Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

The Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research (JSSWR) is an official publication of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR). SSWR is a free-standing organization founded in 1994 to advance social work research. The journal was founded in 2009 to encourage the participation of social workers in research, to strengthen the rigor and cultural congruence of social work research, and to improve the dissemination of knowledge in social work and related professions and disciplines.

The mission of JSSWR is to provide a venue for the timely publication of research that advances knowledge of social problems, programs, and policies. Special emphasis is placed on publishing findings from studies of the effectiveness of social and health services, including public policies and practices. JSSWR publishes rigorous empirical research that advances knowledge useful for designing social programs, developing innovative public policies, and improving social work practice.

An open-access journal, JSSWR is produced in electronic format only that is organized to provide rapid, high-quality reviews of manuscripts. It uses an Internet-based editorial process for making publication decisions and for reducing the time between the submission and, when reviews are positive, the publication of manuscripts. The intended audience of JSSWR extends beyond the membership of SSWR to the broader population of practitioners, administrators, and policy makers whose interests include social and health problems.

The journal considers all forms of research, including qualitative, quantitative, comparative, and mixed methods. Its focus encompasses research relevant to a wide array of substantive fields and disciplines. Both full-length and brief reports are accepted for review. Original, research-based work that addresses important social or health problems is expected. Replication studies and studies with null findings are welcome. On the other hand, submission of manuscripts based on weak or compromised designs is not encouraged. Manuscripts that are not based on research will be returned to authors without review. For example, literature reviews should be based on a systematic analysis of articles and present meta-analytic findings. Prior to submission, manuscripts should be thoroughly edited to ensure compliance with the grammatical style and format of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition (2010).

ISSN 1948-822X

 

Section Policies

Research Articles

Research articles are peer-reviewed. Associate Editors assign peer reviewers in their areas of expertise.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Methodology

Articles with a focus on advances in methodology are peer-reviewed. Reviewers will be assigned by Section Editor Shenyang Guo.

Editors
  • Shenyang Guo, University of North Carolina
Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed
 

Peer Review Process

     JSSWR uses a masked peer-review process to evaluate manuscripts. That is, the identities of reviewers are not disclosed to authors, and manuscripts are masked so as to contain no identifying information that would reveal authors  to reviewers. Author names on Title pages and the reference lists should be blocked out in submissions or listed simply as "Author" and followed by the date of publication.

     All manuscripts are reviewed at submission and, if they meet masking and other criteria (e.g., research-based, addresses a significant social or health problem), are assigned to an editor who will appoint three peer reviewers. Reviews are usually conducted within 3 weeks and authors may expect an editorial decision within 4 weeks.

    Three types of notification are used: (a) acceptance; (b) acceptance conditioned on revisions suggested by reviewers; and (c) rejection. Once accepted, articles are copyedited and proofed. After final proofing, they are published immediately.

 

Interested in Serving as a Peer Reviewer?

           "A thoughtful review of a manuscript is a gift. It is a gift of expertise, of time, and of  careful consideration. It is a gift for authors, editors, and the field"  (Roberts, Coverdale, Edenharder, & Louie, 2004, p. 81).

       As an open access journal, JSSWR is committed to peer review and to maintaining an Editorial Review Board of highly qualified reviewers. A reviewer's responsibilities include reviewing manuscripts for clarity, accuracy, and research rigor; identifying the strengths and weaknesses manuscripts; providing authors with detailed comments on how to improve their manuscripts; and, ultimately, providing the editor-in-chief with recommendations for accepting or rejecting manuscripts for publication.

       If you are interested in reviewing for JSSWR, please send your curriculum vita to mfraser@email.unc.edu under the subject heading JSSWR Reviewer Applicant. In a brief e-mail message, please list your substantive and methodological areas of expertise. Once your vita has been received, you will be contacted regarding reviewing.

Reference

Roberts, L. W., Coverdale, J. Edenharder, K., & Louie, A. (2004). How to review a manuscript. Academic Psychiatry, 28, 81-87.

 

Publication Frequency

Once accepted, manuscripts will be published as soon as they are ready. The Table of Contents will be updated as new manuscripts are added. This accelerated publication schedule provides manuscripts with rapid exposure.

 

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

 

Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...

 

Permissions

When copyrighted work is used, authors of accepted manuscripts must obtain permission for reproduction. Manuscripts cannot be published until permissions are filed with the JSSWR.

 

Disclaimer

The views expressed by authors do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, section editors, staff of the JSSWR, or the Society for Social Work and Research.

 

Deposit of NIH-funded Manuscripts in PubMed Central

Under PL 110-161, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is required to make public all peer-reviewed published manuscripts funded fully or in part by NIH grants or cooperative agreements. The NIH has created a manuscript submission system for placing published, peer-reviewed articles on PubMed Central (PMC), a public access site containing full text scientific reports. Placing the responsibility for publication in PubMed Central on investigators, the law states:

The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall require that all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication....

JSSWR will deposit accepted manuscripts on behalf of investigators with NIH funding. To do so, we will need a signed authorization from the corresponding author (usually the principal investigator), the name(s) of the NIH funding organization(s) (e.g., NIDA, NIMH, NCI), and the grant number(s). Once an accepted manuscript is deposited, the PubMed Central will contact the principal investigator via email for verification of the uploaded files. PubMed Central will convert the files into a standard PMC format and, in 2-3 weeks, request the PI to proofread text and tables. At that time, the PI must give final authorization and designate a length of time between publication by JSSWR and posting by PubMed Central. The law enables a 12-month embargo, but JSSWR favors immediate posting. This gives maximum exposure to a manuscript.

For more information, see: http://publicaccess.nih.gov/index.htm

 

Should I publish in an open-access journal?

The SSWR created an open-access journal to provide an accelerated means for disseminating research findings. Although there are no studies comparing open-access and non open-access journals in social work, studies in other fields suggest that articles in open-access journals have citation counts as high or higher than articles in journals that are not open access.  See, for example,

Eysenbach, G. (2006). Citation advantage of open access articles. PLoS Biology, 4(5), e157. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040157