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Submission Guidelines

Aim and Scope

Counter-Insider Threat Research and Practice (CITRAP) is an online, unclassified, peer-reviewed journal aimed at professionals across both research and operational communities who seek to address the insider threat risk—the risk that a person who is trusted by an organization will intentionally or unintentionally act in a way that harms others, the organization, or its assets. It is published annually by The Threat Lab, in partnership with National Insider Threat Task Force (NITTF) and the Department of Defense’s Counter-Insider Threat Program.

CITRAP focuses on ways to leverage social and behavioral science research to prevent, detect, deter, and mitigate malicious and accidental insider threat incidents. The social and behavioral sciences are well-suited to contribute to this emergent counter-insider threat mission space because of its comprehensive approach to understanding human behavior at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels.

The journal’s mission is to: (a) champion the relevance and importance of multi-disciplinary SBS research to the mission space; (b) communicate practical and theoretical advances concerning insider threat; and (c) improve the translation of SBS insider threat research into evidence-based practice.

For questions about the Submission Guidelines, please contact the Editor-in-Chief HERE.


Article Types

CITRAP publishes two main types of articles—Original Research papers and Scholarship in Practice. Authors must specify the type of article in the abstract upon submission. Table 1 below describes the focus of each article type as well as general questions that may be addressed, depending on if the content is practitioner-oriented, conceptual/theoretical, empirical, or some combination thereof.

In addition to the two major types of papers, CITRAP may occasionally publish papers that offer perspectives designed to encourage debate and discussion among the journal’s readers. These submissions, known as Perspectives, will typically be invited papers—accessible to a broad audience—that identify a critical counter-insider threat problem or a new approach to its resolution. Perspectives may contextualize findings within a field, add a new dimension to previously published research, or discuss current advances and novel insights. Authors interested in a Perspectives submission should email the Editor-in-Chief for approval of the paper topic prior to submission.

Table 1. Example Questions a Submission May Address

Focus Example Questions Sample Article Type
Practitioner-Oriented Focus Following an insider threat incident, what were the lessons learned from a SBS perspective: How would you prevent a similar situation in the future? Scholarship in Practice
What SBS problems does the insider threat program or intervention attempt to address, and does it appear to be successful? Scholarship in Practice
How is this counter-insider threat topic relevant to international or cross-sector practice? Scholarship in Practice
Conceptual/Theoretical Focus What are the implications of a theoretical model incorporating SBS constructs for future practice, policy, and insider threat theory? Original Research
How does this idea, approach, or model exploit SBS research and complement or conflict with existing insider threat research? Original Research
How does this idea, approach, or model complement or conflict with those in alternative disciplines? Original Research
Which theories or models guide our understanding of insider threat incidents and how? Review Article, Original Research
How does this idea, approach, or model apply to audiences across sectors and countries? How might cultural differences impact the efficacy of this approach? Original Research
Empirical Focus Which new SBS-based data sources and methods have been applied to prevent, detect, and mitigate insider threat incidents and what challenges were faced in their implementation? Original Research, Scholarship in Practice
What performance metrics are appropriate to evaluate a Counter-Insider Threat Program? How should these metrics be implemented and presented? Original Research

Submission Requirements

Submissions to the journal must meet all ethical standards, guidelines, and publication standards set forth in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (2020), submitted in English, Times New Roman 12-point font.
By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm the following:

  • The material is original, not plagiarized, and has not been submitted or published anywhere, in part or in full. Publication of text from previous works of limited circulation (e.g., doctoral dissertation, conference presentations) is permissible if properly noted in the acknowledgments.
  • The authors mentioned in the manuscript have agreed on authorship, have read and approved the manuscript, and have given consent for submission and subsequent publication of the manuscript.
  • The material has cleared any necessary prepublication security and policy reviews.

In addition to the manuscript, authors must upload the following three documents (which will not be provided to peer reviewers):

  1. A cover letter including the author(s’) affiliation and contact information, proposed artile type, and a brief explanation concerning why the submission is appropriate for CITRAP.
  2. A brief (no more than 200-word) biographical sketch of each contributing author. Note that reviews are double blind—these biographical sketches will not be used in any part of the review process. However, if a paper is accepted for publication, the biographical sketches will be provided to readers in conjunction with the published paper.
  3. Acknowledgments recognizing any significant contributions by non-authors, providing information regarding grants or other funding sources, and any relevant Institutional Review Board information as appropriate. Any association that poses or could be reasonably perceived as posing a financial or personal competing interest in connection with the manuscript should also be disclosed.

Review the Submission Checklist before submitting an article.


