The Experimental Research Section of the American Political Science Association actively seeks applications for a new Journal of Experimental Political Science (JEPS) editor.
JEPS, published by Cambridge University Press, was founded by the APSA Experimental Research Section in 2013 and published its first issue in 2014. The journal has established a strong reputation as an agenda-setting outlet for cutting-edge research that utilizes experimental methods or experimental reasoning based on naturally occurring data. The journal embraces all of the different types of experiments carried out as part of political science research, including survey experiments, laboratory experiments, field experiments, lab experiments in the field, natural experiments, and neurological experiments. JEPS has also paved the way for novel and important publication formats, including registered reports and replications. It publishes some of the highest quality scholarship using or advancing experimental methods.
As of 2020, the journal was ranked 14th of political science journals according to Scimago journal rankings, with an impact factor of 1.967; in 2021, it had a Scopus CiteScore of 2.7. The journal publishes three issues per year, with plans to increase to four issues per year. Articles are typically concise and do not require lengthy explanations or justifications of the experimental method or extensive literature reviews of pros and cons of the methodological approaches involved in the experiment (unless the goal of the article is to explore these methodological issues). The journal publishes four type of articles: 1) Research Articles (4000 words, with some exceptions) that report novel empirical findings grounded in social science theory; 2) Short Reports (1000 words) concisely summarize empirical findings that primarily inform best practices, measurement strategies, or innovations in experimental design; 3) Replications (3000 words) of previous experiments; and 4) Meta-Analyses (3000 words) of a well-defined set of experiments. A portion of research articles are accepted as registered reports—a form of results-blind review that can limit well-known publication biases in academic research. All articles published in JEPS meet the journal’s reporting standards.
On December 31, Kevin Arceneaux (Sciences Po, Paris) will complete his term as editor of JEPS. The Section seeks a new editor with background and expertise in experimental methods. The Section is also open to proposals from two or more co-editors. Prospective editors should hold tenured positions at a college or university anywhere in the world. The term of the editors will be four years, with the possibility of an extension for an additional four-year term. Editors do not have to be based in the United States, and international proposals are welcomed. We especially welcome proposals from editors with expertise in a diversity of types of experimental methodology and knowledge of substantive research that uses experiments across different topic areas.
Editor(s)
The editor or co-editors of JEPS will continue the tradition of promoting rigorous standards in attracting and publishing top-quality research that uses or advances diverse types of experimental methods across various substantive areas. The editor will support and advance JEPS’s role in promoting reporting standards and sustaining novel publication formats such as outlined above.
The editor(s) is/are responsible managing and administering the day-to-day operations of the journal; selecting, appointing, and managing the JEPS board of associate editors; and presenting an annual report to the Experimental Research Section that includes data on submissions, acceptances/rejections, speed of decisions, and any other pertinent information. The editor is also supported by a Journal Advisory Committee and Journal Standards Committee, the members of each of which are appointed by the Experimental Research Section chair.
JEPS has followed a strong associate editor model in which associate editors, after vetting process by the editorial office for germaneness and conflicts of interests, handle submissions from beginning to end. The journal received 182 submissions in 2020 and 139 in 2021 (when submissions were generally depressed due to the Covid pandemic). In 2021, 28.8% manuscripts were desk rejected, 44.6% were rejected, and 9.4% were given an opportunity to revise and resubmit. Overall, the journal accepted 17.2% of all manuscripts submitted and adjudicated in 2021. In 2021, desk rejection notices were dispatched in 10.1 days (SD = 12.8 days), on average; it took an average of 47 days for manuscripts sent out for review to receive a first decision (SD = 43:94 days), and it took 90.84 days (SD = 116:76) to reach a final decision.
JEPS receives the following support from APSA/Cambridge University Press:
- Editorial Manager manuscript submission and peer review system
- Copyediting and electronic production services
- Reporting on bibliometrics (citations, downloads, Altmetrics, etc.) to inform decision-making
- Financial support to be used to cover such costs as course buyouts/reassign time, graduate student support, travel expenses and/or honorariums.
JEPS has a policy of reproducing all of the results in manuscripts accepted for publication, which are then published on Dataverse. This requires an RA who can do this kind of work.
Term and Selection Criteria
The Editor shall be appointed by a search committee appointed by the chair of the Experimental Research Section. The editor’s term will begin on January 1, 2023. Editors may elect to renew their four-year term once, for a combined term of eight years.
The Editorial Selection Committee empowered by Experimental Research Section will evaluate proposals based on four key criteria:
- Comprehensive vision for the journal. Proposals should spell out a clear and compelling vision for the journal that will help the selection committee – and eventually, readers and potential authors – understand the intended contributions of this journal to scholarship, and how the editors will continue JEPS record of excellence and centrality in advancing research that uses or advances experimental research. Proposals might include assessment of the journal’s current strengths and weaknesses, suggesting major lines of continuity and change through the next administration.
- Diverse experience in experimental research. A comprehensive strategy for the journal to ensure diversity and inclusion in the authorship, methods and subfields represented. It is essential that the journal, and therefore the editorial team, represent breadth and balance of areas and approaches in the broad interdisciplinary field of experimental research. The proposed editor(s) should demonstrate a record of breadth of scholarly interest in experimental research across the various subfields of political science and/or diverse experimental methodologies.
- Editorial and administrative experience. Editors should be familiar with the highest standards of scholarly assessment and publication, whether as authors of refereed journals and books, as scholarly journal and book editors, and/or as members of university press editorial boards. The editor should have administrative experience that demonstrates appropriate levels of management, organizational, and communication skills.
- Effective organizational plans and financial/institutional support. Submissions should provide logistical information and clear lines of administrative responsibility and coordination, showing how the editor(s) plan to handle and divide up the varied managerial demands of editorial work. Submissions should indicate where the editorial office will be located and describe the facilities and staffing that will be available.
- Submissions should also include a proposed budget that specifies how the Cambridge University Press subsidy of US $14,000 per annum plus $3,000 per year for research assistance will be allocated. Proposals should detail any contributions from the editors’ home institutions, which may include things like faculty release time, graduate or undergraduate student assistance, office staff personnel support, editorial team office space, or other contributions; in particular, this support may include a possible part-time RA (20 hours a week) and/or purchase of statistical software necessary for replications of accepted articles. If possible, a letter from a chair, associate dean, or other administrator at the home institution(s) of the applicant(s) that spells out this support would be useful.
Proposals
Proposals for the JEPS editorship should include a short (no more than 3-5 pages) statement addressing the criteria above. If the proposal is for co-editors, it should identify who is responsible for ongoing journal administration, who will work in cooperation with Cambridge University Press, as well as a list of prospective associate editors if applicable.
Please include a brief biographical summary and full c.v. for the editor (or each co-editor, if applicable).
In addition, if relevant, relevant academic administrators should provide written statements specifying office space, financial subsidies, faculty release time, student or staff assistance or other material support that will be provided to editorial team members, should their submission be accepted.
Selection Process
The selection committee includes Rose McDermott (current vice-chair and incoming chair of the Section, empenn@emory.edu), Thad Dunning (current and outgoing chair of the Section, thad.dunning@berkeley.edu), and Maggie Penn (chair of the current JEPS Advisory Board, empenn@emory.edu)
Deadline for Submissions
Submissions will be accepted immediately, with a deadline of June 1, 2022. Please submit proposals to the selection committee identified above.