---
name: crim-submission
description: Use when running the final pre-submission preflight for Criminology (ASC / Wiley) via the official online submission link — anonymized main document plus separate title page, APA-based formatting, bias-free language, double-anonymized review, single-submission commitment, Wiley ACT ORCID/OA/preprint fields, and live length/abstract caps. Final checks; it does not draft content.
---

# Submission Preflight (crim-submission)

The last check before pressing submit through the official ASC/Wiley online submission link.
*Criminology* uses **double-anonymized** review, so the most common avoidable failure is an
under-anonymized main document. Verify length/abstract caps and portal prompts on the live official page.

## When to trigger

- "Submitting tomorrow" — last pass before upload
- Unsure which files/metadata the official online submission system expects
- Confirming the manuscript is anonymized and formatted to the journal's APA-based style

## Process facts (verify volatile items on the official page)

- **Owner / publisher:** American Society of Criminology (ASC) / Wiley.
- **Portal:** use the official online submission link exposed by the ASC/Wiley journal pages at upload.
- **Review model / files:** **double anonymized**; prepare a separate **title page** and **anonymized
  main document**.
- **Style:** **a form of APA**; fall back to **APA (6th ed.)** for anything unspecified; author-date,
  alphabetical reference list; everything **double-spaced**.
- **Author bio:** a short biography (**< 100 words**) per author on the title page.
- **Language:** **APA bias-free, person-first** language for justice-involved populations.
- **Exclusivity:** **one journal at a time** — simultaneous submission is not allowed.
- **Length / abstract caps:** no numeric cap is encoded here; confirm on the live author-guidelines page.
- **ORCID:** Wiley ACT lists ORCID as **Encouraged** for *Criminology*.
- **Fees / OA:** Wiley ACT lists **Hybrid Open Access** and an optional **APC of $3,750**; do not treat
  that APC as a submission fee.
- **Preprints:** Wiley ACT lists *Criminology* as **Does Not Accept Preprints**.

## Preflight checklist

### Files & length
- [ ] Separate **title page** (authors, affiliations, < 100-word bios) prepared as its own file
- [ ] **Anonymized main document** uploaded separately
- [ ] Length/abstract within the journal's current live cap

### Anonymity (blinded workflow)
- [ ] No author names, affiliations, or acknowledgments in the main document
- [ ] No obvious self-references ("as we showed in…"); self-citations neutralized
- [ ] Identifying **file metadata stripped** (document properties, comments)
- [ ] Restricted-data acknowledgments/grant numbers kept off the main document

### Format & language
- [ ] APA-based style; consistent author-date citations; double-spaced throughout
- [ ] **Bias-free, person-first** language for offenders, victims, justice-involved people
- [ ] Figures/tables/maps self-contained and accessible (see `crim-tables-figures`)
- [ ] Corresponding-author **ORCID** ready (encouraged by Wiley ACT)

### Compliance & files
- [ ] Ethics / IRB / human-subjects + data-use agreements in order
- [ ] **Single-submission** commitment honored (not under review elsewhere)
- [ ] Data-availability statement + reproducibility package staged (see `crim-data-and-transparency`)

## Anti-patterns

- Author identifiers left in the main document, acknowledgments, or file metadata (breaks anonymity)
- Mixing citation styles or single-spacing the manuscript
- Stigmatizing labels instead of person-first language
- Submitting while the paper is under review at another journal (prohibited)
- Sending a policy-evaluation paper here instead of *Criminology & Public Policy*

## Anonymity failure modes that trip the desk (Criminology specifics)

Because *Criminology* runs a blinded workflow, the most common avoidable bounce-back at the ASC/Wiley
desk is a main document that quietly de-anonymizes the author. Crime research has its own leak channels.
Scan for each before upload.

| Leak channel | Criminology-specific example | Fix before submit |
|--------------|------------------------------|-------------------|
| Self-citation phrasing | "as we found in our Philadelphia cohort study" | neutralize to third person, cite plainly |
| Restricted-data acknowledgment | named NACJD enclave grant or agency MOU in text | move to title page / cover note |
| Named field site | the specific police department in a hot-spot trial | generalize ("a large U.S. municipal agency") |
| File metadata | author name in the .docx properties or track-changes | strip document properties and comments |
| Cohort/IRB protocol number | tying the sample to one identifiable PI | remove from main document |

## Worked vignette: a one-page preflight (illustrative)

A team uploading a recidivism survival study splits the file into a title page (authors, affiliations,
three < 100-word bios) and an anonymized main document; confirms double-spacing across the 6 tables and
references; converts "felons" to "people with a prior conviction"; strips the agency name from methods;
and stages the NACJD access note off the main document. They leave the numeric length check open until
the current cap is read from the live page.

## Referee/editor-desk pushback at submission (the Criminology fix)

- *"Anonymity is broken in section 3."* Fix: third-person self-reference; identifying details to the cover note.
- *"Citation style is inconsistent."* Fix: one APA-based style end to end via a reference manager.
- *"Stigmatizing labels throughout."* Fix: APA bias-free, person-first language for justice-involved people.

## Output format

```
【Files】title page + anonymized main document both prepared? [Y/N]
【Anonymized】text + self-refs + file metadata clean? [Y/N]
【Length/abstract within live cap】[Y/N]
【APA-based style + double-spaced】[Y/N]
【Bias-free / person-first language】[Y/N]
【Single submission + ethics/DUA】[Y/N]
【Data + transparency staged】[Y/N]
【Next】await decision → crim-rebuttal on R&R
```

## Supplementary resources

- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — reference managers, anonymization, repro tooling
- [`../../resources/official-source-map.md`](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — ASC/Wiley portal route, APA-based style, double-anonymized review, ACT OA/ORCID/preprint fields