Perspectives on Politics
Policy Guidelines
Perspectives on Politics aspires to be engaging, illuminating, provocative, and broad
based; it seeks to build bridges across the discipline of political science and to reach out
to readers beyond the discipline—to fellow social scientists, to people directly engaged inpolitics, law or policy-making, and to those who are simply interested in politics. Its
articles should be useful for students, specialists, non-specialists, practitioners, andkibitzers. Perspectives seeks to be experimental in content and format while retaining thehighest standards of scholarly excellence. The editors invite suggestions for articles,
symposia, review essays, commentary, and dialogues, as well as other ideas, frompolitical scientists or anyone else concerned with the use of research and careful thinking
to address crucial issues and values in the realms of power and politics.
These guidelines include information on the following:
Journal Contact Information

Style and Format

Philosophy

Submission and Review

Article Types

Conflict of Interest Policy

Instructions to Reviewers

Instructions to Authors

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Contact Information
Submit a paper to Perspectives on Politics: http://www.editorialmanager.com/pop
Contact us: popsub@mail.rochester.edu
Perspectives on Politics
Department of Political Science
University of Rochester
Harkness Hall
Rochester, NY 14627
Tel. (585) 275-3225
Fax (585) 271-1616

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Philosophy

Perspectives on Politics is a general journal of political science that seeks to provide
political insight on important problems. The papers we publish emerge from rigorous,
broad-based research and integrative thought. The editors anticipate authors and readers
primarily comprising political scientists, but also including journalists, policy analysts,
public officials and their staff, and other social scientists. Our authors aim to clarify for
their readers the political significance of accumulated research regarding a particular areaof the world, an important policy problem, a deep normative conflict, or a significant
institution or process; they may also demonstrate the insights that accrue from viewing
politics from a distinctive viewpoint, method, or type of evidence.
Articles in Perspectives on Politics should encourage members of different subfields ofpolitical science to speak to one another--and with knowledgeable people outside thediscipline--on issues of common interest. To do that, they must be conceived differently
from most articles in political science journals. Those typically address the author's peers
in a specialized area and thus can presume that readers use the same tools andterminology and know the general context and significance of the author's query. By
contrast, in Perspectives each article must be meaningful for people with much generalknowledge of politics but often with scant specific knowledge of the issue at hand.
Contributors may take a variety of approaches, illustrated by but not limited to thefollowing possibilities:•••

Explaining what central political issues are at stake in a given topic of research (such asclassical Greek philosophy, the development of an independent judiciary, the nature ofpolitics in a particular country or region, campaign finance reform, or state involvement ininternational trade). An article in this vein should show why those issues matter to a wide
audience and how the reader should understand the issues in light of particular evidence,
history, frameworks, or values. It will probably also explain what problems remain to bestudied or cannot be resolved. Such a piece may offer a distinct, even contentious (but welldefended) stance rather than a neutral or carefully balanced judiciousness, so long as it fairly
articulates opposing viewpoints. Alternatively, it could offer a broad summary of an emerging
research subfield or bring together disparate sets of literature that are mutually illuminating.
Several articles that represent varied viewpoints, types of evidence, epistemologicalframeworks, or conclusions and recommendations could be combined into a symposium orother type of structured exchange; we invite proposals for these.
Showing what political science can offer to help people understand a crucial political event or
tendency (such as the rise of religiously-inspired political terrorism, illegal immigration frompoor to wealthy nations, or the demand for democratic elections). What does the academic
study of politics and power teach us that journalists, political actors, or insightful observers
cannot? Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to offer recommendations for politicalaction, moral judgment, or policy choices as a way of demonstrating the distinctive
contributions of the discipline of political science to the problem at hand.
Showing how a multiplicity of individual research projects in a given area, once suitablyorganized and connected, adds up to a major shift in our understanding of some important
aspect of politics. Artfully crafted and thematically oriented review essays of major books andarticles are the most obvious and appropriate way of accomplishing this task. Authors could

