About the Journal

ENQ (Enquiry), an open access journal for architectural research, is an online journal (ISSN 2329-9339) published by the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) as a resource for research in architecture and to support the continued development of research culture in the discipline. The journal is double blind peer reviewed and invites submissions on a wide variety of topics addressing architectural knowledge including aspects of urban design, interior design, planning and landscape architecture.

ENQ is indexed by the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, Worldcat, OAIster, and Google Scholar; a member of the Open Archive Initiative (OAI), archived by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ); and is a publisher member of CrossRef for stable DOI management, ensuring maximum exposure of our authors.

Potential authors need to register at the Journal's website in order to submit an article for consideration. The Journal is focused on research questions within the domain of architectural knowledge. ENQ does not have an ideological agenda instead focuses on depth and quality of research associated with architectural domains of knowledge. This means all articles will need to have a clear research structure including strong and defensible positions, scope of the territory being addressed, clear methods and evidence of significance to adding to our current knowledge.

Journal History

ENQ is an e-journal initiated in 2004 by the Board of ARCC as a source for information on research in architecture. The original journal, developed by the executive editor Brooke Harrington, ran from 2004 to 2010. In 2012, the Board of the ARCC redeveloped the journal to move from print to digital publication using the OJS platform. The journal is double blind peer reviewed that invites submissions on a wide variety of topics in architecture, urban design, interior design, planning and landscape architecture.

Focus and Scope

Founded in 2004, Enquiry (ENQ) has grown from an ARCC member publication to an open access on-line peer-reviewed journal to disseminate scholarship activities by the disciplines of architecture, urbanism, interior design, and landscape architecture.

ENQ publishes all topics related to the built environment but limits its publication interests to research modalities. As such, the journal's focus and scope is aligned with the dissemination of research outcomes focused around primary and secondary source material, quantitative data or qualitative observations. ENQ does not publish opinion pieces or expository essays regardless of their focus or content.

Research articles may be:

Analytical: This style of research paper uses primary and secondary sources (primarily literature review or archives) to explore a topic, correlate past research and propose a conclusion. The voice is neutral. The structure usually starts with a question and then presents background material, analysis, discussion and conclusion.

Argumentative: A research paper that immediately states a position and then builds a case to defend that point of view through findings, facts, statistical data, past publications and literature. It is important in this style of article to present alternative points of view while building an argument. The structure usually starts with a thesis statement then defends that statement through literature/data presentation, analysis, discussion and conclusion.

Definition: A definition article is a state-of-the-art or literature review article that does not provide analysis or discussion. The point of this style of article is to provide an annotated summary of current research for the use of other researchers. The structure is usually an expanded literature review.

Compare/Contrast: An article that analyzes two different aspects of architectural knowledge, whether built or theoretical. The structure usually introduces both aspects in detail, a comparison, analysis of similarities and differences then and discussion. Sometimes this is blended with an argumentative style where one aspect is supported over the other.

Cause/Effect: These research articles are interested in the ‘who’, ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ related to effects and causes. The intention is to examine things that happen, whether the shift in architectural styles, changes in typology, or effects on climate based on changes in the built environment. Cause and effect articles are often used in historical research and focus on the tracing of events from their results to their sources or from sources to outcomes.The structure is a general introduction to the topic, a thesis that identifies either the main cause, main effect, or various causes and effects of a condition or event and then either presenting the cause followed by the effects or present the effect and then explore the causes.

Interpretative/Case Study: An article that explores an existing project or situation to further understanding of that instance through a theoretical framework and abstraction techniques. This style of research paper is not a ‘book report’ that simply describes the thing but looks to underlying causes, structures and transferable types of knowledge. The structure of the article is aligned with the theoretical framework used to analyze the case study but usually starts with a description of the case study focus, analysis method, data presentation and summary.

Experimental: A research paper that presents an experiment in order to explain its purpose, setup, outcomes and significance. Experimental research papers are structured around a question or reason for the experiment, its methodology, deployment, data collection, analysis, discussion and conclusion. The focus of the discussion and conclusion should be converting specific and situated information for use by other researchers.