An Interdisciplinary Journal of Policy Research

Policy and Society Guide for Authors

Policy and Society is an interdisciplinary journal exploring the social origins of policy and its manifestations in broader political and economic contexts. The Journal seeks to explore the forces and relationships that shape public policy and the impact this has on governments and societies. The Journal welcomes submissions that deal with policy issues at the local, national and/or international level.

Each issue of Policy and Society is typically devoted to a single policy theme. The theme may be specific to a particular social science discipline or, preferably, cut across disciplines. Similarly, the themes may be country-specific or comparative in scope.

How to Submit a Proposal

The proposal should be about 4 pages in length and address each of the following criteria:

1. Statement of the policy area to be explored 2. Statement on the significance of this area to public policy research 3. Statement on the rationale for the proposed Journal issue. 4. A list of the proposed articles and article titles 5. A list of the names, affiliations and contact details of the proposed contributors

Each issue will have a Guest Editor, normally the person submitting the proposal.

Proposals should be forwarded to: Policy-and-Society@nus.edu.sg Proposals are reviewed expeditiously.

Submission of Articles upon Acceptance of Proposal

Submission of manuscripts to Policy and Society proceeds entirely online via the journal's online submission and tracking tool at http://ees.elsevier.com/policysociety/. This site will guide authors step by step through the submission process.

Authors should upload the source files of their articles in the preferred format of Microsoft (MS) Word, RTF, WordPerfect, or LaTeX for text and TIFF or EPS for figures. The system automatically converts source files to a single Adobe Acrobat PDF version of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Please note that even though manuscript source files are converted to PDF at submission for the review process, these source files are needed for further processing after acceptance. Authors, reviewers, and editors send and receive all correspondence by e-mail.

The journal uses a double-blind review process. You will be asked to provide a title page with complete author details listed, along with a blinded version of your manuscript (without any author details). These files will need to be uploaded separately. The title page should include any names, affiliations, sources of finances, acknowledgements, and contact details. The blinded manuscript should not contain any author details. Further to this, any response to reviewers made when submitting a revised manuscript should not disclose the author's identity.

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or dissertation), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright holder.

Review of Manuscripts

The Editors of Policy and Society seek to ensure a timely review process and aim to have reports back to authors in four weeks from date of submission. All manuscripts are double blind refereed.

Manuscript Preparation

Length: The length should not exceed 8,000 words (including abstract, appendices, tables, references and endnotes).

Abstract: A clear and concise abstract of no more than 150 words should be included.

Keywords: Authors must provide a list of six (6) key words that describe the content and focus of the paper.

Titles: Titles and section headings should be brief.

Spelling: Authors should use UK English spellings, retaining non-UK English spellings only in quoted materials, titles or names.

Format: The manuscript must be double-spaced with one-inch margins all around. The manuscript should include a title page indicating the authors name, institutional affiliation, contact address and email address. The authors name should not appear anywhere else in the manuscript.

References

Manuscripts must conform to the fifth edition (2001) of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. All references appearing in the reference list must be cited in the text of the manuscript. If using the software Endnote, select the output style: "APA 5th Annotated". Several examples follow:

Journal article: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (2000). Title of article. Government Information Quarterly, 17, xxx-xxx.

Book: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (2000).Title of book (2nd ed.). Location: Publisher.

Chapter in edited book: Author, A. A., and Author, B. B. (2000). Title of chapter. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor, Title of book (pp. xxx-xxx). Location: Publisher.

URL: Federal Depository Library Program. Managing the FDLP electronic collection: A policy and planning document. Retrieved January 29, 2001, from http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/ecplan.html.

Footnotes should be used only if essential to the text. If used, they should be marked with consecutive Arabic numerals.

Responsibility for the accuracy of bibliographic citations lies entirely with the Authors.

Illustrations

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on the Elsevier website: http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. You are urged to visit this site.

Authors' Rights

As an author, you (or your employer or institution) retain certain rights; for details you are referred to: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights.

Conflict of interest

All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work. See also http://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to sign a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (for more information on this and copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright). Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail (or letter) will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.

Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations (please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions).

If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has pre-printed forms for use by authors in these cases (please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions).

Proofs

Accepted papers will be copy-edited and returned to the corresponding author for approval prior to typesetting. Once papers have been typeset, one set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author (if we do not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post). Elsevier now sends PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 available free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs. The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/acrrsystemreqs.html#70win.

If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return to Elsevier in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by fax, or scan the pages and e-mail, or by post.

Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections to the PDF proof are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading of the PDF proof is solely your responsibility. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.

Offprints The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use.

Author Enquiries

For enquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission where available) please visit this journal's homepage at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/polsoc. You can track accepted articles at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle and set up e-mail alerts to inform you of when an article's status has changed, as well as copyright information, frequently asked questions and more. Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are provided after registration of an article for publication.