3 Common Editorial Questions raised at IPSA 2016

Sarina Theys looks back at the meet the editors session at IPSA 2016 and discusses common questions about Politics and the editorial process.

Politics organised a Meet the Editors session during the 24th World Congress of the International Political Studies Association (IPSA) in July 2016 in Poznan, Poland. The aim of this session was to inform and guide potential authors who wish to publish in Politics. This blogpost elaborates on the key questions posed during the session which are grouped in three main themes: editorial procedures, turnaround time and article types including interdisciplinary work.

1. Editorial Procedures

The submission of a paper to Politics is the start of a journey that can lead to two different destinations: an acceptance or a rejection. However, before a paper reaches its end destination, many steps need to be taken. These steps are monitored by the Editorial Assistant and are explained in a blogpost published earlier on our website. There are, however, 5 main steps through which an article travels.

2. Turnaround Time

The turnaround time of an initial decision varies from one journal to another. At Politics, we provide an initial decision normally within 8–10 weeks, which is considerably faster than other journals in the discipline. In addition to the fast turnaround time, we provide detailed feedback on all decisions which helps the author to further develop and strengthen his/her article.

3. Article Types Including Interdisciplinary Work

The ethos of Politics is the dissemination of timely, research-led analyses on the state of the art, the state of the world, and the state of disciplinary pedagogy. Politics publishes original, innovative articles which are research-led analyses of events or theoretically informed and evidence-based pedagogical research in politics or international relations. Articles need be 4000-8000 words in length. We also welcome articles that are interdisciplinary in nature and use methods and/or theoretical frameworks from Geography, Sociology, Law, Anthropology or Cultural Studies. We have a two year impact factor of 1.5 and are a first quartile (Q1) journal. We are ranked 35th out of 163 journals in the Political Science list.

These three themes cover the main questions asked during the Meet the Editors session at IPSA 2016. We will be organising another Meet the Editors session at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA) in Philadelphia, 1-4 September 2016. Would you like to meet a member from the editorial team? Or do you have additional questions not covered in this blog? Feel free to drop by the SAGE stand on Thursday 1 September from 2-3.

Sarina Theys

Sarina Theys

Sarina Theys is Editorial Assistant for Politics and PhD candidate in Politics at Newcastle University. Her PhD thesis examines the soft power of two non-Western small states: Bhutan and Qatar. It investigates how Bhutanese and Qatari elites are using soft power to achieve their country's foreign policy goals and how successful this is.

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