submission of a pre-contribution: instructions, recommendations, and evaluation criteria

Submitting a pre-contribution is the first step in the .able publication process. This submission is reviewed internally by our editorial team to ensure alignment with our editorial positioning and to verify that it meets the expectations outlined in our submission form and further detailed below.

Once this initial review is completed and the pre-contribution is accepted, we will follow up with you to help shape your project into a contribution ready for peer review (see the description of the publishing process).

Given the large number of pre-contributions we receive, and to make the best use of your time and ours, we strongly encourage you to read and follow the recommendations below. Familiarity with these criteria should allow you to anticipate them and better prepare both your preliminary (pre-contribution) and final (contribution) proposals. This will help accelerate the review process and reduce the likelihood of being asked to revise or supplement your submission.

To recap, the pre-contribution submission form is available online via this link.

1. why these constraints—and therefore these recommendations?

Without well-defined formats, each project would require a tailor-made development effort, including adaptations for various use cases and platforms. Additionally, we would need to devise equally specific solutions for exporting these projects to social media platforms or to PDF. This would be far too time-consuming. A case-by-case approach would undermine the sustainability of our journal. Our team must remain available to support the increasing volume of submissions and ensure their publication under the best possible conditions.

The formats we use—refined through extensive design and experimentation—should be understood as productive constraints you are invited to creatively engage with.

2. why propose a multidisciplinary visual essay?

.able is a journal that publishes visual essays rooted in creative practices (art and/or design) that intersect with research across other academic disciplines (natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, engineering, medical sciences, etc.).

Your pre-contribution should:

• clearly explain how your project combines “research and creation,” highlighting both artistic and scientific dimensions;

• justify the relevance of using a visual essay—what does the visual approach enable that the written word alone could not achieve?;

• accordingly, describe the types of visuals and the general visual approach you intend to use (this is required in the “Project Presentation” section of the submission form).
Please note: You will be asked to further elaborate on your visual approach following the recommendations below. These details can be entered in the final field of the form: “More information on your visual approach.”

3. how to choose and justify the right format?

understanding the distributed nature of the platform

.able is a journal that publishes visual essays in five multiplatform formats (scroll.able, pan.able, zoom.able, story.able, and video.able). “Multiplatform” refers both to the range of material devices (computer, tablet, smartphone, large screen, print) and to the diversity of publication environments (web, social media—Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn—, HAL, PDF). Our electronic formats use a responsive design system, allowing essays to adapt seamlessly to different devices. For social media, we’ve developed specific visual and interactive principles to make the most of these platforms’ constraints.

Example : On Instagram, a carousel post (a horizontal sequence of images) can partially replicate a pan.able format, creating a continuous horizontal strip.

choosing and justifying your format

Your pre-contribution should already identify the most suitable format among the five. We encourage you to study the distinctive characteristics and functionalities of each format, as described in the “Contribute” section of our website. Because these formats adapt to their medium, it is essential to consider how they function in various contexts.

Explore the five available formats via the “Contribute” page, and consult published essays on the “Watch” page.

You’ll need to justify your choice of format, especially in terms of how it aligns with your research topic, the types of visuals selected, and the overall narrative you aim to construct.

Examples:

A pan.able may depict a landscape or unfold a timeline. It can begin from the left, right, center—or any point, as desired.

A scroll.able may represent ascent or descent, depending on whether it starts at the top or bottom, or even midstream.

A zoom.able can be used like an atlas or as a zooming tool, like a microscope. Unlike linear formats, it invites spatial navigation, which significantly complicates design. Avoid monochrome backgrounds (black, white, etc.), as they can disorient users. You can build a zoom.able as large as needed; we provide a dedicated server.

A story.able might break down an action or present a visual database. It uniquely allows captions, unlike the other formats.

For video.able, although the format may feel more familiar, we value experimental, deliberate, and well-argued approaches. Video is the only format on .able that supports sound. Consider approaches from visual anthropology, visual studies, or experimental audiovisual research—fictional or otherwise—to create original forms aligned with your topic.

editing tool and layers production

For scroll.able, pan.able, and zoom.able formats, you can implement one to three visual layers and fine-tune how they interact. Indicate how many layers you plan to use and how they will interact within your selected format.

For the first four formats (scroll.able, pan.able, zoom.able, story.able), an intuitive online editing tool is made available once your project has passed peer review. If needed, the .able team will provide support during this implementation phase.

4. why should your proposal be both aesthetic and reflective?

.able publishes visual essays, but we also strive to publish beautiful visual essays. We believe that aesthetic quality, in harmony with content, fosters both engagement and insight.

That said, these contributions should never serve merely as promotional showcases. They must function as essays—tools for thought. Just as we value the convergence of art/design and science, we expect submissions to interweave aesthetic and reflective dimensions in equal measure. Essays should draw in readers while prompting critical reflection.

5. why involving a graphic designer might be an excellent idea?

