Submissions
Submission Preparation Checklist
• The submission is original, has not previously been published in substantially the same form, and is not currently under consideration by another journal.
• The submission falls within the scope of Federal Prison, Law & Policy and complies with the Author Guidelines.
• All persons listed as authors have made an appropriate contribution to the work and have approved the submission.
• The manuscript has been reviewed for accuracy, completeness, and citation integrity.
• Quotations, authorities, references, hyperlinks, tables, figures, and other cited material have been checked for accuracy.
• Permission has been obtained for copyrighted or restricted material included in the submission when permission is required.
• Any financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other potential conflicts of interest have been disclosed to the editors.
• Any substantive use of generative artificial intelligence or similar tools has been disclosed to the editors.
• The manuscript file does not contain information that should be removed for anonymous peer review, when anonymous review applies.
• The author understands that submission does not guarantee peer review, acceptance, or publication.
Articles
Articles publishes original, substantive scholarly research addressing federal corrections, prison law, sentencing and corrections policy, correctional administration, implementation science, rehabilitation, education, institutional accountability, reentry, and related subjects. Articles should make a meaningful contribution to the scholarly or professional literature through original research, legal analysis, policy analysis, theoretical development, program evaluation, or rigorous synthesis of existing evidence.
Submissions to this section ordinarily undergo editorial screening followed by peer review. Authors should clearly identify the article’s purpose, relevant literature or legal framework, methodology or analytical approach where applicable, principal findings or arguments, and implications for scholarship, law, policy, or correctional practice. Interdisciplinary submissions and scholarship that bridges academic research with correctional practice are encouraged.
Essays
Essays publishes substantial scholarly works that advance an original argument, interpretation, or perspective concerning federal corrections, prison law, sentencing and corrections policy, correctional administration, rehabilitation, education, implementation, reentry, institutional culture, or related subjects. Essays may be interdisciplinary, doctrinal, theoretical, historical, policy-oriented, or practice-informed and need not employ a traditional empirical research design.
Submissions should demonstrate rigorous engagement with relevant scholarship, law, policy, evidence, or professional practice and should offer a clearly developed contribution to understanding federal corrections or its broader institutional context. Essays ordinarily undergo editorial screening followed by peer review. FPLP particularly welcomes work that connects legal, social-scientific, educational, administrative, and practitioner perspectives.
Policy & Practice Commentaries
Policy & Practice Commentaries provides a forum for timely, analytically grounded discussion of developments in federal correctional policy, administration, legislation, litigation, programming, institutional practice, and reentry. Commentaries may evaluate proposed or existing policies, identify implementation problems, respond to emerging legal or administrative developments, or translate research and professional experience into practical recommendations.
Commentaries are expected to be evidence-informed, well sourced, and analytically rigorous, but they are generally shorter and more focused than Articles or Essays. Submissions to this section are subject to editorial review rather than external peer review unless the editors determine that additional expert review would materially strengthen the publication.
Book Reviews
Book Reviews publishes critical reviews of books and other substantial scholarly works relevant to federal corrections, prison law, sentencing, correctional administration, rehabilitation, education, reentry, public policy, criminology, and related fields. Reviews should do more than summarize the work; they should assess its arguments, evidence, methodology, significance, and contribution to relevant scholarship or practice.
Book Reviews are subject to editorial review rather than external peer review. Reviews may be commissioned by the editors or submitted for consideration. Authors should disclose any relationship with the author, publisher, or work under review that could reasonably be perceived as a conflict of interest.
Copyright Notice
Copyright Notice
Authors retain copyright in works published by Federal Prison, Law & Policy (FPLP) and grant the journal the right of first publication.
Unless otherwise indicated, works published by FPLP are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license permits others to copy, distribute, display, adapt, and build upon the work for any purpose, provided appropriate credit is given to the author(s), a link to the license is provided, and any changes are indicated.
Authors are responsible for obtaining any permissions necessary to reproduce third-party copyrighted or otherwise restricted material included in their submission. Material credited to another source may be subject to separate copyright or licensing terms.
By completing a submission, the author confirms that they have the authority to grant FPLP the publication rights described above and agree to publication under these terms if the submission is accepted.
Privacy Statement
Privacy Statement
Federal Prison, Law & Policy (FPLP) collects and processes personal information only as reasonably necessary to operate the journal, manage submissions and peer review, communicate with authors, reviewers, editors, and readers, maintain the scholarly record, and administer the journal website.
Information collected through this site may include names, email addresses, usernames, institutional or organizational affiliations, ORCID identifiers, biographical information, reviewer interests, submission and review records, correspondence, and other information voluntarily provided by users. The website may also generate routine technical information necessary for security, administration, and usage statistics.
Personal information supplied in connection with manuscript submission, editorial review, peer review, copyediting, production, or publication will be used for those purposes and may be made available to editors, reviewers, authors, journal staff, service providers, or other persons involved in the publication process when reasonably necessary. Information designated as confidential, including confidential reviewer comments and materials associated with anonymous peer review, will be handled accordingly.
Names, affiliations, biographies, ORCID identifiers, and other contributor information associated with accepted and published works may become part of the permanent public scholarly record. Publication metadata may also be distributed to indexing services, scholarly databases, preservation services, DOI registration agencies, libraries, repositories, and other services that facilitate discovery, citation, preservation, and access.
FPLP does not sell personal information or provide user information to advertisers. Personal information will not be disclosed for unrelated commercial purposes.
Registered users may receive journal-related communications appropriate to their roles, including submission and review correspondence, editorial notifications, publication notices, announcements, and account-related messages. Users may manage optional notification preferences through their account when those controls are available.
Information associated with the scholarly and editorial record may be retained as necessary to preserve the integrity, accountability, and historical record of the journal. Other information may be retained for administrative, legal, security, or operational purposes as reasonably necessary.
Users should not submit confidential personal information that is unnecessary to the journal’s editorial or publishing functions. Questions or requests concerning personal information maintained by FPLP may be directed to the journal’s editorial office at editor@federalprisonjournal.org.
FPLP may revise this Privacy Statement as journal operations, applicable requirements, or publishing practices change.
