A key feature of the Journal is its mixed audience of researchers within academic and other research organizations as well as practitioner-researchers in the field. The Journal therefore aims to publish high quality methodological discussions which typically draw on a mix of academic and practice-based research in professional and service settings, and those considering the relationship between the two.
The Journal provides
• a focus for on-going and emerging methodological debates across a range of approaches, both qualitative and quantitative, and including mixed, comparative and simulation methods, as these relate to philosophical, theoretical, ethical, political and practical issues; • an international medium for the publication of discussions of social research methodology and practices across a wide range of social science disciplines and substantive interests; and • a forum for researchers based in all sectors to consider and evaluate methods as these relate to research practice.
The International Journal of Social Research Methodologywelcomes single article contributions relating to methodology and methods that:
• draw out the generic implications for methods or methodology that are not limited to a specific topic area or discipline; and • treats the substantive findings of the research as illustrative of specific methodological approaches rather than as a substantive aspect of the article; In doing so, submitted articles: • provide an original contribution to current cutting-edge methodological debates • go beyond describing the research process of a particular project • are more than 'how to do X?' discussions, and instead critically engage with methodological issues and concerns as they relate to doing social research in general; • can be appreciated by readers who may or may not be experts in a particular methodological approach or concept; • critically reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of specific approaches to provide robust arguments in relation to a particular method or methodology.
We do not consider article submissions that:
• Discuss a particular substantive context and findings, such that the methods are not the focus of the article (e.g. women’s educational achievement in UAE, or mixed ethnicity couple relations • Focus on methods in relation to a specific disciplinary context without consideration for a wider social science and methodological audience (e.g. focus group methods in psychology without thought to how these methods are used in other disciplines) • Descriptive or summative overviews of a particular research project (or projects) or the methodology chapter from a thesis or grant. • Verge on containing more equations than text, and are not accessible to general readership
Short articles
In addition to full-length research articles, we encourage authors to submit ‘short articles’. These are shorter in length than research articles (e.g., 1500-3000 words) and focus on an element of research practice and methods as highlighted within a specific context. Short articles may involve less conventional outputs, as well as short essays discussing previous work, single observations, or a focused intervention to a methods debate (e.g., commentaries on up-and-coming methodological issues or concerns, novel methods in development, or a novel perspective on established methods).
Book reviews The International Journal of Social Research Methodology commissions review articles, but also welcomes suggestions from potential reviewers. Reviews can take various forms, for example multiple reviews of a single publication or two or three publications, or a review article of several publications (usually no more than four) from a single reviewer. We are open to consideration of other formats, but we do not usually consider single book reviews. A review forum or article should not exceed 6000 words.
Proposers of reviews should submit a proposal of around 200 words describing their review and listing the publication(s), and, where appropriate, the names and affiliations of other reviewers. The review article should be submitted in the usual way and will be subject to the refereeing process. As with any offer of publication in the Journal, the editors' decision is final.
Peer review policy
All articles published in this journal have undergone internal Editorial scrutiny as well as anonymous, double-anonymized review. There are three stages to the review process. Stage 1: The Editors of the journal read all papers submitted. They agree either to send them out for peer review, or to desk reject if the piece does not fit the journal remit or there are identified problems. Stage 2: The peer review process for our journal is rigorous, thorough and involves a number of scholars. These include Editorial Board and Reviewer College members, and other reviewers who are experts in aspects of the article field. Stage 3: The editors consider the article in the light of all the reviewers’ reports they have received and come to a decision on whether the submission should be accepted, sent back for revision, or rejected. The editors’ decision is final.
114 days avg. from submission to first
post-review decision
13 days avg. from acceptance to online
publication
6% acceptance rate
Understanding and using journal metrics
Journal metrics can be a useful tool for readers, as well as for authors
who are deciding where to submit their next manuscript for publication.
However, any one metric only tells a part of the story of a journal’s
quality and impact. Each metric has its limitations which means that it
should never be considered in isolation, and metrics should be used to
support and not replace qualitative review.
We strongly recommend that you always use a number of metrics, alongside
other qualitative factors such as a journal’s aims & scope, its
readership, and a review of past content published in the journal. In
addition, a single article should always be assessed on its own merits and
never based on the metrics of the journal it was published in.
Usage and acceptance rate data above are for the last full calendar year
and are updated annually in February. Speed data is updated every six
months, based on the prior six months. Citation metrics are updated
annually mid-year. Please note that some journals do not display all of
the following metrics
(find out why).
Usage:
the total number of times articles in the journal were viewed by users
of Taylor & Francis Online in the previous calendar year, rounded to the
nearest thousand.
Citation Metrics
Impact Factor*:
the average number of citations received by articles published in the
journal within a two-year window. Only journals in the Clarivate Science
Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI),
Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) and the Emerging Sources
Citation Index (ESCI) have an Impact Factor.
Impact Factor Best Quartile*:
the journal’s highest subject category ranking in the Journal Citation
Reports. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest Impact Factors.
5 Year Impact Factor*:
the average number of citations received by articles in the journal
within a five-year window.
CiteScore (Scopus)†:
the average number of citations received by articles in the journal over
a four-year period.
CiteScore Best Quartile†:
the journal’s highest CiteScore ranking in a Scopus subject category. Q1
= 25% of journals with the highest CiteScores.
SNIP
(Source Normalized Impact per Paper):
the number of citations per paper in the journal, divided by citation
potential in the field.
SJR
(Scimago Journal Rank):
Average number of (weighted) citations in one year, divided by the
number of articles published in the journal in the previous three years.
