Nonprofit Policy Forum is a double-blind refereed international journal that publishes original research and analysis on public policy issues and the public policy process critical to the work of nonprofit organizations and social enterprises. It serves as a forum and authoritative and accessible source of information, for scholars, leaders, and policy-makers worldwide. A primary goal of NPF is to provide nonprofit and social enterprise leaders and policy-makers with readily accessible and relevant scholarly research. NPF seeks to contribute to the development of the field of nonprofit related policy research, to more clearly define the role of the sector in the policy and advocacy process, and to build a stronger research base on public policy and nonprofit and social enterprise organizations. NPF is published by De Gruyter, Inc. and is in its 9th year of publication. The journal is published in Open Access format and is fully available at www.degruyter.com/loi/npf. Open Access is made possible through a grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundations and the institutional sponsors of NPF: The Humphrey School of the University of Minnesota, The Urban Institute, the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) and the Stockholm Center for Civil Society Studies. NPF’s editorial board consists of leading scholars from 20 different countries in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia.
NPF welcomes unsolicited manuscripts year-round. The journal strives for quality, relevance, and originality, and encourages contributions from all scholarly disciplines and all parts of the world. Articles should be written in English for a general audience, not a particular discipline. Content should address policy issues affecting nonprofit organizations and social enterprises in general or in particular subfields, the involvement of nonprofits in the policy process, the historical development of nonprofit-related policy issues, or analysis of policy proposals and alternatives affecting nonprofit organizations and social enterprises and the fields in which they are active.
Subject areas include but are not limited to analysis and evaluation of tax policies, regulatory policies, national security policy and civil liberties, policy advocacy and lobbying, government funding of nonprofit organizations, the role of faith-based institutions in service delivery, church and state relations, disaster relief policy, the role of nonprofits in economic and community development, alternative organizational arrangements for nonprofit and social enterprise activity, and public policy issues in specific sub-fields such as health care, social justice, the environment, education and the arts, especially where they have general implications for the nonprofit sector and social enterprise as a whole.
Overall, NPF seeks analyses of current public policy issues, the historical development of public policies affecting nonprofits in various countries, and the practical implications of existing policies for the operations, performance, and social impact of nonprofit organizations and social enterprises.
Review Process
Articles are reviewed on the basis of substance, methodology, originality, acknowledgment of the literature, and relevance to NPF’s readership. Submissions are peer-reviewed in a double-blind process by multiple reviewers with expertise in the topic and relevant disciplines. The review process is structured to provide authors with a rapid response and constructive feedback. Criteria for acceptance include conciseness, clarity of presentation, and general readability.
Contents
In addition to regular research-based articles, NPF welcomes special features including interviews, book reviews, case studies, and policy briefings.
Research-based Articles
- Articles of approximately 5,000 words reporting original research and analysis on policy-relevant topics of interest to nonprofit policymakers, nonprofit practitioners, social entrepreneurs, and scholars.
Special Features—articles of 2,500 words or less as follows:
- Interviews with policy leaders
- Book Reviews of the current nonprofit public policy related literature
- Case Studies of policy developments
- Policy Briefings of recent legislation, administrative reports, judicial hearings, research reports, task forces, and other relevant documents and proceedings
How to Submit a Manuscript
Papers may be submitted directly to our submission site: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/dgnpf.
Style
A fundamental purpose of NPF is to promote effective communication among researchers, policy-makers, and nonprofit leaders, appealing to a broad audience. Jargon is avoided and technical terms should be explained in non-technical language. Further information on manuscript preparation is available on the website.
Editorial Board
Editor-in-Chief
Dennis Young, Georgia State University (emeritus)
Managing Editor
Linda Serra, Independent Consultant
Senior Editorial Board
Alan J. Abramson, George Mason University
Helmut Anheier, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin
Andrea Bassi, University of Bologna
Elizabeth T. Boris, The Urban Institute
Gemma Donnelly-Cox, Trinity College, Dublin
Philippe Eynaud, Sorbonne Graduate Business School, France
James Ferris, University of Southern California
Benjamin Gidron, College of Management Academic Studies, Israel
Virginia A. Hodgkinson, Georgetown University (retired)
Kevin Kearns, University of Pittsburgh
Eliza Lee, Hong Kong University
Michael Meyer, Vienna University of Economics and Business
Myles McGregor-Lowndes, Queensland University of Technology
Marta Reuter, Stockholm University
Mark Rosenman, Union Institute and University (emeritus)
James Allen Smith, The Rockefeller Archive Center
Melissa Stone, University of Minnesota
Isabel Vidal, University of Barcelona
Filip Wijkstrom, Stockholm School of Economics
Naoto Yamauchi, Osaka University