While the artists involved in a project may be well-positioned to bring together conceptual and formal approaches, they may not always be experienced in graphic design practices involving typography, schematic or cartographic visualizations, or interactive systems. We strongly recommend involving a graphic and/or interaction designer for the conception and production of the visual essay. Designers will be duly credited in the publication.

6. why aim for the clearest and most readable style for a non-expert audience?

Our visual essays must meet academic standards and engage with the professional art and/or design world. But they must also be accessible to a non-expert audience. One of .able’s ambitions is to reach this diverse readership.

Because our visual formats are already quite “disruptive,” we prioritize clarity and accessibility in the short texts that accompany them. This readability is especially crucial since these texts usually appear after going through the visual experience, offering clarification in response to the images’ inherent polysemy.

We recommend using a simple, explicit writing style, with a clear and structured format characteristic of research writing, such as: Context and positioning, Research question, Methods and experimental description, Results, Discussion, Future research directions or open questions

Inclusive writing, when applicable, is encouraged.

7. why keep the accompanying text short and only available after going through the visual experience?

The final published text must be no longer than 3,000 characters initially, and 4,000 characters after peer review (with the extra 1,000 reserved solely for responding to reviewer comments). This limitation ensures that .able remains a platform for visual essays structured not by the conventional “text/image” relationship, but by an “image/text” logic.

8. what are the peer review criteria?

To help you structure your pre-contribution and anticipate the reviewers’ expectations, here are the key evaluation criteria provided to our reviewers:

• the research project’s overall relevance
Is the research focus clear? Is the multidisciplinary approach identified and relevant? Is the research project relevant compared to existing research? Does the research project reflect on contemporary issues such as social, environmental, political, etc.?

• the project team’s overall composition and multidisciplinary complementarity
Is the project team relevant and balanced in terms of composition and multidisciplinarity? Are the means, background, and skills of the project team relevant for the research focus?

• interest level of the image-based publication project proposal for .able Journal
Is the image-based project proposal of interest for the journal and its focus? Is the visual multidisciplinary approach of the research focus explicit, original and consistent? Can it bring renewed and/or original understanding of an issue through visuals?

• relevance of an image-based project and of the chosen .able format
Do you consider the use of images justified in the proposal ? Could the image-based article, as a whole, demonstrate a reflexive process in its use of images? Do the images take center stage in the article? Does the text justify the use of images in a relevant way? Is the choice of layout format (pan.able, scroll.able, etc.) justified and relevant (whether explicitly or implicitly)?

• meaning and reflexivity of the images
Does the content of the images material that will be used for the article make sense? Is the reflexive potential of the images strong enough? Are the selected images relevant to the article’s research focus? Could they in themselves present the project? Could  they enable an original or more comprehensible understanding of the subject and/or of a contemporary issue?

• aesthetics and quality of the image-based contribution
Are the selected material chosen visually interesting for .able? Could  the images be of sufficient quality to be published online, in print, and on social networks? Is the overall aesthetics of the project interesting, relevant, and/or original?

9. additional notes: languages, rights, production, etc.

regarding the language of publication
.able publishes all visual essays in the journal’s three official languages: Spanish, French, and English. You must choose one of these as the original language of your contribution. You may therefore submit your article in the language of your choice. Our editorial team will be able to conduct the entire editorial process in that chosen language. We will handle the translation of your essay into the other two languages. Each version of the essay will have its own DOI, allowing for independent referencing, though the original language of the essay will always be indicated.

regarding rights
Once a contribution is accepted following peer review, you will be offered a non-exclusive rights agreement. This means you retain all rights to your work, but you authorize us to publish your visual essay and to promote it. It also means you must ensure you hold all necessary rights to the content you intend to publish. We encourage you to verify this point carefully—this is often resolved either because you are the creator of the images used, or because the images are in the public domain or you hold the necessary usage rights.

regarding the production of your contribution
If your project is accepted following peer review, you will be responsible for producing your visual essay by your own means. However, you will have access to our dedicated editing interfaces and can receive guidance from our team if technical support is needed.

10. summary of information required for pre-contribution submission

The list below summarizes the key elements required when submitting a pre-contribution (see online submission form for full details):

• title (with subtitle, if needed)
• author(s) / project team (including affiliated institutions or relevant context, and ORCID iD if applicable)
• primary contact for the contribution
• submitting author(s) (with affiliated institutions or relevant context, if different from the project team above)
• several images with captions and credits (these should reflect the overall aesthetic of your proposed contribution)
• a short project description, including the research question, the multidisciplinary methodology, and the visual approach/intention (max. 3,000 characters)
• detailed explanation of your visual approach: Why choose a visual essay? What types of visuals will be used (photographs, illustrations, diagrams, etc.) and why? Justify your choice of .able format and explain how you plan to deploy it (see recommendations above)
• a list of keywords (approx. 10)
• pre-selection of one of the five .able formats: scroll.able, pan.able, zoom.able, story.able, video.able
• bibliography (in Chicago 17th edition style)
• information and/or references regarding visuals or any media content you intend to use (rights holders, production context, etc.)
• optional additional resources, files, or appendices