About the Journal

Focus and Scope

We live in a society which is faced with a set of truly monumental and ever-emerging social crises. Systemic, symbolic, and intersubjective forms violence; climate change; mass migration; extreme global and domestic inequality; digital intrusion into our private lives; political division; exploitation; slavery; mutating global criminal markets; corruption; widespread depression and anxiety. All these issues (and many more) are an established feature of the present order.

These problems are real. Some of them are new problems and some of them are more long-standing. But they are all happening in a world that is in flux at the deepest political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological levels. Political events and changes, economic crashes, an impending industrial revolution, and a global pandemic whose effects will be felt for decades to come mean that we are witnessing the end of the ‘end of history’, and have been for some time. We are at a unique moment in history, and we cannot passively fall back on the theoretical frameworks, concepts, and thought paradigms that have dominated criminology and the social sciences for so long, and which were conceived in a world far different to the one we occupy. These problems require a space for diverse and innovative thought and research which challenges and seeks dialogue with the dominant theoretical, philosophical, political, and empirical assumptions of our discipline, and provides new accounts and explanations of the social world as it exists right now. This journal hopes to provide such a space. We are committed to viewpoint diversity and free, honest, and open debate irrespective of personal and political views.

The Journal of Contemporary Crime, Harm, and Ethics publishes biannual thematic issues on topics around crime, social harm, justice, and ethics written from the perspectives of criminology, zemiology, anthropology, moral and political philosophy, critical theory, and the humanities more broadly. Please make sure you have read the call for papers for each thematic issue to ensure that your proposed submission fits with the theme of the issue. In addition, however, individual articles, essays, and book reviews which go beyond the scope of these thematic issues are welcomed and will be published at any time.

Peer-Review Policy

Editors acknowledge receipt of all submissions. Prior to submitting to the journal, authors are encouraged to contact the editor-in-chief at thomas.raymen@northumbria.ac.uk in order to discuss their submission. Submissions that do not correspond to the rationale of the journal, are insufficiently original, seriously flawed, or with poor English language may be rejected prior to being sent out for review.

Suitable papers are passed on to the relevant journal editors who will then send the piece out for peer-review to no more than two reviewers from the editorial board, who will review the submission anonymously and separately. Our journal operates a double-blind peer-review system, and reviewers are selected for their competence and expertise to review the submission. When there is an insufficiency of relevant editorial expertise to review specific submissions, guest reviewers with the appropriate expertise are invited to review.

If, as reviewers read a submission, they realise that for any reason it is inappropriate for them to review that article, they are asked to return it to the Editor-in-Chief forthwith and another reviewer will be assigned. It will be considered inappropriate for a reviewer to assess a submission if they know the author(s) to be a family member; a staff member or student in their department; based on a PhD which they have supervised or examined; based upon a project with which they have been involved or been a grant holder.

We endeavour to respond to authors with reviewer comments and a provisional decision on publication within 2 months of receipt of submission. Authors may suggest potential reviewers. However, the final selection of reviewers is at the discretion of editors and will not be disclosed.

Publication Frequency

The Journal of Contemporary Crime, Harm, and Ethics publishes biannual thematic issues on topics around crime, social harm, justice, and ethics. In addition, however, individual articles, essays, and book reviews which go beyond the scope of these thematic issues are welcomed and will be published at any time.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

This journal does not charge APCs or submission charges.

Articles are licenced with a CC BY-NC-ND Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

You are free to:
• Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.

Under the following terms:
• Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
• Non-commercial – You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
• No Derivatives – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
• No additional restrictions – You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Journal History

Journal of Contemporary Crime, Harm, and Ethics is an international, peer-reviewed, inter-disciplinary open-access journal that publishes articles, commentary essays, and debates on the contemporary social realities of crime, social harm, and justice written from the perspectives of criminology, zemiology, anthropology, moral and political philosophy, critical theory, and the humanities more broadly.