International Political Science Review

Manuscript Submission Guidelines: International Political Science Review / Revue internationale de science politique

This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics

Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/IPSR to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of International Political Science Review will be reviewed.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

 

1. What do we publish?
   1.1 Aims & Scope
   1.2 Article types
   1.3 Writing your paper
2. Editorial policies
   2.1 Peer review policy
   2.2 Authorship
   2.3 Acknowledgements
   2.4 Funding
   2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
3. Publishing policies
   3.1 Publication ethics
   3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
   3.3 Open access and author archiving
4. Preparing your manuscript
   4.1 Formatting
   4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
   4.3 Supplementary material
   4.4 Reference style
   4.5 English language editing services
   4.6 Data
5. Submitting your manuscript
   5.1 ORCID
   5.2 Information required for completing your submission
   5.3 Permissions
6. On acceptance and publication
   6.1 SAGE Production
   6.2 Online First publication
   6.3 Access to your published article
   6.4 Promoting your article
7. Further information

 

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope

Before submitting your manuscript to International Political Science Review, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

1.2 Article Types

Please also watch the IPSR author guidance video. 

1.2.1 Research articles

IPSR welcomes the submission of research articles of no more than 8,000 words (including references, notes, tables and figures). In general, there should be a maximum of 45 references. Regarding large tables, see the guidelines on supplementary data below.

It is expected that authors will establish the significance of their research question, locate it within the relevant literature, and clearly set out the research design through which they intend addressing the question.

The article should begin by identifying a significant puzzle or question that the article will address and that might engage the interest of readers beyond the sub-discipline. The opening sentences of the article should be designed to engage the reader’s interest rather than referring back to previous literature on the topic. Similarly, the closing sentences of the article should recapitulate the implications of the author’s own findings, rather than referring to the work of others.

As noted above, case studies of single countries should consider the theoretical and comparative implications of the case. Detail about submitting research article manuscripts is provided below at 4.

1.2.2 Special Issues

IPSR will be issuing regular calls for special issues on themes of particular theoretical or political importance. Prospective guest editors need to submit proposals to IPSR at ipsr.journal@gmail.com by the deadline posted on the IPSR website. Special issues will normally consist of an editorial introduction (ca 6000 words) and five or six articles (each a maximum of 8000 words). All special issue proposals should include the following:

• Outline of the theme.
• Rationale, in terms of significance, timeliness and relevance for IPSR and international political science.
• Abstracts of the proposed articles (five or six articles and editorial introduction).
• Brief author biographies for contributors and editors.

Once a proposal has been accepted, guest editors will be responsible for the timely online submission of the articles, which will be subject to the normal IPSR double-blind review process.

1.2.3 Review Articles

IPSR also welcomes proposals for review articles. Such proposals should be sent to the IPSR Editors at ipsr.journal@gmail.com. Prospective authors should specify the theme, its significance and the list of books to be covered (minimum three). Review articles should generally be c. 3000-6000 words and compare, contrast and evaluate different approaches to the theme or different applications of the same approach. Proposals for review articles on emerging or contested areas of the discipline are particularly welcome. Once proposals have been accepted, IPSR will obtain review copies of books, if needed. The completed article will be subject to review.

1.2.4 Article Types

IPSR occasionally publishes research reports of no more than 6000 words. These report on particularly interesting findings of research projects without meeting all the requirements of a full research article. Such reports are subject to review.

1.3 Writing your paper

The SAGE Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources.

1.3.1 Make your article discoverable

When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online

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2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy

All articles are subject to anonymous peer review by experts in the field, drawn from a database of international referees. If you would like to be a referee, send a short CV and note areas of specialty to one of the editors (see contact details at foot of document).

2.2 Authorship

All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.

2.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.

2.4 Funding

International Political Science Review requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading.  Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the SAGE Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. 

2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

International Political Science Review encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the SAGE Journal Author Gateway.

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3. Publishing Policies

3.1 Publication ethics

SAGE is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the SAGE Author Gateway.

