| Sarah L. Ballard | Illinois State University, USA |
| Elizabeth E. Biggs | Vanderbilt University, USA |
| Robert C. Pennington | University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA |
| Jenny Root | Florida State University, USA |
| Zach Rossetti | Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, USA |
| Fred Spooner | University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA |
| Meghan Burke | Vanderbilt University, USA |
| Martin Agran | University of Wyoming, USA |
| Jacki L. Anderson | California State University - East Bay, USA |
| Natalie Andzik | Northern Illinois University, USA |
| Jennifer M. Asmus | University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA |
| Linda Bambara | Lehigh University, USA |
| Erin E. Barton | Vanderbilt University, USA |
| Matthew E. Brock | Ohio State University, USA |
| Jennifer L. Bumble | American Institutes for Research, USA |
| Kathryn M. Burke | Temple University, USA |
| Susan R. Copeland | University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, USA |
| Hayley Crawford | University of Warwick, UK |
| Sharon M. Darling | Florida Atlantic University, USA |
| Monica Delano | University of Louisville, USA |
| Robin L. Dodds | California State University Los Angeles, USA |
| Charles Dukes | Florida Atlantic University, USA |
| Stacy K. Dymond | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA |
| Anna J. Esbensen | Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, USA |
| Susan Etscheidt | University of Northern Iowa, USA |
| Deborah J. Fidler | Colorado State University, USA |
| Marisa H. Fisher | Michigan State University, USA |
| Lise Fox | University of South Florida, USA |
| Grace L. Francis | George Mason University, USA |
| Kathleen Gee | California State University, Sacramento, USA |
| Megan M. Griffin | Whitworth University, USA |
| Liz Halstead | University College London, UK |
| Robert Horner | University of Oregon, USA |
| Melissa Hudson | East Carolina University, USA |
| Kara Hume | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA |
| Lewis Jackson | University of Northern Colorado, USA |
| Lee Kern | Lehigh University, USA |
| Victoria Knight | University of British Columbia, Canada |
| Sudha Krishnan | San Jose State University, USA |
| Jennifer A. Kurth | University of Kansas, USA |
| Charles Lakin | University of Minnesota, USA |
| Donna Lehr | Boston University, USA |
| Kristina Lopez | Arizona State University, USA |
| David Mank | Indiana University, USA |
| Hedda Meadan | University of Illinois, USA |
| Robert O'Neill | University of Utah, USA |
| Hyun-Sook Park | San Jose State University, USA |
| Jamie N. Pearson | North Carolina State University, USA |
| Kathryn D. Peckham-Hardin | California State University - Northridge, USA |
| April Regester | University of Missouri, St Louis, USA |
| Brian Reichow | University of Connecticut, USA |
| Caroline Richards | University of Birmingham, USA |
| Joel E. Ringdahl | University of Georgia, USA |
| Mandy Rispoli | University of Virginia, USA |
| Christopher Rivera | East Carolina University, USA |
| Magen Rooney-Kron | University of Missouri - St. Louis, USA |
| Andrea Ruppar | University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA |
| Diane Lea Ryndak | University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA |
| Julia Scherba de Valenzuela | University of New Mexico, USA |
| Ilene S. Schwartz | University of Washington, USA |
| Karrie Shogren | University of Kansas, USA |
| Jeff Sigafoos | Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand |
| George H.S. Singer | University of California, Santa Barbara, USA |
| Melinda R. Snodgrass | Illinois State University, USA |
| Connie Sung | Michigan State University, USA |
| Julie Lounds Taylor | Vanderbilt University Medical Center, USA |
| Maria Valdovinos | Drake University, USA |
| Sandra B. Vanegas | University of Texas at Austin, USA |
| Jane Waite | Aston University, UK |
| Virginia Walker | University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA |
| Peishi Wang | Queens College, USA |
| Katie Wolfe | University of South Carolina, USA |
| Ya-Ping Wu | National Chiayi University, Taiwan |
| Alison Zagona | University of Kansas, USA |
Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rpsd to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
Sage Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions from a diverse range of authors from across all countries and backgrounds.
There are no fees payable to submit to this Journal. There are fees associated with Sage Open Access if authors are interested in open access publishing. More information on open access publishing can be found in section 6.3.
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities will consider submissions of papers that have been posted on preprint servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the Journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the Journal's author archiving policy.
If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.
If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal.
1. What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper
2. Preparing your manuscript
2.1 Formatting
2.2 Artwork, figures, and other graphics
2.3 Identifiable information
2.4 Supplemental material
2.5 Reference style and inclusive language
2.6 Editing and formatting services
3. Submitting your manuscript
3.1 ORCID
3.2 Information required for completing your submission
3.3 Permissions
4. On acceptance and publication
4.1 Sage Production
4.2 Online First publication
4.3 Access to your published article
4.4 Promoting your article
5. Editorial policies
5.1 Statement of Ethics
5.2 Peer Review Policy
5.3 Authorship
5.4 Acknowledgements
5.5 Funding
5.6 Declaration of conflicting interests
5.7 Research ethics and patient consent
5.8 Research data
6. Publishing policies
6.1 Publication ethics
6.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
6.3 Open access and author archiving
7. Further information
7.1 Appealing the publication decision
1. What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
Before submitting your manuscript to Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities (RPSD) will be reviewed.
