Instructions for thematic issues

Policy and Society publishes themed issues and symposia that encourage in-depth, critical analyses of specific policy areas.

Themed issues are collections of 8-12 manuscripts, plus an introduction, that encourage in-depth analyses of vital theoretical or empirical issues in public policy . The introduction must include critical review of the extant literature on the subject.

Symposia are collections of 4-5 manuscripts that address broad topics in public policy, especially those that are novel and may not yet warrant a full themed issue due to limited research. Introductions/introductory literature reviews are optional for symposia.

Articles in themed issues and symposia should be not more than 8,000 words, inclusive of abstract, references, figures and tables.

Submitting a proposal for a themed section

Proposals should be approximately 5-6 pages in length and include:

1. The title of the proposed themed issue or symposia.
2. Statement of the subject to be explored and its significance to policy research.
3. Statement on the rationale for the proposed themed issue or symposia, including a brief assessment of the books and articles on the proposed subject.
4. A list of 8 - 12 (for themed issues) or 4-6 (for symposia) proposed articles along with author names, article title, email address, and detailed abstract of approximately 100-200 words each. Please note that we ask guest editors to solicit enough articles to allow for manuscript attrition or rejection after peer review, so that the final issues are of sufficient length.
5. Comment on the linkages among the proposed articles.
6. A proposal of a strategy to cover Author Processing Charges associated with the journal

Proposals are assessed on the basis of quality, including coherence across articles, as well as their alignment with the aims and scope of the journal.

All manuscripts are double-blind peer reviewed. Articles may be rejected at any stage of submission or peer review, if the guest editors and/or Editors in Chief determine the manuscript is not suitable for publication. Policy and Society does not accept manuscripts to themed sections without prior approval of an initial proposal. Please send themed section proposals to the Editors for initial review at: [email protected].

Guest editor guidelines

Guidelines for guest editors of themed issues can be downloaded here.

Open access charges for papers

Policy and Society is a fully open access journal, and all authors are required to pay an author processing charge upon signature of their license to publish.

Specific funding arrangements may be in place for certain themed issues and symposia; this information will be provided by the Editorial Office upon request. Oxford University Press’s developing countries initiative provides full waivers for articles submitted by corresponding authors in all countries and regions that are part of the developing countries initiative. In addition, a limited number of waivers are available to  subsidize the author processing charges for authors who are unable to pay, but who do not automatically qualify for a waiver under OUP’s developing countries initiative.

Please contact the Editors for any inquiries relating to author processing charge  waivers at: [email protected].

Upcoming thematic issues:

• Measuring Policy Capacity
• Towards a 3rd Generation of Policy Advisory System Studies
• Behavioural Public Policy: Institutions, Values, and Nudging in the Dark
• Policy Process in the Global South
• Politics of Intermediation
• Correcting Bad Policy – Malignity and the ‘dark side’ in public policy
• Collaborative Governance in Social Policy
• Governance of Generative Artificial Intelligence
• Cultures of Evidence