Society, Economy and Public Policy

Scope

This section publishes research in sociology and social anthropology, economics and development studies, political science, public administration and governance, urban and rural studies, labour and migration, gender and social inclusion, and the design, implementation and evaluation of public policy.

What the editors look for

Evidence about implementation. A great deal of policy writing describes what a scheme intends; comparatively little establishes what it delivers, to whom, at what cost, and with what leakage. Studies that trace a policy from its notification to the household are the work this section most wants to publish.

Quantitative work should state its data source, its period, its unit of analysis and its method, and should distinguish correlation from causation in its language as well as in its statistics. Qualitative work should describe the field, the sampling, the duration of fieldwork and the position of the researcher in relation to the community studied.

Where the research involves communities that can be identified, consent and anonymisation must be addressed explicitly, and the author must consider whether publication could expose participants to harm.

What the section will not publish

Advocacy written as research. Manuscripts whose conclusion is fixed before the evidence is gathered. Reviews of a policy that consist of restating official documents.

Article types

Research articles, review articles, policy evaluations, field reports, short communications on data sets and methods, and book reviews.