The Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies accepts only original manuscripts that have not been published, are not under review, and are not in press with any other publication. Detailed editorial policies can be found on the Policy page.

All published articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC) license, allowing proper attribution while restricting commercial use.

All submitted manuscripts undergo a rigorous editorial review to ensure clarity, originality, and adherence to the journal’s scope. The editorial team evaluates submissions based on scholarly merit, ethical compliance, and alignment with The Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies’ publication standards.

Authors must follow the prescribed formatting and citation styles. Submissions that do not meet the journal’s guidelines may be returned for revision before entering the peer review process.

Manuscripts can be submitted via email at submit@thejspes.com or through the journal’s designated Online Submission System. Accepted formats include Word and LaTeX.

Submissions must be made exclusively by one of the authors; proxy submissions are not permitted. The lead or corresponding author must attach a signed Copyright Agreement on behalf of all contributors (if any). Authors must also confirm that the manuscript, in whole or in part, has neither been published nor is under review elsewhere.

Manuscripts must be written in clear, concise, and active English. All pages should be numbered sequentially to facilitate the review and editing process.

The journal accepts submissions in various formats, including letters, short communications, original research articles, and both mini and comprehensive review articles. All manuscripts must comply with the journal’s language and formatting standards.

Manuscripts must present original research with no prior copyright held by another entity. Authors are encouraged to contribute innovative ideas and incorporate cross-disciplinary perspectives.

Duplicate or simultaneous submissions to other publications are strictly prohibited. Any violation may result in the suspension of publishing privileges for all authors involved.

Authors are responsible for ensuring their work does not infringe on existing copyrights and must adhere to the journal’s Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.

There are no restrictions on manuscript length; however, all submissions must follow the journal’s formatting requirements:

• Manuscripts should be typed, double-spaced, with wide margins, and formatted on one side of standard white paper.
• The first page must include:
  a) Manuscript title
  b) Full names, affiliations, and email addresses of all authors
  c) Contact details for the corresponding author, including full address, telephone number, fax number, and email address
  d) An abstract

An electronic version of the manuscript must be submitted along with the final copy. Editors may modify formatting and style to maintain consistency with journal standards.

All manuscripts should be organized in the following order:

1. Title Page
2. Abstract
3. Keywords
4. Main Text
5. List of Abbreviations (if applicable)
6. Conflict of Interest Statement
7. Acknowledgments
8. References
9. Figures/Illustrations (if applicable)
10. Tables with Captions (if applicable)

• Title: The title must be concise and clear, with a maximum of 120 characters. Authors must also provide a brief running title for reference purposes.
• Abstract: Each manuscript must include an abstract of no more than 250 words. This applies to Research Articles, Reviews, and Letters/Short Notes. The abstract should effectively summarize the key aspects of the work.
• Keywords: Authors should submit up to eight relevant keywords in alphabetical order. Keywords should not duplicate terms used in the title.

• Research Articles: Must include the following sections:

  1. Introduction
  2. Materials and Methodology
  3. Results
  4. Discussion
  5. Conclusion

• Review and Letter Articles: Should include:

  • Title page
  • Abstract
  • Main text (which may be subdivided as needed)
  • Acknowledgments
  • References

• Review Articles: These should provide a detailed discussion, beginning with a general background and emphasizing recent developments. Authors should avoid repeating information from previous reviews and instead focus on delivering concise insights and observations.

• Consistency: The manuscript must maintain a uniform style throughout. Abbreviations should be spelled out in full before their first occurrence unless they are standard measurements.

• Citations: References should be cited using square brackets within the text.

• Use of Italics:

  • Binomial names of organisms (Genus and species).
  • Emphasis or unfamiliar terms/phrases.
  • Non-assimilated Latin or foreign terms, such as per se or et al.

• Review Articles: These should provide a detailed discussion, beginning with a general background and emphasizing recent developments. Authors should avoid repeating information from previous reviews and instead focus on delivering concise insights and observations.

• Consistency: The manuscript must maintain a uniform style throughout. Abbreviations should be spelled out in full before their first occurrence unless they are standard measurements.

• Citations: References should be cited using square brackets within the text.

• Use of Italics:

  • Binomial names of organisms (Genus and species).
  • Emphasis or unfamiliar terms/phrases.
  • Non-assimilated Latin or foreign terms, such as per se or et al.

The use of abbreviations should be minimized. Non-standard abbreviations must be listed in alphabetical order, with their full form and definition provided at their first mention in the text.

Non-standard abbreviations should only be used if they appear at least three times throughout the manuscript. If abbreviations are included, they should either be defined upon first use or listed in a dedicated section at the end of the manuscript.

Authors are required to disclose any financial support, sponsorship, or funding sources associated with their research. Additionally, they must declare any potential conflicts of interest that could affect the integrity or interpretation of the study.

Acknowledgments should be brief and limited to recognizing technical or scientific contributions. Authors may mention individuals who provided significant non-authorship assistance. Any funding received for the research must be explicitly stated.

• The references should be listed in a separate section titled REFERENCES (formatted as a first-level heading).
• All references must be double-spaced and formatted with a hanging indent (the first line aligned to the left, with subsequent lines indented).

Title Formatting

• Use title case for all titles, capitalizing all words except for prepositions (e.g., of, between, through), articles (a, the, an), and conjunctions (but, and, or), unless they start the title or subtitle.
• In hyphenated compound words, only capitalize the first word unless the second word is a proper noun or adjective (Self-preservation vs. Anti-American).

Author Formatting

• Arrange references alphabetically by the first author’s last name.
• Use full first names for all authors unless the original publication used initials.
• List all authors—do not use et al. unless the work was authored by a committee.
• For repeated authors, include the full name in all references (instead of using dashes).

Chronological and Multiple-Author Arrangements

• For multiple works by the same author, arrange them chronologically (oldest first).

  • Example:
    • Baltzell, E. Digby. 1958. Philadelphia Gentlemen. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
    • Baltzell, E. Digby. 1964. The Protestant Establishment. New York: Random House.
    • Baltzell, E. Digby. 1976. “The Protestant Establishment Revisited.” American Scholar 45:499-519.

• If an author appears in both single-authored and multiple-authored references, list single-authored works first, even if they are not in chronological order.

  • Example:
    • Hoge, Dean R. 1979. “A Test of Theories of Denominational Growth and Decline.” Understanding Church Growth and Decline 1950-1978, edited by D. R. Hoge and D. A. Roozen. New York and Philadelphia: Pilgrim Press.
    • Hoge, Dean R., Benton Johnson, and Donald A. Luidens. 1994. Vanishing Boundaries: The Religion of Mainline Baby Boomers. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

• When the same first author appears in multiple references, arrange them alphabetically by the second author’s last name.

  • Example:
    • Alba, Richard and Philip Kasinitz. 2006. “Sophisticated Television, Sophisticated Stereotypes.” Contexts 5(4):74-77.
    • Alba, Richard, John R. Logan, and Brian J. Stults. 2000. “The Changing Neighborhood Contexts of the Immigrant Metropolis.” Social Forces 79(2):587-621.

• If there are multiple works by the same author(s) in the same year, add letters to the year (2010a, 2010b, 2010c), then list them alphabetically by title.

  • Example:
    • Fyfe, James J. 1982a. “Blind Justice: Police Shootings in Memphis.” The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 73(2):707-22.
    • Fyfe, James J. 1982b. “Race and Extreme Police-Citizen Violence.” Readings on Police Use of Deadly Force, edited by J. J. Fyfe. New York: Police Foundation.

Reference Examples

Book with One Author
Author’s full name, inverted so that last name appears first. Year. Book Title in Title Caps and Italicized. Publishing City: Publisher.
Note that the two-letter state abbreviation should be given only if needed to identify the city. For a publisher located in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, or Boston, for example, it would not be necessary to include the state abbreviation.
Note that the word “volume” is capitalized and abbreviated but not italicized.
Gurr, Ted Robert, ed. 1989. Violence in America. Vol. 1, The History of Crime. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Mason, Karen. 1974. Women’s Labor Force Participation. Research Triangle Park, NC: National Institutes of Health.

Book with Two or More Authors
Same as with one author, but do not invert authors’ names after the first author. Separate authors’ names with a comma (unless there are only two authors), and include the word and before the final author.
Note that the word “edition” is abbreviated, and not italicized or capitalized.
Corbin, Juliet and Anselm Strauss. 2008. Basics of Qualitative Research. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Edited Volume (when citing the entire volume)
Same as book reference but add “eds.” to denote book editor'(s’) name(s).
Hagan, John and Ruth D. Peterson, eds. 1995. Crime and Inequality. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Chapter in an Edited Volume
Put chapter title in quotes.
Use Pp. and page numbers to designate where the chapter is found in the volume.
Italicize the book title, then give the book editor’(s’) name(s).
Do not invert editor'(s)’ name(s).
Use initials instead of first and middle names for editor(s).
Clausen, John. 1972. “The Life Course of Individuals.” Pp. 457-514 in Aging and Society. Vol. 3, A Sociology of Stratification, edited by M.W. Riley, M. Johnson, and A. Foner. New York: Russell Sage.

Scholarly Journal Article
Author’s full name, inverted so that last name appears first. Year. “Article Title in Title Caps and in Quotes.” Journal Title in Title Caps and Italicized Volume Number (Issue Number):page numbers of article.
Note that there is no space after the colon preceding page numbers.
For multiple authors, invert last name of first author only.
Separate with commas, unless there are only two author.
Use and between last two authors.
Conger, Rand. 1997. “The Effects of Positive Feedback on Direction and Amount of Verbalization in a Social Setting.” American Journal of Sociology 79:1179-259.
Coe, Deborah L. and James D. Davidson. 2011. “The Origins of Legacy Admissions: A Sociological Explanation.” Review of Religious Research 52(3):233-47.

Magazine or Newspaper Article
Ziff, Larzer. 1995. “The Other Lost Generation,” Saturday Review, February 20, pp. 15-18.
Newspaper Article (author unknown)
Lafayette Journal & Courier. 1998. Newspaper editorial. December 12, p. A-6.
Public Documents
Because the nature of public documents is so varied, the form of entry for documentation cannot be standardized. The essential rule is to provide sufficient information so that the reader can locate the reference easily.

Reports, Constitutions, Laws, and Ordinances
New York State Department of Labor. 1997. Annual Labor Area Report: New York City, Fiscal Year 1996 (BLMI Report, No. 28). Albany: New York State Department of Labor.
Ohio Revised Code Annotated, Section 3566 (West 2000).
Telecommunications Act of 1996, Public Law 104-014,  110 U.S. Statutes at Large 56 (1996).
U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1990. Characteristics of Population. Vol. 1. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 4.

Legislation Examples
Court cases and legislative acts follow a format stipulated by legal publishers.
The act or case is listed first, followed by volume number, abbreviated title, and the date of the work in which the act or case is found.
The volume number is given in Arabic numerals, and the date is parenthesized.
Court cases are italicized, but acts are not.
Case names, including v., are italicized.
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
If retrieved from an online database, such as LexisNexis or HeinOnline, provide access information.
Ohio v. Vincer (Ohio App. Lexis 4356 [1999]).
U.S. Congress. House of Representatives. Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. H.R. 2. 110th Congress, 1st Session, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2010  (http://thomas.loc.gov).

Unpublished Materials
Name of author. Year. Title of Presentation. Location where the article was presented or is available or has been accepted for publication but has not yet been published.
Conger, Rand D. Forthcoming. “The Effects of Positive Feedback on Direction and Amount of Verbalization in a Social Setting.” Sociological Perspectives.
Smith, Tom. 2003. “General Social Survey.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, August 16, Atlanta, GA.

Dissertation or Thesis
King, Andrew J. 1976. “Law and Land Use in Chicago: A Pre-history of Modern Zoning.” PhD dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Print Edition of a Book Accessed through an Online Library
Daniels, John. 2010. Apathetic College Students in America. Middletown, IL: University of Middletown Press. Retrieved April 6, 2011(http://site.ebrary.com/lib/collegestudies/docDetail.action?docID=1010101010).

For archival references, use the following format:

[Archive Name], [Collection or Record Group], [Box Number], [Date]. [File Number or Name]. [Document Type], [Relevant Details].

Example:
Meany Archives, LRF, Box 6, March 18, 1970. File 20. Memo, conference with Gloster Current, Director of Organization, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

• Avoid using the first person unless explicitly required. Personal opinions should only be included when making a structured argument.
• Use the active voice for clarity and directness.
• Spell out terms such as “percent,” “chi-square,” and “versus” unless presenting data in tables or graphs.

Always provide proper citations for any data, ideas, or work from others, regardless of whether they are published, unpublished, or electronic and whether they are directly quoted or paraphrased. Accurate citation is essential to uphold academic integrity.

Use clear and straightforward language. Avoid unnecessary jargon, exaggerated terms, wordy phrases, and clichés. Maintain consistency in verb tenses, and ensure accuracy in spelling, punctuation, and sentence construction. Structure the manuscript logically to enhance readability and coherence.

Preferred Terms

• African American (no hyphen)
• Black (lowercase “b”)
• White (lowercase “w”)
• Hispanic, Chicano, Latino, or Latina (use Latino for gender-neutral or male, Latina for female)
• American Indian or Native American (no hyphen)
• Asian or Asian American (no hyphen)

Terms to Avoid

• Negro
  
• Afro-American
  
• Oriental

• When introducing an acronym, spell out the full name followed by the acronym in parentheses.
  Example: According to a Department of Energy (DoE) report…
• After the first use, refer to the acronym alone.
  Example: The DoE suggests that…

Verb Tense

Maintain consistent verb tense within each section of the manuscript. While different sections may require different tenses, ensure uniformity within each section to enhance clarity and readability.

• Use past tense to describe completed research.
  Example: In their study of declining congregations, Hoge and Roozen (1979) found that institutional factors were also important.
• Mix tenses if needed to clarify findings.
  Example: In their study of declining congregations, Hoge and Roozen (1979) found that institutional factors may also help to explain congregational decline.

Methods Section

Use past tense when describing research methods.

Example: Data collection consisted of twenty interviews in each congregation between the months of November 2010 and February 2011.

Results Section

Use either past or present tense, but remain consistent.

Example (Present Tense – Ongoing Relevance):
These results suggest that institutional factors do help explain congregational decline.

Example (Past Tense – Completed Research):
These results suggested that institutional factors did help explain congregational decline.

Choose the tense based on whether the findings have continuing relevance or describe a completed analysis.

• Use only one space after punctuation marks (avoid double spacing between sentences).
• Punctuation marks should match the font style of the preceding text, including italics.
  Example: The respondent replied, “I loved the movie, Crash!”
• When numbering items in a list, use (1), (2), (3) rather than 1. or 1).
  Example: The study finds that three variables are important predictors of openness to outside groups: (1) endorsement of the group, (2) political climate, and (3) cultural compatibility.

Proofs will be sent to the author (the first-named author if no corresponding author is designated in multi-authored papers) and must be returned within 48 hours of receipt. Corrections should be limited to typesetting errors; any other modifications may result in additional charges to the author.

Authors should thoroughly address any queries and carefully review their proofs before submission, as late corrections cannot be guaranteed for inclusion.