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•

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•

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also review Web sites, political speeches, general exam reading lists, collections of syllabi,
novels or plays, museum exhibitions, pieces of campaign literature, legal decisions, legislative
debates, or any other phenomenon that enables political scientists to reconfigure settled
understandings and focus on new questions or arguments.
Reflecting on conceptual developments within political science in order to show how the
study of politics and power has changed, whether for better or worse. Authors may trace thedevelopment (or distortion) of a crucial concept or theory, perhaps across several generationsof scholars; examples include theories of racial formation, pluralism, modernization, political
economy, political culture, or justice. Senior authors might reflect on their earlier work,
noting what they would have written differently had they known then what they know now.
Younger scholars can discuss the relevance of "classic" works to their current scholarship.
Reflecting on conceptual links and divergences across space rather than across time. How is
an idea such as rights, gender, democracy, the market, or security used differently in different
countries, political parties, epistemological frameworks, or social science disciplines? Why dothese different usages matter for our understanding of politics?
Taking on perennial unanswerable (or at least unanswered) questions about power andpolitics, and showing how political scientists can contribute to at least partial answers. How
can political scientists make sense of sin and evil, or virtue and inspiration? Why did
communism fall in most nations of the world and at a particular moment? What are thepolitical implications of the huge movements of persons and capital around the world? Why
do states repress or make war on people within their own borders? Why is capitalism closely
associated with democracy? (This is, of course, a small sampling of potential topics.)
Reflecting on how the knowledge generated by political scientists affects and is affected byacademic and political infrastructures. Studies of libraries, foundations, university and college
departments, or teaching priorities may shed light on how and why the study of some politicalphenomena has flourished or withered, or why some methods of analysis grow or disappear;
they should also show how this affects our understanding of politics and power. A related
question considers how knowledge produced by political scientists is used, or misused, bypeople outside the discipline and what types of knowledge policy makers, journalists, social
scientists in related disciplines, and political activists wish academics would produce.

In short, what unites articles in Perspectives on Politics is that all political scientists andmany public actors can learn from them. Nonspecialists will become aware of the mostimportant research in a subfield and the most intriguing questions it opens up. For
specialists, articles should lead to new questions about their ongoing research andteaching, new ideas about how to proceed, and new connections with other areas of thediscipline or other disciplines. Scholars in related disciplines will see how they can use
research on politics and power in their own work, and how they can contribute to ouragendas. Political and policy actors will find their positions and proposals supported,challenged, and changed by evidence emerging from broad-based research; they too arewelcomed as contributors. All of us will learn more about why and how the discipline ofpolitical science matters.

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Article Types

Perspectives publishes several types of articles, organized into distinct sections.
In the "Articles" section, authors generally follow the traditional model of an academic
journal by using the results of research or analysis to address a political problem or
phenomenon, with a focus that is broader than the usual report on an individual research
agenda. These articles can be as long as 10,000 words (approximately 13 journal pages).
In the "Perspectives" section, authors may offer short, sharp commentaries on a politicalphenomenon or policy problem; engage in dialogues or debates to highlightmethodological or substantive disagreements; or provide insights into or evaluation ofother works of interest to political scientists. “Perspectives” typically range from 4,000–
5,500 words (5–7 journal pages).
In the "Review Essays" section, authors may review a small set of books, articles, orother "texts" in order to show how these materials illuminate a larger conceptual,political, or normative concern. Review Essays vary in length, averaging about 8,000
words (10 journal pages). While Review Essays sometimes originate in proposals
submitted to the main Editorial Office, many result from invitations that our Book
Review Editor extends to specific authors. In either case, the Editor and Book Review
Editor collaborate in the editorial process for Review Essays.
Perspectives also publishes a variety of Symposia, Dialogues, Commentaries. The Editor
will consider innovative proposals for any of these formats.
While the “Book Review” section is fully a part of Perspectives, and while the Review
Editor collaborates closely with the Editor, the Review editorial office is a distinct
operation. The Review publishes single, double, and triple book reviews (typically
1,000, 1,500, and 2,000 words respectively). It also publishes symposia, criticalexchanges, and review essays. The Review section does not accept unsolicited reviews
nor does it accept requests to review particular books. All pieces published in the Review
are commissioned and edited by the Review Editor. All pieces must be well written andclearly argued. But unlike the Perspectives main section, the Review does not employ apeer review process.