Manuscripts written for RPSD should focus on persons with severe disabilities (i.e., individuals with significant and ongoing support needs) and include implications for research and practice that are relevant to persons with severe disabilities. Although manuscripts may address a broader population that extends beyond individuals with severe disabilities, there must be clear and distinguishable findings reported for individuals with severe disabilities.
RPSD emphasizes ecological and educational validity in the content of the journal. Applied research conducted in natural, inclusive settings is likely to be more relevant to our readers than research conducted in highly artificial, controlled, and segregated settings. Authors are encouraged to provide evidence of research methods that adhere to quality indicators for research (e.g., see Exceptional Children, 2023, volume 89[4]). In addition, research involving human subjects should include a statement within the method section that confirms IRB approval was obtained prior to conducting the study.
1.2 Article types
All paper types should include an abstract (200 words) and keywords (5).
The journal primarily publishes six types of articles.
- Original Research Studies, include experimental (group comparison and single case), quasi-experimental, descriptive, correlational, qualitative, and mixed methods designs. Length: 25-35 double-spaced pages, including abstract, references, tables, and figures.
- Literature Reviews, provide a systematic review of a body of literature. Length: 25-35 double-spaced pages, including abstract, references, tables, and figures.
- Policy Analyses, provide a critical analysis of policy issues. Length: 25-35 double-spaced pages, including abstract, references, tables, and figures.
- Brief Reports, include, but are not limited to, data-based descriptions of innovative practices, curriculum evaluation reports, replication studies, reports on personnel preparation programs, and time series case studies. Length: 12-15 double-spaced pages, including abstract, references, tables, and figures.
- Exchange, presents reader perspectives on important issues in the field related to research and practice (e.g., current controversies, new developments), responses to articles published in RPSD and other sources, and personal experiences as a participant in the disability field. Perspectives from all RPSD readers are encouraged (e.g., self-advocates, family members, teachers, researchers, policy- makers). Length: 12-15 double-spaced pages, including abstract, references, tables, and figures.
- Book Reviews, discuss the content and perspective of a book in relation to critical developments in the field. Book reviews are solicited by invitation only; however, persons interested in completing such a review may contact the editor. Publishers wishing to submit a book for possible review need to send two copies to the editor. Only current year books are reviewed. Length: 6-10 double spaced pages.
1.3 Writing your paper
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.
2. Preparing your manuscript for submission
2.1 Formatting
The preferred format for your manuscript is a Word document. All pages should be numbered and double-spaced. All text should be in Times New Roman 12-point type. Tables should be editable and include captions. Tables should be placed after the reference list.
2.1.1 Reference Style and Inclusive Language
Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities adheres to the latest edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
Reference to individuals with disabilities should conform to the General Guidelines for Reducing Bias described in the APA manual. All RPSD articles will be edited to adhere to TASH policies on language, which are available from TASH Executive Offices: TASH, 2013 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20006; Phone: 202-540-9020; Email: info@tash.org
2.1.2 Manuscript Structure
Manuscripts should be typed, double-spaced, on 8 ½ X 11-inch paper, with 1-inch margins, and Times New Roman 12-point font. Tables may be single or double-spaced. A separate file should be created for each of the following: a) title page, b) abstract, main document, and references, c) tables, and d) figures.
2.2 Artwork, figures, and other graphics
Figures must be production ready. Rules/tick marks should not be smaller than 1 point. Use bold type that is large enough to be reduced. Acceptable electronic formats for artwork include TIFF, JPEG, PNG, EPS, PDF, PPT, Excel, and Word. Scans/photos must be at least 300 dpi. At lower resolutions these items will have a very poor print quality even if they look crisp and clear on a printout. For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures, and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.
Figures supplied in color will appear in color online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. For specifically requested color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding Sage costs after receiving your accepted article.
2.3 Identifiable information
The journal uses double-anonymized peer review, therefore authors are required to submit:
- A version of the manuscript which has had any information that compromises the anonymity of the author(s) removed or anonymized. This version will be sent to the peer reviewers.
- A separate title page which includes any removed or anonymized material. This will not be sent to the peer reviewers.
See https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/Manuscript-preparation-for-double-anonymized-journal for detailed guidance on making an anonymous submission.
2.4 Supplemental material
This Journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g., datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc.) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files.
2.5 Editing and formatting services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the Journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
3. Submitting your manuscript
Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rpsd to login and submit your article online. instructions. Additional guidelines or questions regarding the submission process may be directed to Craig H. Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief, at craig.kennedy@uconn.edu.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the Journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
3.1 ORCID
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.
