Submissions

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

The submission includes a title page which contains: (a) the names and affiliations of all authors, (b) the designation of a corresponding author and his or her email address, (c) the acknowledgments.
The title page includes a funding statement specifying any sources of funding (institutional, private and corporate financial support) for the work reported in their paper. If there was no funding, the following wording should be used: “This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.”
The title page includes information on preprints (if there are any). Authors are asked to update preprint versions with a link to the final published article and may post the final published version immediately after publication.
The title page includes a Conflict of Interest Statement. If no conflict exists, please state: “The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest.”
The title page includes a statement on the ethics review. The statement should include the name of the ethics committee or review board, as well as (if available) the reference number of the approval. If no ethics review was conducted or required, the reason for this must be stated.
The title page includes a statement regarding the availability of the data. The authors are willing to share the analysis plan and protocols and/or the code used in the analysis upon request by the editors during the review process.
The submission includes a fully anonymized manuscript. Authors' names, contact information, acknowledgments, and funding statements have been removed from the manuscript, as well as from the document properties and metadata. Any cover letter or title page identifying the authors is provided separately to the editors.
The submission includes the disclosure of any use of AI tools that have been used (see Author Guideline). Please place this information in a section titled “AI usage” at the end of the manuscript, but before the references. All passages or sections generated or substantially modified with AI are clearly marked. The authors are aware that failure to comply with these requirements may result in the rejection of the submission.
The submission has not been previously published and is not under consideration by another journal (or an explanation has been provided in the “Comments for the Editor” field).
The manuscript is submitted in DOCX or ODT format and uses properly formatted headings and heading levels.
The manuscript consistently uses American English spelling and includes an abstract of 150–200 words.
The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
Figures and tables are placed at the appropriate points in the text and include captions. Figures are also uploaded as separate files in an accepted format and at an adequate resolution. Tables are editable and not submitted as images.
Permission has been obtained for any previously published figures or other copyrighted material, where required.
In the “Comments for the Editor” field, the authors have indicated whether the submission is intended for a regular or special issue and, where applicable, specified the special issue.
The authors confirm that the manuscript is original, that all sources have been appropriately acknowledged and cited, and that it does not contain plagiarized material.
The authors confirm that this is their only manuscript submission to the WJDS this calendar year. We understand that this policy ensures sufficient editorial capacity to carefully consider each submission and that another submission will only be possible in the following calendar year.

Author Guidelines

Manuscript Requirements

Please submit your manuscript as an editable file in DOCX or ODT format (Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, or OpenOffice), written in American English. Please include an abstract of 150–200 words and 3–5 keywords. Use your word processor's heading styles; we number only Heading Levels 1 and 2. Provide URLs or DOIs for references where available.

Research Papers should be between 5,000 and 10,000 words. The word count includes the main text, footnotes, tables, figure captions, and references. It does not include the title page, abstract, keywords, or appendices. Extended papers may be considered where there is a clear justification for the additional length. If different requirements apply to a specific call for papers, these will be stated in the call.

Title Page

Please submit a separate title page that identifies the authors. It should contain:

names and affiliations of all authors, and the corresponding author's email address,
acknowledgments,
a funding statement (if there was no funding: "This research received no specific grant from any
funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors."),
information on preprints, if any, -a conflict of interest statement (if none: "The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest."),
a statement on the ethics review, with the name of the committee and reference number if available (if no review was conducted or required, please state why),
a statement on data availability.

Peer Review

Research Papers are subject to double-blind peer review. The manuscript must not contain any information that could identify the authors, including names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and funding information. Please also remove author information from the document properties and metadata.

When submitting a Research Paper, authors are asked to suggest 3–5 potential reviewers with relevant expertise. Suggested reviewers should have no conflicts of interest with the authors or the research presented in the manuscript.

Citation Formats

We expect citations in submissions to follow the American Psychological Association (APA) Style (7th edition). Submissions in the field of law may use the Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA). URLs for references have been provided where available.

Figures and Tables

Please number and caption all figures and tables consecutively.

Please also submit all figures as separate files in an accepted format: SVG or PDF for diagrams, PNG or TIFF for photos and screenshots. Raster images need an adequate resolution (at least 300 dpi). Each figure needs a caption with its source and image rights.

Tables should be editable and not submitted as images.

Research Data

We consider the publication of data, wherever possible, to be an important mechanism for ensuring the quality of research. We encourage the publication of data, except in cases where it is not possible due to: laws and regulations, data protection requirements, non-disclosure agreements, risks and dangers to researchers and human subjects resulting from publication, or other compelling reasons.

We expect authors to:

Specify their approach to data sharing at the time of submission.
Present their data collection and analysis processes as transparently and comprehensibly as possible within the specified word limit. This applies to both quantitative and qualitative studies.
Share their analysis code upon request by the editors during the review process (quantitative studies), unless doing so would violate confidentiality or legal requirements.
Provide detailed analysis plans upon request by the editors during the review process (qualitative studies). These should explain how the data were collected, organized, coded, and interpreted.

OSM (Online Supplementary Material)

We encourage authors to provide open supplementary materials (OSM) to support traceability and quality control. You may upload these materials to our repository during the submission process. Supplementary materials may include, for example, datasets, code, research materials, or additional analyses.

If you choose not to provide OSM, please state the reason and include a statement with your submission indicating how the supplementary materials can be accessed, e.g. “Supplementary materials are available upon request.” Please anonymize all data before uploading it.

Use of Generative AI

Authors may use generative AI tools to support their work. Basic language polishing, grammar correction, and formatting are permitted and do not need to be disclosed. Any use of generative AI beyond basic language editing must be transparently declared.

Passages or sections that were generated or substantially modified with AI must be clearly identified in the manuscript and in a section titled “AI usage” at the end of the manuscript, specifying the tool used and the purpose of its use.

AI tools must not be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible and accountable for the content, accuracy, originality, and integrity of their statements and their submission. Authors must also ensure that the use of AI does not infringe copyright, confidentiality, or data protection requirements.

In cases of suspected non-declared AI usage, the editorial team may use automated AI detectors. However, the evaluation of submissions is always carried out by human editors and never based solely on AI detectors.

Copyright Notice

All contributions to the Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society are published under a Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. Authors retain the rights to their work and grant permission for its use, sharing, and adaptation in accordance with the terms of the license.