South African Crime Quarterly (SACQ) Now Accepting New Submissions

2026-10-15

South African Crime Quarterly (SACQ) Now Accepting New Submissions

The South African Crime Quarterly (SACQ), previously published by the Justice and Violence Prevention Programme at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), has entered an exciting new phase as it joins the College of Law, University of South Africa (Unisa) and will now be published by Unisa Press. SACQ remains committed to publishing high-quality, evidence-based research on crime, criminal justice, policing, incarceration, crime prevention, and criminal justice policy and legislation. Authors, researchers, and practitioners are invited to submit original manuscripts through the journal's new online submission platform: https://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/SACQ/index.

As a leading interdisciplinary journal, SACQ seeks to contribute balanced, objective, and empirically grounded perspectives on human security in Africa. The journal serves a diverse readership that includes policymakers, practitioners, researchers, academics, and students.

Call for Papers

The Editorial Team is pleased to announce that SACQ is now accepting new manuscript submissions.

We invite original contributions that advance knowledge and understanding in areas including, but not limited to:

  • Crime and victimisation
  • Criminal justice policy and reform
  • Policing and law enforcement
  • Prisons, incarceration, and corrections
  • Crime prevention and community safety
  • Human security in Africa
  • Criminal law and criminal procedure
  • Governance, justice, and public policy
  • Emerging crime trends and responses
  • Empirical, doctrinal, and interdisciplinary research

Authors are encouraged to submit original research articles, policy analyses, case studies, and other scholarly contributions relevant to the journal's scope.

Submissions can be made through the journal's online submission system. Authors should carefully review the submission requirements and author guidelines before submitting their manuscripts. Manuscripts must comply with the journal's formatting and bibliographic requirements.

Important Update: New Referencing and Citation Style

Authors should note that SACQ has adopted a hybrid house style to accommodate both legal and non-legal scholarship.

Key requirements include:

  • The Chicago Manual of Style (Author-Date system) must be used for in-text referencing.
  • Any law-specific references or explanatory notes must appear as footnotes, not endnotes.
  • Footnotes should generally not exceed 12 lines of text.
  • Law-specific references may include:
    • Case citations and precedents
    • References to legislation
    • Author commentary and legal elucidation
  • In footnotes, primary sources (such as legislation and case law) should take precedence over secondary sources (such as journal articles and books).
  • Where appropriate, reference lists should be divided into:
    • Published works (including official reports and unpublished theses)
    • Case citations
    • Legislation
      with appropriate sub-headings.

Submit Your Manuscript

Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working in crime, justice, law, and human security are warmly invited to contribute to the next chapter of SACQ's development at Unisa.

For full submission requirements and author guidelines, visit the SACQ submissions page: https://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/SACQ/about/submissions.

We look forward to receiving your submissions and to continuing SACQ's tradition of publishing rigorous, relevant, and impactful scholarship on crime and justice in Africa.