5Style and Format
Perspectives articles must aim simultaneously to appeal to non-specialists and to convey
distinctive insights to specialists. An article will typically begin with a few paragraphs
introducing the topic, its importance, and the gist of the central argument. Alternatively, theauthor may set up a fascinating puzzle or raise a stimulating question, and invite the reader tofollow a line of argument to a resolution revealed only at the end. In either case, at crucial pointsof transition the author should recapitulate and foreshadow; the conclusion should make crystal
clear just what readers have learned.
Articles must be well written, tightly organized, and lively. Avoid jargon when possible. Since
Perspectives aims to maximize readership and appreciation of each article, please take great pains
to use the simplest and most straightforward method of exposition possible in making anargument (authors will be able to provide on-line links to more detailed or technical material).
Specialized vocabularies and equations are appropriate if explained in the text and essential to a
topic or argument. Perspectives especially welcomes illustrations, charts, and other visualmaterial that help to convey important points. We encourage authors to pay special attention tovisual elements in their submissions.
Submissions should include an inviting title, an engaging lead paragraph, a clear statement of
purpose and content, and a sharp conclusion. Additionally, they should provide an approximate
word count at the beginning of the document, number all text pages consecutively, number charts
or illustrations separately, and put each chart or illustration on a separate page.
Please keep all endnotes, references, and appendices to an absolute minimum. These should be
essential rather than decorative or defensive. Notes and references should be double-spaced at theend of the article, not cited parenthetically within the text. References in Perspectives articles arelimited to works cited. Bibliographic endnotes are abbreviated as "Smith 2002, 49-56" and areinterspersed with informational endnotes.
Please refer to a recent issue of Perspectives to determine how we customarily present articles.

6Submission and Review

Perspectives on Politics uses several channels to generate and develop articles. The editor
and associate editors solicit some. Potential contributors also may submit a fully
developed manuscript. Regardless of how a submission originates, everything we publish
undergoes a standard review process. The first step in this process is an in-houseassessment by Editorial staff aimed at determining whether the submission is of sufficientquality or an appropriate fit for the journal. This assessment is governed by a standard
set of criteria that we apply to discuss each submission. At this juncture our aim is todetermine whether or not we will send the manuscript out to referees. In most cases,
authors can expect to receive word one way or the other within a few weeks. Thosesubmissions that clear this hurdle then undergo a standard double-blind referee process.
Based on referee reports the Editor will then decide to reject a submission, accept it, oroffer the author(s) the opportunity to revise and resubmit their manuscript.
Perspectives does not consider papers that are currently under review at other journals orthat duplicate or overlap with parts of larger manuscripts submitted to other publishers(including publishers of both books and periodicals). Submission of manuscripts
substantially similar to those submitted or published elsewhere, or to part of a book orother larger work, is also strongly discouraged. If you have any questions about whether
these policies apply in your particular case, you should discuss any such publications
related to a submission in a cover letter to the Editors or as part of the author comments
section of the online submission process. You should also notify the Editors of any
related submissions to other publishers, whether for book or periodical publication, that
occur while a manuscript is under review at Perspectives and which would fall within thescope of this policy. The Editors may request copies of related publications.
You will be required to upload a minimum of three separate files:•

a separate title page that includes the full manuscript title, plus names andcontact information (mailing address, telephone, fax, e-mail address) for all
credited authors in the order their names should appear, as well as eachauthors’ academic rank and institutional affiliation. You may also include any
acknowledgements or other author notes about the development of the paper(e.g., previous presentations of the research) as part of this separate title page.
In the case of multiple authors, indicate which should receive
correspondence.