The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this Journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process.
To add an ORCID ID, one must add it for oneself (a co-author cannot link ORCID IDs for all other authors on the paper). Each author who wishes to add their ID would need to log in to the peer review site, click their name at the top of the page and select "e-mail/name" from the drop-down menu. Then, click the ORCID link in the system, sign into their ORCID account and the peer review system will automatically link the ID to the author’s account. The author's ORCID ID will then become part of their accepted publication’s metadata, making their work uniquely attributable to that author. The ORCID ID is published with the article so that fellow researchers reading the paper can link to the author's ORCID profile and from there link to the author's other publications. (Please note that only including an ORCID ID on the cover page of a manuscript submission, but not following the authentication steps, will not properly link the paper to the author's ORCID record.)
If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
3.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage, please ensure you have included all the required statements and/or declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
3.3 Permissions
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.
4. On acceptance and publication
4.1 Sage Production
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.
4.2 Online First publication
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.
4.3 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.
4.4 Promoting your article
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.
5. Editorial policies
5.1 Statement of Ethics
The opinions expressed in the journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editor, editorial board, TASH Board of Directors and the TASH Staff. Authors are encouraged to be respectful of all authors they cite, persons to whom they refer, and are advised not to reveal any personal information about these persons that is damaging or hurtful.
5.2 Peer review policy
Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities adheres to a rigorous double-anonymized reviewing policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties.
Manuscripts submitted to RPSD are screened to determine (a) appropriateness for the journal, (b) conformation to APA guidelines, and (c) adherence to page limits. If a manuscript meets these criteria, the editor assigns the manuscript to an associate editor who becomes the editor-in-charge (EIC). The EIC sends the manuscript out for anonymized review to two to three editorial board members, each of whom is selected for their specific expertise. A guest reviewer may also be invited to review the manuscript.
Once all reviews have been returned, the EIC will make a decision about the manuscript taking into consideration the feedback from the reviewers, the EIC’s own assessment of the manuscript, and the perceived importance, timeliness, and contribution of the manuscript to the field of severe disabilities. Decisions include: (a) publish, (b) publish with revisions, (c) do not publish/invite revisions, and (d) do not publish. The editorial decision is communicated to the corresponding author along with a summary that supports the decision. The review process takes from 3 to 4 months. Manuscripts accepted for publication are published ahead of print on SAGE Online First.
Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication.
Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a paper if:
- The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors.
- The reviewer is based at the funding body of the paper.
- The author has recommended the reviewer.
- The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g., Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution).
Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities is committed to delivering high quality, fast peer-review for your paper, and as such has partnered with Web of Science Reviewer Recognition Service (formerly Publons). This is a third-party service that seeks to track, verify, and give credit for peer review. Reviewers for Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities can opt-in to this service in order to claim their reviews or have them automatically verified and added to their reviewer profile. Reviewers claiming credit for their review will be associated with the relevant journal, but the article name, reviewer’s decision and the content of their review is not published on the site. For more information visit the Web of Science Reviewer Recognition Service website.
The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the Journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.
5.3 Authorship
All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.
Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.
Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
5.4 Acknowledgements
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.
Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.
Per ICMJE recommendations, it is best practice to obtain consent from non-author contributors who you are acknowledging in your paper.
5.4.1 Third party submissions
Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:
- Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company, and level of input
- Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
- Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g., conflicting interests, funding, etc.
Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.
5.4.2 Writing assistance
Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g., from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.
5.5 Funding
Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
5.6 Declaration of conflicting interests
Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.
It is the policy of Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.
Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’. For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations here.
5.7 Research ethics and patient consent
Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.
Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant ethics committee or institutional review board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.
For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.
Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative. Please do not submit the patient’s actual written informed consent with your article, as this in itself breaches the patient’s confidentiality. The Journal requests that you confirm to us, in writing, that you have obtained written informed consent but the written consent itself should be held by the authors/investigators themselves, for example in a patient’s hospital record. The confirmatory letter may be uploaded with your submission as a separate file.
Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.
5.8 Research data
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.
Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:
- Share your research data in a relevant public data repository
- Include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, use the statement to confirm why it cannot be shared.
- Cite this data in your research
- Indicate if data is available and shared
- In certain cases, indicate if research data is available but not shared, and why. If you cannot share your data and this is a requirement of publication, consult the journal editorial office.
- Indicate if there is an absence of data
- Cite data in your research
6. Publishing policies
6.1 Publication ethics
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.
6.1.1 Plagiarism
Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the Journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
6.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
6.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive license agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and license to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information, please visit the Sage Author Gateway.
6.3 Open access and author archiving
Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.
7. Further information
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities editorial office as follows:
Editor-in-Chief, Peter Case: craig.kennedy@uconn.edu
7.1 Appealing the publication decision
Editors have very broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a very general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.
If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com.