Submissions

This page is designed to help you ensure your submission is ready for and fits the scope of the journal.

Before submitting please read over the Guide for Contributors and the information below.

All submissions, questions, and comments should be sent to the Editor via email: jmethods@arizona.edu


About

The Journal of Methods and Measurement in the Social Sciences (JMM) is an online scholarly publication focusing on methodology and research design, measurement, and data analysis—providing a new venue for unique and interesting contributions in these study areas which frequently overlap.

Focus and Scope

The Journal of Methods and Measurement in the Social Sciences (JMM) publishes articles related to methodology and research design, measurement, and data analysis. The journal is published twice yearly, and features theoretical, empirical, and educational articles.

JMM is meant to further our understanding of methodology and how to formulate the right questions. It is broadly concerned with improving the methods used to conduct research, the measurement of variables used in the social sciences, and improving the applications of data analysis. In addition to research articles, JMM welcomes instructional articles and brief reports or commentaries. We welcome sound, original contributions.

Editorial Personnel

The Editors are assisted by an Executive Editorial Board composed of distinguished scholars. In this way, JMM is well-equipped to provide a solid publication platform for contributions to methods, measurement, and data analysis. Furthermore, the online nature of JMM carries a number of advantages. While online periodicals are relatively new in methodology, measurement, and data analysis, they are not new in many fields of scientific endeavor where their advantages have become obvious. Not only does JMM's online format enable rapid publication of articles, reviews, and reports, it also enables the retrieval of JMM articles from any Internet-connected computer, in far less time than printed sources can usually be retrieved. The Journal of Methods and Measurement in the Social Sciences is an open access journal.

Submission Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

  1. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided to the Editor).
  2. The submission file is in MS Word document file format (.doc or .docx).
  3. JMM follows the current Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association with the following exception: Manuscripts should be single-spaced; Manuscripts should include an abstract and three to five key words.
  4. All contributions must be submitted in English.
  5. Where available, URLs and DOIs for the references have been provided.
  6. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references and quotations. Authors should make sure they are correct, in substance and style.
  7. Manuscripts should use italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  8. The instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review (below) have been followed.
  9. Contributions should include a cover letter with the authors' names, telephone numbers, email and mailing addresses, and affiliations. The cover letter should specify the topics (theoretical/empirical; methodology and research design, measurement and/or data analysis), and the type of contribution (full length manuscript, Nugget, Notes, Research Protocols, Cheap Lessons).

Ensuring a Blind Review

To ensure the integrity of the blind peer-review for submission to this press, every effort should be made to prevent the identities of the authors and reviewers from being known to each other. This involves the authors, editors, and reviewers (who upload documents as part of their review) checking to see if the following steps have been taken with regard to the text and the file properties:

  • The authors of the document have deleted their names from the text, with "Author" and year used in the references and footnotes, instead of the authors' name, article title, etc.
  • With Microsoft Office documents, author identification should also be removed from the properties for the file (see under File in Word), by clicking on the following, beginning with File on the main menu of the Microsoft application: File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document > choose to inspect "Document Properties and Personal Information" and opt to remove personal information.

Copyright Notice

Copyright of individual papers remains with the author(s) so that submissions may be freely utilized by the author(s) in other venues at any time after publication in JMM. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Peer Review

All submissions are initially assessed by an Editor, who decides whether or not the article fits the scope of the journal and is suitable for peer review. Submissions considered suitable are assigned to two independent experts who assess the article for clarity, validity, and sound methodology.

The journal uses a double-blind peer review process: authors and reviewers remain anonymous for the review process. Submissions should not contain any clues to the identity of the author(s). Double-check manuscripts for (a) self-citations; (b) institution name; and (c) references to institution-specific documents.

Based on the reviewer reports the Editorial Team will make a recommendation for rejection, revisions, or acceptance. Overall editorial responsibility rests with the journal’s Editorial Team, who are supported by the Editorial Board.

Licenses

The Journal of Methods and Measurement in the Social Sciences allows the following licence for submission:

  • CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
    Attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial – You may not use the material for commercial purposes. NoDerivatives – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material. No additional restrictions – You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Publication Fees

Journals published or hosted by the University of Arizona Libraries' Publishing Program do not charge author publishing fees. All journals hosted by the University of Arizona Libraries are fully open access, with no charges to access or to publish.

Publication Cycle

The Journal of Methods and Measurement in the Social Sciences is published twice yearly.

Sections

The online Journal of Methods and Measurement in the Social Sciences (JMM) is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal that considers contributions to research methods, research design, measurement, and data analysis. JMM publishes theoretical and empirical articles, how-to articles, and Notes.

  • Full-length theoretical and empirical manuscripts focus on issues related to research methods, research design, measurement, and data analysis. Full-length articles may be 20 pages, single-spaced. Contributors should check with the Editor before submitting an unusually long manuscript. Because this is an online journal, there is no limit on appendices.
  • The purpose of the Nuggets section is to explain and demonstrate methodological, statistical and research techniques. Potential topics include cluster randomized designs, propensity scores, software demonstrations, or adaptive sampling designs. Contributions to Nuggets may be from 10 to 20 pages, single-spaced.
  • Notes addresses research, methodological or statistical issues that can be covered in nine pages, single-spaced. There is no minimum length for short research notes as long as these clearly make a significant point.
  • Cheap Lessons includes brief articles that report problems and deficiencies that we encounter in our research. Topics may include the misestimation of the number of cases available for study, data collection approaches that do not work, and other missteps. Snafus, blunders, and hilarious research pratfalls are rarely mentioned in public. As a result, a never-ending series of researchers will repeat the same mistakes, wasting precious time exploring popular blind alleys and way-stations that can consume precious study resources.
  • JMM also accepts submissions regarding Detailed Study Protocols. Protocols submitted to JMM will be sent out for rigorous peer review. These protocols are meant contain sufficient detail to allow complete replication of a study. If accepted for publication, a Study Protocol will be accompanied by signed reviewer comments regarding the study design. Why publish a Detailed Study Protocol? First, to allow other researchers to benefit from the study team's a priori decisions regarding the research plan (from the rationale for the hypotheses, sample selection, randomization, choice of measures, a detailed description regarding the study intervention, and precise descriptions of the analyses). Second, the research team may benefit from the recommendations of seasoned peers. Another reason to publish one's study protocol is to avoid potential acrimony after the fact in the face of unexpected results. The Fort Bragg study and its companion evaluation in Stark County, Ohio (Bickman et al., 1993, 1995; Bickman 1996; Bickman, Noser, & Summerfelt, 1999) provide a disturbing example of the animosity engendered by disconfirming results. An issue of the American Psychologist was devoted to a heated discussion of the Fort Bragg study's merits and flaws (American Psychologist 52(5), May 1997). When evaluating a potentially contentious issue, even if the study team is confident their results will be consistent with the prevailing paradigm, the study team may choose for maximum transparency and peer discussion regarding their research project.