May 20, 2021 | Art Therapy Journal Editor, Associate Editors, and Advisory Board
As part of the American Art Therapy Association’s (AATA) broader Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative, Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association is incorporating a range of antiracist and anti-oppressive publishing practices. We began by intentionally recruiting reviewers who hold various identities – racial, cultural, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, gender/gender identity, disability, and others. We are always looking for new reviewers to join our ad-hoc pool so that people can be ready to join the full review board. We know that diversity alone will not solve the systemic racism and discrimination that occurs in the review process. Therefore, we have been identifying resources and trainers in the publishing sector who can advise us on best-practices used by other journals that have been successful. The following are changes we have incorporated:
Author Recruitment and Mentorships
A key mission for us has been to identify potential authors, invite submissions, and offer consultation if needed to new and emerging scholars from a range of backgrounds. We have been providing mentorship in a range of forms including hashing out ideas, developing structure, assisting in getting access to resources (particularly for those who do not have university library access), and reviewing drafts. Authors still go through the regular peer review process but we have already seen success in creating a more inclusive author base.
Journal Content
The Journal content has substantially evolved from its earliest days of publishing, which was initially a mix of art therapy and AATA-related content to our current status of being an independent scholarly journal with articles, viewpoints, and brief reports. We are now focused on expanding the breadth and diversity of how authors situate their voices and represent their ideas. For instance, there is now a drive towards including more practice-based case descriptions and reflections on best-practice. We are also targeting content missing in the professional literature through special issues.
Structural Changes
Structurally we have begun to integrate more perspectives into vision setting and decision making. The Journal Advisory Board now acts as a think tank and engaged working committee. At the request of the Journal Editorial Board, the Editor provides quarterly updates to supplement annual meetings. We also are piloting an editorial leadership model that values power-sharing – for that, we are looking for volunteers to serve as associate editors.
As a team we strive towards cultural humility, which entails continuous self-reflection in how we impart knowledge about the profession. While still aiming for rigor, transferability and ultimately an accurate portrayal of the most up to date and innovate practices in art therapy, we are committed to ensuring that Art Therapy reflects growing frameworks in the profession.
Ways to Get Involved
If you are interested in being considered as a reviewer or associate editor, please contact Jordan Potash, Editor in Chief, at journal@arttherapy.org.
Resources
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Washington, DC. [see chapter 5:Bias-free language guidelines]
Buggs, S. G., Sims, J. P., & Kramer, R. (2020). Rejecting white distraction: a critique of the white logic and white methods in academic publishing. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43(8), 1384-1392. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1718728
Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC) https://c4disc.org/
Garcia, N. M., Lopez, N. & Velez, V. N. (2018). QuantCrit: Rectifying quantitative methods through critical race theory. Race Ethnicity and Education, 21(2), 149-157. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1377675
Maron, N. & Kennison, R. (2019). Open and Equitable Scholarly Communications Creating A More Inclusive Future [report]. Association of College & Research Libraries. https://acrl.ala.org/acrlinsider/archives/17807
Okune, A. (2019, May 29). Decolonizing scholarly data and publishing infrastructures. London School of Economics and Political Science. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2019/05/29/decolonizing-scholarly-data-and-publishing-infrastructures/
Pillay, S. (2020). The revolution will not be peer reviewed: (creative) tensions between academia, social media and anti-racist activism. South African Journal of Psychology, 50(3), 308–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081246320948369
Contributing Authors
Jordan Potash, Editor in Chief
Theresa Van Lith, Associate Editor
Emily Nolan, Associate Editor/Book Review Editor
Holly Feen-Calligan, Journal Advisory Board, past Associate Editor and Interim Editor
Lynn Kapitan, Journal Advisory Board, past Editor
Cheryl Doby-Copeland, Journal Advisory Board
Debra Kalmanowitz, Journal Advisory Board
Louvenia Jackson, Journal Advisory Board, AATA Board Liaison