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For Authors

The Foundation Review is the first peer-reviewed journal of philanthropy that publishes articles reporting about the field of philanthropy, including reports by foundations on their own work. Anyone may submit an original article to be considered for publication in The Foundation Review provided they own the copyright to the work being submitted or are authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. Submissions must be in English. Please review the journal’s policies on rights for authors and the publisher, permissions, publication ethics and malpractice, and preservation.

General Guidance and Submission Requirements

In writing your manuscript, we encourage you to keep the following in mind:

  • The target audience for The Foundation Review is foundation staff, board members, and those who work with them to develop, operate, and evaluate social interventions or programs.
  • Manuscripts should emphasize the practical applications of the findings being described, related to both the content area and grantmaking strategies or tactics.
  • Manuscripts should include, as relevant, the rationale or theory of change behind the work being described (the theory behind the grantmaking strategy, as well as the theory behind the funded activity), the fit with the issue topic, and recommendations for funders and implementers.
  • We encourage you to consider joint authorship (consultant/foundation staff) where appropriate, in order to ensure multiple viewpoints.
  • Your manuscript (including abstract and references) should be 5,000 words or fewer; a book review should be 1,500 words or fewer.
  • Maximize the readability of your manuscript by using a clear writing style, including bullet points as appropriate, and consider including subheadings to help guide the reader through the article.
  • The Foundation Review Stylebook is provided as a source for uniform style, punctuation, and usage rules. Please use a single typeface throughout, including subheads, which should be flush left and boldface (no color); sub-subheads should be in italics.
  • Follow APA Style in-text citation guidelines to acknowledge how others contributed to your work. Include a list of references to provide information for readers to identify and retrieve each work cited in the text. Reference list entries should follow APA Style and include DOIs or URLs.
  • Please make every effort to use gender-fair language. This may require revising sentences. Refer to the National Council of Teachers of English Guidelines for Gender-Fair Use of Language and the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association Stylebook for guidelines.
  • When submitting, follow these file formatting guidelines:
    1. The main manuscript file (in Microsoft Word) blinded for review* should include:
      • four to eight keywords, the abstract, the main text double-spaced, and a reference list.
      • figure titles (immediately after reference list)
      • table titles (immediately after figure titles)
    2. Individual files for each figure at 300 dpi
    3. A separate file (Microsoft Word) with all tables
    4. A cover page with complete author information, including author order (first, second, etc.), degrees, positions, organizational affiliation, and brief (one- or two-sentence) biography for each author. Identify a contact author for further correspondence and provide email and mailing addresses for all authors.
  • *When you submit your article electronically, you will add author information separately. IMPORTANT NOTE: To maintain anonymous status when submitting in Microsoft Word, please go to “File > Properties”, then remove the name from the Author box.
  • Your article will be reviewed by two to three peers (blind review) prior to final acceptance. You will receive detailed feedback from the reviewers and the editor, either explaining why it was not accepted or giving guidance for your consideration in revising your manuscript, as applicable.
  • You may suggest names of potential knowledgeable reviewers. We do not guarantee that we will use those you suggest.
  • If accepted, your final manuscript will be professionally copyedited.
  • If your final manuscript is accepted, you will be asked to sign a statement giving the copyright to The Foundation Review/Grand Valley State University and affirming that you have the right to do so.

AI Usage Guidelines

Manuscript Preparation and Revisions

To provide transparency, The Foundation Review requires authors who choose to use AI to do so carefully and responsibly. Additionally, any AI usage, whether it is used for writing assistance or image/figure creation, is required to be disclosed at the end of the manuscript. Authors should disclose what AI tool was used, what it was used for, and to what extent the author provided oversight. Tools used for basic checks of grammar, punctuation, or spelling do not need to be disclosed unless the tool is used to make extensive changes to wording or sentence structure.

Authors do not need to list any AI tool as a co-author, nor should AI tools be listed as authors in the references section. If authors require the usage of AI tools or features for specialist disability-related assistive technology, that does not need to be disclosed. If AI tools are used during the research process, then that information should be included in the Methods section of the manuscript.

Usage of AI should be disclosed as follows:

Declaration of generative AI usage and use of AI-assisted technologies in the manuscript preparation process.

During the preparation of this work, the author(s) used [NAME OF TOOL / SERVICE/ VERSION] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the published article.

Creation of Figures and Images

To provide transparency, The Foundation Review requires authors who choose to use AI to do so carefully and responsibly. Additionally, any AI usage used to create any sort of image or figure being used in the manuscript is required to be disclosed at the end of the manuscript. The rules for disclosure follow the same format used in the ‘Manuscript Preparation’ section. Additionally, what AI tool was used and how should be included as a note underneath the image.

AI tools must not be used to generate figures that are not faithfully derived from reliable underlying data and methods used in the research. Additionally, AI tools must not be used to create or alter images that represent primary observed or experimental data that were not directly obtained in the research.

AI Usage without Disclosure

Failing to disclose AI usage or fabricating the extent to which an AI tool was used, is grounds for rejecting a manuscript from publication. In these instances, The Foundation Review team reserves the right to use AI-detection tools to investigate the claim. The incident will also be taken into consideration for any future journal submissions.

If a credible concern is raised that a previously published article in The Foundation Review contains an undisclosed and substantial portion written by AI, The Foundation Review team will notify the author(s) of the concern and request a response, and investigate the claim, which may include the use of AI detection tools. If the team determines the violation warrants it, the decision may be made to permanently remove the article. An AI disclosure section can retroactively be added to any article in The Foundation Review with or without the author’s permission.

Read the full AI Guidelines here.

Graphics, Tables, and Figures

  • Charts, graphs, photographs, or other illustrations that support key points are helpful. Note that we will need a signed release from the subject(s) in order to use photographs.
  • Figures and other illustrations (photos, etc.) should be submitted as a separate file, with a clear reference to each in the manuscript. List figure titles immediately after reference list.
  • Name figure files using the following format:
    1. AuthorLastName – Figure 1.pdf
    2. AuthorLastName – Figure 2.jpg
    3. AuthorLastName – Figure 3.ai
  • Tables should be submitted together in one separate file. Be sure to have a reference to each in the manuscript and list table titles after figure titles at the end of the file.
  • Name the table file using the following format:
    AuthorLastName – Table(s).doc
  • We publish in full color online and in print. Figure files must be sufficiently clear for both online color and print versions. Captions and text references must be appropriate for both versions.
  • Figures should be 300 dpi at the size they are to be printed or larger in CMYK color mode. Vector art is preferred. Images in .JPEG or .TIFF format must be CMYK, 300 dpi at 100% scale.
  • Graphics should not be created separately in one program and then placed into a new file in a different program. Please submit graphics in the format listed below that corresponds with the program used to create the original file:
    1. Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) (use Press setting under Job Option) *must be CMYK, 300 dpi at 100% scale
    2. Adobe Illustrator (.ai) *must include linked images and any fonts used for editable (non-outlined) text
    3. Adobe Photoshop (.psd) *must include any font files used for editable (non-rasterized) text
    4. Adobe InDesign (.indd or .idml) *must include linked images and fonts used for editable (nonoutlined) text
  • Figure and table files will be generally resized to one- or two-column width. If you have specific figure-sizing requirements, please include the details in your manuscript.