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a 200-word abstract for the submission•

an anonymous digital file of your paper. This file should not include any
information that identifies the authors, or any other collaborators in the work
(including anyone responsible for creating tables or figures, if they are also an
author/collaborator). It should not thank colleagues in notes or elsewhere in7the body of the paper or mention institution names, web page addresses, orother potentially identifying information.
Although we strive to keep the review process as short as is possible, and to keep authors
informed as to where their submissions stand in the process, our procedures often meanthat our time to decision is somewhat longer than is the case with other journals. This isespecially true in the case of symposia, and other collaborative forms of publication that
require us to solicit relatively large numbers of referees.
Authors who wish to submit manuscripts for consideration at Perspectives on Politics
must register with Editorial Manager®, our online manuscript processing system. Firsttime users should register and create their profile at www.editorialmanager.com/pop .
Returning users may log in and continue using their existing profile, and may update theiruser information at any time.
When submitting manuscripts to Perspectives on Politics using Editorial Manager, beaware of the following file type restrictions: Do not submit files using Microsoft® Word
2007 documents (.DOCX extension). Please use an earlier version of Microsoft® Word.
Do not submit files as .PDF documents. The Editorial Manager system will build a .PDF
document from the files you submit, which will ensure anonymity.
If you have questions or concerns about our procedures please contact the Managing
Editor at popsub@mail.rochester.edu.

8Conflict of Interest Policy

1. Editors will not publish an article or review essay in Perspectives, either as author or as
coauthor, during the time that they serve on the journal's editorial board. However, they
may be called upon to do other kinds of writing for Perspectives, such as introductions
for symposia.
2. Editors will not assume chief responsibility for editing/developing articles or review
essays submitted by their departmental colleagues or students. This goes for both (or all)departments if editors hold joint appointments. They may offer comments on articles by
their colleagues/students; they may also solicit articles from colleagues/students or
encourage colleagues/students to send manuscripts to another editor. Editors will not be
primary decision-makers when it comes to accepting or rejecting manuscripts submitted
by their colleagues or students.
3. Editors will not solicit review essays about books or articles that were written by theirdepartmental colleagues or students, and they will not be primary decision-makers whenit comes to accepting or rejecting such essays. They may offer comments on such essays
in draft form; they also may suggest to another editor review essay ideas that include
books or articles by colleagues or students.
4. Rules #2 and #3 also hold for former students who obtained their Ph.D. five or fewer
years from the date of a proposal or submission.
5. Rules #2 and #3 also hold for anyone who has worked as a coauthor with an editor
within five years of a proposal or submission.
6. Although all recommendations by external reviewers and associate editors will carry agood deal of weight, the editor-in-chief has final say as to which manuscripts are
accepted for publication.
Proposed and confirmed by the editors, May 20029

Perspectives on Politics
Instructions for Reviewers
If you are unfamiliar with Perspectives on Politics it might be helpful to review some ofthe documents regarding Submissions and the Editorial Process, accessible at the
Perspectives homepage.
We use the familiar double-blind review process. That means we do not reveal to theauthor(s) the identity of referees. Likewise we do not reveal to you the identity of theauthor(s) of this manuscript. (You are not automatically disbarred from the review
process if you believe you do know the identity of the author(s). If that is the case, please
let us know.) This arrangement is intended to facilitate frank, independent assessment of
all submissions. We hope you will provide your full and candid judgment of themanuscript.
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Can the manuscript be published as is, or with only cosmetic changes?

•

Can the manuscript be published with only minor revisions? If so, whatchanges are necessary?

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Does the manuscript require significant changes in order to clear the thresholdof publication? Again, what changes are necessary?

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Should the manuscript be rejected? If so, what are the primary reasons for yourjudgment?

Because we aspire to reach a broad audience, we are especially concerned with theargumentative structure—both stylistic and substantive—of the papers we publish. With
that in mind, here are some specific questions to help guide you as you assess thismanuscript.
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Is the empirical evidence on which the argument builds sound?
Are there sorts of evidence that might make the argument stronger or,conversely, that you feel will weaken it?

•

Is the interpretation of any empirical evidence that is provided plausible?
Are there competing interpretations that the authors overlook?

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Does the manuscript fairly present and address relevant counter-arguments?
Are there plausible counter-arguments that it overlooks?

