Invitation to Submit (Little Black Book Series)

The Universal Write Publications (UWP) Little Black Book Series

The Little Black Book Series: Research Methodologies, Theory, and Praxis is a collection of compact, authoritative volumes that advance methodological practice and discourse in Africana Studies and the broader social sciences. The series centers research approaches that critically engage the historical, cultural, and structural realities of people of African descent, situating methodology as both an intellectual framework and a liberatory practice.

Each volume offers a focused examination of qualitative, quantitative, historiographic, statistical/empirical, or mixed-method approaches, with attention to theoretical foundations, assumptions, and stages of application. Emphasis is placed on academic rigor, replicable processes, and methodological reflexivity, ensuring the texts uphold scholarly standards while addressing the epistemological imperatives of Africana intellectual traditions.

The series demonstrates how research design shapes scope, outcomes, and ethics, and provides both theoretical grounding and practical examples. In doing so, it illustrates how methodological innovation strengthens scholarship and serves African/Black communities while contributing to global debates in the social sciences.

These Volumes Must:

• describe a theory, paradigm, data collection method (quantitative/qualitative) or framework designed to systematically guide and explain research about the realities of African/Black people;
• operationally define a particular method or methodology and its key assumptions, suppositions, or propositions;
• express clearly and step-by-step how the method or methodology is applied in research processes and how it may be used alongside qualitative, quantitative, historical, and other data-collection methods; and
• establish how the method or methodology may be used to produce knowledge or understanding that has the potential to advance communities of people of African descent.
• Are congruent with the Black/African/Africana Studies mission of producing culturally grounded, socially relevant, scholarship oriented toward the advancement of communities of people of African descent

UWP invites book manuscripts that take a how-to approach to describing, explaining, and illustrating data collection methods or frameworks of analysis for understanding and enhancing the realities of African/Black people. They should explain how a method or methodology is applied throughout the research process, which may also include institutional and/or community implementation(s). The books should be written so that a researcher can clearly follow them. The works provide examples of how methods or frameworks are applied in the research process and their utility in empowering communities of African descent.

Edited by Dr. Serie McDougal, III, author of Research Methods in African Studies, the series will include volumes written by Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, Dr. Maulana Karenga, Dr. James Stewart, and others.

Collectively, these volumes expand the canon of methodological literature to include frameworks too often overlooked in mainstream academia. They are at once instructional, theoretical, and practice-oriented—constituting a rigorous resource for scholars, instructors, and researchers committed to producing knowledge that is academically robust and socially transformative.

Serie McDougal, III PhD
Professor in the Department of Pan African Studies
California State University, Los Angeles
Email smcdoug@calstatela.com