3.1.1 Plagiarism

International Political Science Review and SAGE take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a SAGE journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the SAGE Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

Before publication, SAGE requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. SAGE’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants SAGE the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than SAGE. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the SAGE Author Gateway

3.3 Open access and author archiving

International Political Science Review offers optional open access publishing via the SAGE Choice programme. For more information please visit the SAGE Choice website. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit SAGE Publishing Policies on our Journal Author Gateway.

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4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

4.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit SAGE’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines  

Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from SAGE after receipt of your accepted article.

4.3 Supplementary material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files

4.4 Reference style

Given recent evidence* about possible bias in citation patterns we recommend that authors check their references to make sure that they are referring where relevant to the work of female as well as male scholars and to scholars outside the Global North.

(*Maliniak, Daniel, Ryan Powers and Barbara F Walter (2013). The Gender Citation Gap in International Relations. International Organization. DOI: 10.1017/S002081831300209)

Please note that for IPSR submissions full names of authors or editors should be provided in the references (rather than just initials), and the order of names only needs to be reversed for the first named author or editor, as in the examples provided below.

In-text references should be as follows: (Michalski, 2006: 2).

References at the end of the article should be in the following style:

    Articles in journals: Smith, Charles Anthony and Heather M Smith (2011) Human Trafficking: The unintended effects of United Nations intervention. International Political Science Review 32(2): 125–146.

    Books: Bartolini, Stefano and Peter Mair (1990) Identity, Competition, and Electoral Availability: The Stabilisation of European Electorates 1885-1985. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapters in books: Lawson, Kay (1988) When Linkage Fails. In Kay Lawson and Peter H Merkl (eds) When Parties Fail: Emerging Alternative Organizations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 13–38.

    Online publications: MacDermott, Kathy (2008) Marketing Government: The public service and the permanent campaign. Canberra: Democratic Audit of Australia, available at: http://democraticaudit.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/200810macdermot....

    Unpublished works: Bardi, Luciano (1992) The Empirical Study of Party Membership Change, Mimeo, Università di Bologna.

4.5 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using SAGE Language Services. Visit SAGE Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

4.6 Data

IPSR encourages all authors to share their research data where appropriate. Authors can make data available as a supplementary data file, which will be hosted on FigShare. The data will be openly available, either from the IPSR website where a link will be co-located with the article or directly from FigShare.

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5. Submitting your manuscript

International Political Science Review is hosted on SAGE Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/IPSR to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.  For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

Please ensure that the format of your manuscript adheres to these criteria:

1. double-spaced
2. contains no more than 8,000 words (including references, notes, tables and figures)
3. contains no more than 45 references (except in exceptional circumstances)
4. includes the notes, references, tables and charts on separate pages within your manuscript, following the journal style
5. does not contain page numbers, an abstract or keywords (see next point)
6. separate from your manuscript, you will need to submit (via SAGE track’s text fields online form) a 100–150 word abstract and keywords, your name, title, affiliation and full contact details. 

please ensure that your manuscript does not include information that will identify you as the author, including references to articles that you have not yet published.

5.1 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process SAGE is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities ensuring that their work is recognised.

We encourage all authors to add their ORCIDs to their SAGE Track accounts and include their ORCIDs as part of the submission process. If you don’t already have one you can create one here

5.2 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

5.3 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the SAGE Author Gateway

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6. On acceptance and publicatio

6.1 SAGE Production

Your SAGE Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly.  Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. Please note that if there are any changes to the author list at this stage all authors will be required to complete and sign a form authorising the change.

6.2 Online First publication

Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the SAGE Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

6.3 Access to your published article

SAGE provides authors with online access to their final article.

6.4 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The SAGE Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice. In addition, SAGE is partnered with Kudos, a free service that allows authors to explain, enrich, share, and measure the impact of their article. Find out how to maximise your article’s impact with Kudos.

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7. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the International Political Science Review editorial office as follows:

Richard Reid, Associate Editor, IPSR editorial office
ipsr.journal@gmail.com