Style Guidelines

CITRAP is read by a diverse, global counter-insider threat community of practice including practitioners who will benefit from evidence-based best practices and academics who provide an audience for cutting-edge research. Please give careful thought to communicating your findings as clearly as possible.

Although you can assume a shared basic knowledge, please do not expect that everyone will be familiar with the specialist language or concepts of this field. Therefore:

  • Avoid overuse of technical jargon, explaining it clearly when it is unavoidable.
  • Keep abbreviations to a minimum, particularly when they are not standard.
  • If you must use an abbreviation, make sure you spell it out fully in the text or legend the first time it appears.
  • Clearly explain the background, rationale, and main conclusions of your study.
  • Use active voice and write in a clear, concise manner.

Article Guidelines

Original Research Papers
Original Research includes reports of original empirical research, scholarly integrations of previous research, or other original studies that address theories, models, or approaches to insider threat mitigation. Submissions on a range of topics—including foundations, methodologies, technology development, policies and program management, and system evaluation approaches in mitigating insider threats—are encouraged.

No specific word count limit is prescribed; however, all manuscripts should be written as concisely as possible and all Original Research articles will include the following sections:

  • Title Page: Your manuscript text file should start with a title page, but please do not include author names, affiliations, contact information, or any other information that would violate the double-blind review policy.
  • Abstract: The Abstract serves both as a general introduction to the topic and as a brief, non-technical summary of the specific purpose of the work, its main results, and their implications. Please do not include any references in your Abstract. The type of paper (“Original Research”) should be included in the abstract.
  • Main Body: We recommend that each section includes an introduction that expands on the background of the work. Some overlap with the Abstract is acceptable. The following structure will be suitable in many cases:
    • Introduction: Including background, purpose of the research, and brief description of the contributions of the work (more details on contributions would be described in the Discussion or Conclusion).
    • Methods: Description of procedures, study participants, and methods in sufficient detail to inform possible future replication studies.
    • Results: Concise, organized presentation of analysis, test results, or other findings; where appropriate, effect size estimates should be reported with significance levels of statistical tests.
    • Limitations: Describe aspects of the study methods, design, data analysis, or scope that may limit the findings, interpretation, or generality of the results.
    • Discussion: Discussion and interpretation of the findings, conclusions, and contributions of the research. All Original Research papers should address “Practical Applications” to convey key takeaways for readers and clearly state why a counter-insider threat professional or program should (a) care about the substantive or methodological topic covered in the submission and (b) the actions an insider threat program can take as recommended by the article’s research findings. In most papers, the Practical Applications section will be included as a subheading in the Discussion section.
    • Future research: Brief description of possible follow-on research to address possible limitations of the study or new questions or research directions that are suggested by the findings.
  • References: Please use APA style to cite references.
  • Figures: Please use APA style.
  • Tables: Please use APA style.

Scholarship in Practice
Scholarship in Practice submissions have a practitioner-focus and may describe new research avenues or compelling advances in the field with immediate impact to counter-insider threat research or practice. Compared to Original Research papers, these papers may discuss timely “works in progress” and are more closely linked to current events than Original Research papers. They may, for example, present a small amount of data on a theory that informs counter-insider threat practice, but would not be a sufficient contribution for an Original Research paper. Papers presenting new data collection or measurement methods that may be of interest to the counter-insider threat community will also be considered. Submissions should include a title page (excluding identifiers) with a main body organized under the following five headings:

  • Counter-Insider Threat Program: Describe the goals and objectives of the program, intervention, or initiative.
  • The Four W’s: Provide the who, what, when, and where of the program, intervention, or initiative—such as geographic location, years implemented, and applicable population—to the extent possible within security or privacy constraints.
  • Implementation: Describe how the program, intervention, or initiative was implemented and evidence gathered regarding program evaluation.
  • Lessons Learned: Describe the lessons learned from implementation of the program, intervention, or initiative, both positive and negative. Did the program, intervention, or initiative work as intended based on the program goals or objectives? Did the program, intervention, or initiative result in any adverse or other unintended consequences?
  • Counter-Insider Threat Significance: Describe the importance of the program for the broader counter-insider threat community.
    Submissions should include an abstract (including the type of paper, “Scholarship in Practice”) and a main body. No specific word count limit is prescribed for Scholarship in Practice articles; however, all manuscripts should be written as concisely as possible. These submissions emphasize the practice of counter-insider threat. Formatting for citations, references, figures, and tables should follow APA Style.

Perspectives
Perspectives submissions may vary in narrative style. They will include a title page and should be no more than 2,500 words in length, with no more than five references and no supporting material (e.g., tables, figures). Perspectives submissions will not be considered without prior written approval from the CITRAP Editors.


Review Submission Checklist