Evaluation Rubric
Illustrated below is the evaluation rubric C&C reviewers and editors will use to review submissions.
Contribution to Existing Knowledge
- Does the author clearly explain what makes the topic important?
- Has the author omitted any relevant and important topics?
- Does the author dedicate space to unnecessary topics or inappropriate sources?
- Are concepts accurately tied to their sources?
- Does the review synthesize, rather than summarize, findings of the literature?
- Does the review identify weaknesses with existing research?
Theoretical Richness
- Are the author’s hypotheses and theory clear?
- Does the author identify all variables of interest and exclude trivial variables?
- Does the hypothesis address issues identified in the literature review?
- Is the argument original, insightful, plausible, and ambitious?
- Are models described in a thorough but easily understandable way?
Methodological Strength
- Is the method of analysis appropriate for the data?
- Are variables operationalized in a reliable, valid, and justifiable manner?
- Are cases and samples selected with a sound and sufficiently described method?
- Is evidence from reliable sources?
- Does the author identify and defend assumptions behind the analysis?
- Is supporting evidence specific enough to exclude rival hypotheses?
Soundness of Conclusions
- Does the author’s evidence support the conclusion?
- Has the author convincingly addressed weaknesses and alternative explanations?
- Do conclusions extrapolate beyond the data to suggest more general patterns?
- Does the author identify avenues for further research?
Organization and Readability
- Are the author’s thoughts well written and easy to understand?
- Does the paper contain the standard sections of an academic article (abstract, introduction, literature review, study design, analysis, and conclusions)?
- Does the introduction accurately explain the argument and structure of the paper?
- Does the conclusion summarize and discuss the argument and findings?
- Are there any sections that are too long or too short?
Technical Requirements
- Does the paper follow the Chicago Manual of Style using parenthetical citations?
- Does the paper follow Clocks and Clouds submission guidelines?
- Are there any spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors?