Each year, PS editorial staff provides a report of activities to the APSA Publications Committee and the APSA Council. Usually we include a few items in that report to our readers here in PS. We provide details on submissions, demographics of authors, acceptance/ rejection rates, most-read articles, and other details
Finally, because articles in Features, The Profession, and The Teacher PS are blind peer-reviewed, we take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of the reviewers who offered the time and service to PS and the profession. Their names and affiliations are listed at the end of this report
MISSION AND EDITORIAL STATEMENT
PS: Political Science & Politics features timely, peer-reviewed articles on contemporary politics written for the informed, general reader, and commentary and debate on major issues in the political science profession. Incorporated into PS is “The Teacher,” a dedicated forum for teaching providing resources for college faculty, high school teachers, and students. PS, founded in 1968, also serves as the association’s journal of record.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Each year PS receives more than 100 manuscripts for consideration. To help authors and reviewers, we refined the editorial guidelines to provide potential PS authors with better information regarding length and production processes. We now recommend articles not exceed 3,650 words, including references and notes, tables and figures, and specific guidelines for submitting manuscripts through the Editorial Manager system. These guidelines, instituted in 2013 will result in a smoother submission process, tighter production schedule, and appropriate, timely, well-written, concise articles for our readers, both those in the discipline and other general readers.
AUTHOR DEMOGRAPHICS
In the 2013-14 PS Editor’s Report to the APSA Council, we reviewed the four most recent issues of PS: October 2013 (46.4), January 2014 (47.1), April 2014 (47.2), and July 2014 (46.3) to determine how well the 176 authors in PS reflect the rank, institutional, and gender demographics of APSA’s membership. We report that 28% of PS authors are full professors (down from 32% the previous year), 21% are associate professors (a slight increase from last year), 25% are assistant professors (up from 21% last year), and 15% are students (down from 17% last year, mostly postdoctoral and other graduate, but a few, this year, were undergraduates who served as coauthors), and 11% are nonacademics (holding close to last year). Regarding the distribution of PS authors by types of institutions 65% are based at public universities, 25% at private universities, 3% at colleges, and 5% at nonacademic institutions (e.g., Cook Political Report), and 2% are at other academic institutions. As in the past years, most authors are full professors at public universities, but associate and assistant professors combined make up the greatest share of PS authors.
There is a preponderance of PS authors from PhD- and MA-granting institutions (90% public and private combined). This category of PS authors significantly exceeds their representation among APSA members (45.0%). Faculty members from four-year BA-granting institutions make up 24% of APSA members, but only 3% of PS authors. Although this type of faculty has historically been underrepresented in PS, this marks a continued decrease (6% in 2012, 10% in 2011, 14% in 2010) that needs our consideration in the coming year.
The gender distribution of PS authors this year exceeds gender distribution of APSA’s total membership: 32.19% women and 66.46% men (no code assigned to 1.34%) with 35% of authors female (up from 25% last year), and 65% of the PS authors male. It is interesting that this year’s percentages closely track the gender distribution of recent PhDs. It is not possible to determine if PS authors reflect the racial, ethnic, or sexual identities of the general membership.
SUBMISSION AND DECISION
Unsoliticited manuscripts in PS (in Features, The Profession, and The Teacher sections) have increased over the past several years (table 1 and 2). In both 2011 and 2012 PS witnessed an increase in the percentage of submissions in the teaching category, again in 2012, from 39% in 2011 to 45% in 2012. In 2013 a slight decrease in those submissions is shown, with an increase in The Profession.
Table 1. New Submissions to PS
Table 2. PS Submissions by Category
Table 3. Symposia Published in PS
Table 4. PS Decisions
Symposia remain a central feature of PS. The editor receives proposals (including overview of the symposium, list of possible topics and authors, and statement of its relevance to the profession and our readers) for consideration and review. If accepted, the “guest editor” serves as the the coordinator of the copyediting and review process and overall editor of the articles for quality, balance, consistency, and comprehensiveness.
MOST DOWNLOADED ARTICLES
The Cambridge Journals webpage provides monthly updates to the most frequently downloaded article as well as most cited articles. Be sure to check out the journal’s pages, via your MY APSA account, to view the most up-to-date information. As of April 15, 2014, the 10 most downloaded PS articles, listed here, include five from The Profession section, three from symposia, and two from The Teacher, are:
Miller, Beth, Jon Pevehouse, Ron Rogowski, Dustin Tingley, and Rick Wilson. 2013.“How To Be a Peer Reviewer: A Guide for Recent and Soon-to-be PhDs” (PS 46(1):120-23.
Garand, James C., and Michael W. Giles. 2011. “Ranking Scholarly Publishers in Political Science: An Alternative Approach,” PS 44(2): 375-83.
Cavdar, Gamze, and Sue Doe .2012. “Learning through Writing: Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in Writing Assignments.” PS 45(2): 298-306.
Collier, David. “Understanding Process Tracing.”2011. PS (4): 823-30.
Costello, Matthew J., and Kent Worcester. 2014. “The Politics of the Superhero: Introduction.” PS 27(1):85-89.
Maranto, Robert, and Matthew Woessner. 2012. “Diversifying the Academy: How Conservative Academics Can Thrive in Liberal Academia.” PS 45 (3): 469-74.
Karpowitz, Christopher F., J. Quin Monson, Kelly D. Patterson, and Jeremy C. Pope. 2011. “Tea Time in America? The Impact of the Tea Party Movement on the 2010 Midterm Elections.” PS 44(2): 303-09.
Leech, Beth L. 2002. “Asking Questions: Techniques for Semistructured Interviews.” PS 35(4): 665-68.
King, Gary. 2014. “Restructuring the Social Sciences: Reflections from Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science.” PS 47(1): 165-72.
Tansey, Oisin. 2007. “Process Tracing and Elite Interviewing: A Case for Non-probability Sampling. “ PS 40 (4): 765-72.
PS REVIEWERS 2013
In 2013, PS: Political Science and Politics published articles covering a vast range of topics. The journal’s commitment to publishing articles on pedagogy and the profession, as well as exemplary topical scholarship on a spectrum of issues, call for an equally broad stable of reviewers. PS cannot publish such diverse work without the outstanding work (and open-mindedness) of our peer reviewers. Peer review relies on the professionalism and generosity of those who contribute their time and knowledge to read and evaluate the work of others. The PS editorial team thanks the following scholars who completed reviews for PS between January 1, 2013, and April 1, 2014.
A
Amir Abed, Western Washington University; Alan Abramowitz, Emory University; Paul Abramson, Michigan State University; Viviana Abreu-Hernandez, Research and Program Development; Martha Ackelsberg, Smith College; Joe Adams, Samford University; William Adams, William Jewell College; Alex Aguado, University of North Alabama; Mathias Albert, Universitat Bielefeld Susan Alberts, Independent consultant/writer; Jose Aleman, Fordham University; Gerard Alexander, University of Virginia; Nikol Alexander-Floyd, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; W. B. Allen, Michigan State University; Davida Alperin, University of Wisconsin, River Falls; John Altman, York College of Pennsylvania ; Stephen Amberg, University of Texas, San Antonio; J. Theodore Anagnoson, California State University, Los Angeles; Angelo Ancheta, Santa Clara University; Kristi Andersen, Syracuse University; Sarah Anderson, University of California, Santa Barbara; Mark Anner, Pennsylvania State University; Andrew Aoki, Augsburg College; Gal Ariely, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Theodore Arrington, University of North Carolina, Charlotte; Victor Asal, SUNY, Albany; Chloe G. K. Atkins, University of Calgary; Dinorah Azpuru, Wichita State University
B
Paul Babbitt, Southern Arkansas University; Lisa A. Baglione, Saint Joseph’s University;Andy Baker, University of Colorado, Boulder; Christopher Banks, Kent State University; Michael Baranowski, Northern Kentucky University; Ricardo M. Barrera; Nicholas Bauroth, North Dakota State University; Staci L. Beavers, California State University, San Marcos;Elizabeth Bennion, Indiana University, South Bend; J. Edwin Benton, University of South Florida; John Berg, Suffolk University; Bruce Berg, Fordham University; Jeffrey Bernstein, Eastern Michigan University; Michael Berry, University of Colorado, Denver; Jeffrey Biggs, American Political Science Association; Carol Botsch, University of South Carolina, Aiken; Paul Brace, Rice University; James Brasfield, Webster University; James Brazier, St. Cloud State University; Allen Bronson Brierly, University of Northern Iowa; Michelle Brophy-Baermann, Rhode Island College; Kevin Bruyneel, Babson College; Alessandra Bufano, Brooklyn College; Michael J.Burton, Ohio University
C
Brian Calfano, Missouri State University; Stephen Caliendo, North Central College; Jonathan Caverley, Northwestern University; Sam Cherribi, Emory University; Matthew Childers, University of Georgia; Patrick C. Coaty, Orange Coast College; Michael David Cohen, Cohen Research Group; William J.. Connell, Seton Hall University; Charles Conyers, Howard University; R. Dennis Cook, Motlow State Community College; Carrie Liu Currier, Texas Christian University; Alfred G. Cuzan, University of West Florida
D
R. Steven Daniels, California State University, Bakersfield; Janet Day, SUNY-Oneonta; Shane Day, University of Denver; Michelle Deardorff, Jackson State University; Neil Devotta, Wake Forest University; Michelle Dion, McMaster University; Gary Donato, Rhode Island College; Katya Drozdova, Seattle Pacific University; Mary Durfee, Michigan Technological University
F, G
Jared Farley, Miami University- Hamilton; Andrew, Flibbert, Trinity College; Kim Fridkin, Arizona State University; James Garand, Louisiana State University; John A. Gentry, National Intelligence University; J. David Gillespie, College of Charleston; Michael Givel, University of Oklahoma; Stephen Godek, Community Consulting Services; Jane Gordon, Temple University; Benina Gould, University of California, Berkeley; John Griffin, University of Colorado, Boulder; Christian Grose, University of Southern California; Matt Grossmann, Michigan State University; Mario Guerrero, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
H
Richard Haesly, California State University, Long Beach; Roger Handberg, University of Central Florida; Jennifer Hazen, Small Arms Survey; Andrew Healy, Loyola Marymount University; Charles Helm, Western Illinois University; Richard Holtzman, Bryant University
J, K
Matthew Jacobsmeier, University of New Orleans; M. Kent Jennings, University of California, Santa Barbara; Arie Kacowicz, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Christopher Kelley, Miami University; Whitt Kilburn, Grand Valley State University; Benjamin Knoll, Centre College; Robin Kolodny, Temple University
L
Romain Lachat, Pompeu Fabra University; Brian Lai, University of Iowa; Edward Lascher, California State University, Sacramento; J. Wesley Leckrone, Widener University; Nanette Levinson, American University; Peter Lindsay, Georgia State University; Jason Lindsey, Saint Cloud State University; Sherry R. Lowrance, North Central University
M
Jane Mansbridge, Harvard University; T. David Mason, University of North Texas; Rose McDermott, Brown University; Patrick McMahon, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Andrew McNitt, Eastern Illinois University;William Mello, Indiana University, Kokomo;Mary Meyer McAleese, Eckerd College; Melissa Miller, Bowling Green State University; Kristin Mitchell, Dickinson College; Christopher Mooney, University of Illinois, Springfield; Irwin Morris, University of Maryland; Melinda Mueller, Eastern Illinois University; Craig Murphy, University of Massachusetts, Boston
N, O, P
Bruce Newman, Western Oklahoma State College; Helmut Norpoth, SUNY, Stony Brook; Maria Ortuoste, California State University, East Bay; Manju Parikh, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University; Andrew Pennock, Brown University; Jeremy Pope, Brigham Young University
R
John Rausch, West Texas A&M University; Chad Raymond, Salve Regina University; Benjamin Read, University of Calfornia, Santa Cruz; Timothy S. Rich, Western Kentucky University; Toby Rider, Texas Tech University; Sara Rinfret, Hartwick College; Joseph Roberts, Roger Williams University; Andrew Robinson, Wilfrid Laurier University; Amanda Rosen, Webster University; Maria Rublee, Australian National University; Vanessa Ruget, Salem State University
S
Mark Sachleben, Shippensburg University; Charles Santiago, University of Connecticut; C. Heike Schotten, University of Massachusetts, Boston; Peregrine Schwartz-Shea, University of Utah; Todd Sechser, University of Virginia; James H. Seroka, Auburn University; Mack Shelley, Iowa State University; William Simmons, Arizona State University; Donald Songer, University of South Carolina; Mark Souva, Florida State University; Harvey Starr, University of South Carolina; Wiliam Stodden, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale; Walter Stone, University of California, Davis; Jonathan Strand, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Scott Straus, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Paul Sum, University of North Dakota
T, U, V
Charles Taylor, Ball State University; Sue Tolleson-Rinehart, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; John Tumanm University of Nevada; Timothy Vercellotti, Western New England University; Jan Vermeer, Nebraska Wesleyan University
W, X, Y, Z
Nancy Wadsworth, University of Denver; Sherri Wallace, University of Louisville; Kimberly Weir, Northern Kentucky University; Leonard Williams, Manchester College; Jonathan Williamson, Lycoming College; Peter Yacobucci, Buffalo State College; Toshiyuki Yuasa, University of Houston