Speed/acceptance
From submission to first decision:
the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the
journal to receive a first decision. Based on manuscripts receiving a
first decision in the last six months.
From submission to first post-review decision:
the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the
journal to receive a first decision if it is sent out for peer review.
Based on manuscripts receiving a post-review first decision in the last
six months.
From acceptance to online publication:
the average (median) number of days from acceptance of a manuscript to
online publication of the Version of Record. Based on articles published
in the last six months.
Acceptance rate:
articles accepted for publication by the journal in the previous
calendar year as percentage of all papers receiving a final decision.
Social Media Editor: Ruby Castellani - International Journal of Social Research Methodology, UK
Journal Administrators: Maggie Castellani - International Journal of Social Research Methodology, UK Ruby Castellani - International Journal of Social Research Methodology, UK Board Members: Babak Ardestani - University of Oxford, UK Rachel Ayrton - University of Birmingham, UK Peter Barbrook Johnson - University of Oxford, UK Julia Böcker - Leuphana Universität, Germany Christian Bokhove - University of Southampton, UK Caroline Bradbury - Jones University of Birmingham, UK Julia Brannen - University College London, UK Dave Byrne - Durham University, UK Brian Castellani - Durham University, UK Graham Crow - University of Edinburgh, UK Peter Davis - University of Auckland, New Zealand Fernando De Maio - DePaul University, USA Martyn Denscombe - De Montfort University, UK John Downey – Plymouth Marjon University, UK Wendy Dyer - Northumbria University, UK Siobhan Dytham - University of Northampton, UK Rosalind Edwards – University of Southampton, UK Nigel Fielding - University of Surrey, UK Nicoleta Gaciu - Oxford Brookes University, UK Amber Gazso – York University, Canada Lasse Gerrits – Erasmus University Rotterdam, NL Deepak Gopinath - University of the West of England, UK Elizabeth Griffiths - Rutgers University, USA Martyn Hammersley - The Open University, UK Eric Hoddy – University of York, UK Clare Holdsworth - Keele University, UK Martin Hyde - University of Leicester, UK Elizabeth Lake - University of East Anglia, UK Richard Lampard - University of Warwick, UK Pei-shan Liao - Academia Sinica, Taiwan Peter Martin - University College London, UK Kirsty Miller - University of Liverpool, UK Nick Moon - Moonlight Research, UK Chaim Noy - Bar Ilan University, Israel Oscar Odena - University of Glasgow, UK Linda Perriton - University of Stirling, UK Herwig Reiter - Deutsches Jugendinstitut, Germany Michaela Rogers - University of Sheffield, UK Emanuela Sala - University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy Corey Schimpf - University at Buffalo, USA Andreas Schmitz – Rheinische - Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn, Germany Kathryn Seymour - Griffith University, Australia Adam Stefkovics - Eötvös Lóránd University, Hungary / Harvard University, USA Jen Tarr - Newcastle University, UK Michael Thelwall - University of Wolverhampton, UK Emma Uprichard - University of Warwick, UK Kevin Walby - University of Winnipeg, Canada Dick Wiggins - UCL Institute of Education, UK Malcolm Williams – Cardiff University, UK Jonathan Wistow - Durham University, UK Keming Yang - Durham University, UK Reviewer College: Jennifer Badham - Durham University, UK Ned Barker - University College London, UK Clelia Cascella - INVALSI, Italy Anastasia Charalampi – Panteion - University of Social and Political Sciences, Greece Fay Cosgrove – Cardiff University, UK Jennifer Creese – University of Leicester, UK Ebenezer Cudjoe - City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Stephanie Döringer - Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria Madelin Gomez-Leon - Pompeu Fabra University, Spain Daphna Harel - New York University, USA Sophie Harris - Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Sarah Huque – University of Edinburgh, UK Alma Ionescu – University College London, UK Sina Kianersi - Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, USA Sudarshan R Kottai - Christ University, India Caroline Law – De Montfort University, UK Simon Massey – Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Leon Moosavi - University of Liverpool, UK Angelo Moretti - Utrecht University, NL Aspasia Paltoglou - Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Loren Parton - The University of Sheffield, UK Emily Ross - University of Sheffield, UK Melike Saraç - Haceteppe University, Turkey Sophie Spitters – Queen Mary University of London, UK Aggeliki Yfanti - University of Aegean, Greece
IJSRM Reviewer College: The IJSRM Reviewer College supports the Editorial Board in reviewing articles. Its members come from a variety of social science backgrounds and are at different stages of their careers, however we are pleased that many of the members are early career researchers. From time to time there will be calls for new members. In addition to the College, IJSRM is fortunate in being able to call upon a large number of highly experienced specialist referees.
Abstracting and indexing
International Journal of Social Research Methodology is abstracted in Educational Research Abstracts online, CSA Worldwide Political Science Abstracts; Family and Society Studies Worldwide, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, PsycINFO, Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), Sociological Abstracts.
Open access
International Journal of Social Research Methodology is a hybrid open access journal that is part of our Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research.
Why choose open access?
Increase the discoverability and readership of your article
Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those with easy access to a research library
Freely share your work with anyone, anywhere
Comply with funding mandates and meet the requirements of your institution, employer or funder
Rigorous peer review for every open access article
Article Publishing Charges (APC)
If you choose to publish open access in this journal you may be asked to pay an Article Publishing Charge (APC). You may be able to publish your article at no cost to yourself or with a reduced APC if your institution or research funder has an open access agreement or membership with Taylor & Francis.
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