How publishing works in this field
Practice-as-research is recognised in many systems but handled inconsistently by journals. Some publish written reflection alongside documentation of the work; some take the documentation as the output with a short research statement; others only take conventional articles about practice rather than the practice itself. Establishing which kind a journal is, before submitting, saves a wasted cycle.
Image permissions do more to delay arts papers than peer review does. Reproduction rights for artworks, performance stills and archival material have to be cleared for the specific use — print, online, open access — and an open-access licence often requires broader permission than a subscription journal does. Start the clearances when you start the paper.
What slows papers down here
Documentation quality is assessed as part of the work. Low-resolution images, video without a stable link, or a performance described only in prose give reviewers nothing to judge. Journals state minimum resolutions and accepted formats; meeting them is not a formality here.
The research question is the other recurring gap. A piece of practice is not by itself a contribution to knowledge; the article has to say what was asked, what the practice revealed, and what another practitioner or scholar can take from it.
Worth reading next
Questions we are asked in this field
In several national assessment frameworks, yes, with a research statement setting out the question, the context and the contribution. Journals vary far more. Check whether the journal publishes practice-as-research or only writing about practice before you prepare the submission.
Almost always you. Publishers require written permission for third-party material and will hold production until it arrives. Open-access publication usually needs wider rights than subscription publication, so clear for the licence you intend to use.
Describe what a reader cannot see, not what they can. The prose carries the question, the method and the argument; the documentation carries the work. Captions do real work in arts articles and are worth drafting as carefully as the text.