Resource Submission Guidelines

SIGNAL network members are invited to pitch contributions to three series: Research Briefs, In-Focus Reports, and Learning Modules.

All SIGNAL network members are welcome to pitch. We especially encourage proposals from emerging scholars, community-based researchers, and members who work with communities most affected by online gendered hate. Collaborative and co-authored proposals are welcome and encouraged.

Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis and are peer-reviewed by the SIGNAL Advisory Board. This page explains what each series publishes, what to include in a proposal, and how the review and production process works.

The series

Research Briefs

  • Short-form, rapid-response outputs that spotlight research interventions into pressing current events, offer quick summaries of new research findings, or promote a project you are working on or have recently published to a wider audience.
  • Tone is somewhere between op-eds and research papers that offer accessible overviews of the subject.
  • Length is 1,000–1,500 words.
  • Best option for timely topics, new publications, research breakthroughs, and responses to current events related to technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), online hate, radicalization, and digital equity.

In-Focus Reports

  • Longer-form research reports that translate scholarly data or findings for non-academic stakeholders and broader public use.
  • These allow you to present your research in a platform that can inform direct action by people working in policy, education, community organizations, and other sectors.
  • Length is typically 3,000–6,000 words (flexible; discuss with the editorial team).
  • Best option for completed and substantial research findings, policy-relevant analyses, and novel data analyses you want to circulate among community leaders, curriculum and policy advisors, and decision-makers.

Learning Modules

  • Teachable materials on specific topics that educators, community leaders, and caregivers can adopt and adapt for different non-academic contexts.
  • Format is structured in-depth guides that include lessons, definitions, quizzes, and reflection prompts. A shorter companion slide deck (which users can adapt for workshops and lectures) accompanies each module.
  • Length is flexible. We expect these to typically be 4,000–8,000 words for the guide plus a 15–30 slide companion deck.
  • Best option for topics where you have teaching or workshop expertise, that align with SIGNAL’s mission, and that are needed for public adoption and use.

Proposal instructions

Please email a document with the following information to signalnetwork@uwaterloo.ca:

  1. Contact information, including name, position/affiliation, and email, for all authors.
  2. Which series you are proposing to: Research Brief, In-Focus Report, or Learning Module.
  3. Working title.
  4. Abstract (250–300 words): describe the topic, your main argument or finding, and why it matters now.
  5. Additional notes on:
    • intended audience (e.g., educators, policy makers, community organizers, general public);
    • how the piece fits SIGNAL’s mandate and one or more of our three pillars (Intersectional Gender-Justice, Networked Action, Liberation);
    • anticipated timeline for a complete draft.
  6. Short bio (50–100 words) for each author.

Review process

All proposals undergo peer review by members of the SIGNAL Advisory Board. Proposals are assessed on three core criteria:

  1. Scholarly rigour: the piece is accurate, well-grounded in research, and evidence-based.
  2. Accessibility to public audiences: the writing and format are clear, engaging, and usable by non-academic readers.
  3. Fit with the SIGNAL mandate: the contribution advances SIGNAL’s mission to examine and counter TFGBV, online radicalization, and systemic digital inequity through intersectional feminist, queer, anti-racist, and equity-driven approaches.

You can expect an initial response on your proposal within approximately 1–2 weeks. Accepted proposals receive editorial guidance, a target submission date for the full draft, and light developmental editing before publication. Full drafts of accepted pieces also go through a review pass before formatting and release on the SIGNAL website.

Questions can be sent to us at signalnetwork@uwaterloo.ca.

Shana, Bri, Nick, and Jada on behalf of the Advisory Board