Aims and Scope

High Road Policy (HRP) is a product of the ILR Buffalo Co-Lab’s Good DEEDS initiative. Good DEEDS, or Data for Equitable Economic Development and Sustainability, aims to function as a public data repository and, through the HRP blog and quarterly issue memorandum, a public policy forum. Through these interconnected channels, Good DEEDS seeks to:

• democratize geographic, economic, environmental, and social data and provide training on how to use that data;
• generate a set of shared metrics for monitoring change over time;
• conduct original surveys to shed new light on regional workforce, civil society, economic and ecological health, and quality of life; and
• produce original research, memoranda, and reports to advance a High Road policy agenda.

The overarching mission of Good DEEDS is to provide an empirical basis for ensuring that development and community change in and beyond Upstate New York follows the High Road to shared prosperity for all residents, from the present to all future generations.

Submission Guidelines

High Road Policy (HRP) welcomes unsolicited submissions from prospective contributors on policies, proposals, campaigns, governance arrangements, and other practical strategies for advancing a more democratic economy rooted in values of shared prosperity, environmental sustainability, and participatory democracy. Contributions should be no more than 6,000 words including all references, end notes, tables, and figures, though longer submissions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All submissions should be action-oriented and have clear implications for effecting High Road social and community change. Arguments must be persuasive and supported by some combination of empirical evidence, scholarly knowledge, lessons learned from practice, or related material.

Initial submissions should be sent via email, in Microsoft Word format using end notes (not footnotes) for references and supplementary statements, to rcweaver@cornell.edu. References may be formatted using any popular style guide (APA, Chicago, etc.), so long as the style remains consistent throughout the document. For submissions that contain images and/or tables, authors should integrate these materials directly into their submission documents where they are intended to appear. Upon acceptance, high resolution versions of images may be requested.

To discuss a potential contribution and its suitability for HRP prior to submitting, email rcweaver@cornell.edu with the subject line “High Road Policy pitch”.

All submissions will be reviewed by the HRP editor and at least one subject matter expert. This process may take up to four weeks to reach an initial decision. Only submissions that meet HRP’s standards of quality and are consistent with its Aims and Scope will be pursued for publication. Submissions dealing with communities and regions in Upstate New York will receive special consideration.