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Is the argument presented clearly?
Can you suggest ways to improve the writing and visual elements (i.e., graphs,
tables, etc.)?
Are there technical aspects of the argument that might be moved to appendices?
Does the manuscript rely too heavily on arcane terminology or jargon?
10•

Does the author properly situate her argument in relevant literatures?
Is the paper properly documented?
Does it rely too heavily or not heavily enough on footnotes?

11Perspectives on Politics
Instructions for Authors
Authors wishing to submit their manuscripts to Perspectives on Politics must registerwith Editorial Manager®, an online submission and review system.
First time users should register and create their profile atwww.editorialmanager.com/pop. You will be able to use the same login information toaccess any of the APSA journals. Returning users may log in and continue using their
existing profile, and may edit their information at any time.
The system has links for Author Help, an Author Tutorial, and Frequently Asked
Questions to assist successful submission of your manuscript.
File Type Restrictions
When submitting to Perspectives using Editorial Manager, do not send Microsoft® Office
Word 2007 documents (.DOCX extension). Please use an earlier version for yoursubmission. System compatibility with Word 2007 is not yet assured.
Please do not submit your paper as a .PDF document. The Editorial Manager system willbuild a .PDF document from the files you submit, which will ensure its anonymity.
Submitting a Manuscript
You will be guided through the submission process and prompted to provide information
about your submission. A checklist at the left of the screen indicates the steps in thesubmission process.
You will need to provide particular and background information about your submission.
Often, this information can be cut and pasted from an existing document into thecomment boxes provided online, such as when providing the manuscript’s abstract.
Specific Procedures
Keywords and classifications describe the content of your manuscript. The keywords
should designate which subfield(s) of political science your work falls into, as well as any
particular aspects of your submission. The classifications indicate areas of research
specialization. These terms are standard among the American Political Science
Association and its journals. Once you have made the classification selections, choose
the Next button to continue.

12You will provide further required details on the Additional Information page. Whenanswering the question about a paper’s anonymity, consider the following:•

Do your names appear on the title page or in the header or footer areas? If so,
remove them before submitting the paper.

•

Does the paper refer to your previous work in the text of the manuscript usingphrases such as “in my earlier work (Smith 2004),” or “in our 2003 article onxxxx,7 we… ”? Such self-references do not comply with the double-blind review
structure of Perspectives.

•

Have acknowledgements been included with the version submitted for review thatindicate specific grant numbers, your conference presentations, or other easily
recognized background details that would reveal your identity to the reviewers?

Any of these occurrences will trigger your submission being returned before it can beevaluated.
You can provide the Perspectives Editor with your cover letter text or other backgroundinformation on your submission using the Enter Comments page. The text can becopied and pasted into the comment box, or remarks can be typed there directly.
You also have the opportunity to specify reviewers whom you suggest or oppose. The
Suggest Reviewers page can be filled in naming those who possess the particular
background to assess the submission. The Oppose Reviewers page can be used to pointout those who are known to have already seen the paper or who might otherwise be too
close to you, such as your dissertation advisor. Choose the Next button to bypass
suggesting or opposing potential reviewers.
Use the Attach Files page to furnish the submission itself. The title page, abstract and athird-person brief author biography must be sent as separate files, while any tables,
figures, or appendix material may be included in your manuscript file, though these too
may be attached as separate files. Select the order in which you wish the manuscript tobe viewed; the system then creates an anonymous .PDF file of the entire submission.
You are required to view the resulting .PDF file. You will receive a system-generated
letter informing you of this. Likewise, if the system encountered an error while building
the .PDF, you will be sent a letter with this information. When continuing with thesubmission process as prompted, you might not see these letters until the process has
been completed; there is no need to go back into the system if your submission was
successfully completed.
Tracking a Submission
You can log in to the Perspectives Editorial Manager site to track each manuscript
through the evaluation stages. The Author Main Menu lists the steps from submission to13

a decision and provides links to view the submission’s status. The system generates
updates at various points in the review process and sends these to you using the e-mailaddress you have provided. You can contact the Perspectives Editor using the Send Email link associated with each submission.

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