Submission Guidelines

The Journal of Stratification Economics (JSE) welcomes submissions of original scholarly work that has not been previously published and that is not currently under review at another publication. JSE publishes research papers, review papers, commentaries, and book reviews. The journal is published biannually but invites submissions year-round.

All submissions are processed via Scholastica. Authors will need to login using an existing Scholastica account or create a new one. Please see the Author Guide provided by Scholastica to submit articles and direct any technical or software questions to Scholastica customer support. In addition, all authors are required to follow University of California Press’s Artificial Intelligence Guidelines.

Please do not send submissions directly to editorial team members unless specifically requested. Instead, use the email list at the end of these guidelines and choose the address most appropriate to your needs.

Research Papers

Research manuscripts should present novel work within the scope of the journal which represents an important advancement in knowledge or understanding. Research articles need to include an introduction, well-reported methodology with substantial detail to facilitate replication and extension by future scholars, results, and a discussion of the findings and/or conclusions of the primary analysis in the context of the published literature.

Manuscripts of original research should typically be in the range of 8,000 to 10,000 words, excluding references, and footnotes. All manuscripts and supporting materials will be subject to peer review, and any author comments or explanations should be presented as footnotes and should be kept to a minimum.

Review Papers

Review papers are commissioned subject reviews of relevant literature on ranges of stratification economics topics. All review papers will be subject to peer review. Review papers should typically be in the range of 8,000 to 10,000 words, excluding references, and footnotes. Please note that comments or explanations should be placed as footnotes and should be kept to a minimum.

Commentaries

Commentaries are reflections on contemporary events or insights from scholars, and policy practitioners. Commentaries should typically be around 5,000 words, excluding references, and footnotes. All commentaries will be subject to editorial review.

Book Reviews

Book reviews should summarize and critique books and typically be in the range of 1,500-2,000 words. The journal welcomes open submissions and actively solicits book reviews. All book reviews will be subject to editorial review.

Peer-Review Process

The journal uses a double-blind peer review method. As such, no identifying information should appear in the body of the manuscript. Authors should include a separate cover page listing article title, author(s) name(s) and contact information.

If submissions are deemed appropriate for the scope and quality of the journal based on the initial review, then they will generally be reviewed anonymously by a minimum of two referees. Please note that all authors whose papers are accepted for publication are required to sign an Author Agreement.

Formatting your manuscript

Accepted File Types

Initial submissions should be formatted only in PDF, double-spaced, use a 12-point font, have pages numbered consecutively, and leave the right margin ragged. You do not need to follow a template, but please ensure your heading levels are clear, and the sections clearly defined.

Title

Your manuscript’s title should be concise and descriptive to facilitate its indexing.

Title Page

To ensure fair and anonymous peer review, your manuscript must be fully anonymized. Please ensure any identifying information is removed from the main manuscript document and included on the Title Page instead.
The Title Page should include:
● Title
● The full list of authors including names and affiliations
● The corresponding author’s full name, institutional address, telephone number, and email address

Abstract

You should include an unstructured abstract of up to 200 words that concisely states the purpose of the manuscript, major findings, and conclusions. The abstract should appear on the first page of the body of the manuscript.

Keywords and JEL Codes

You should include 4 to 6 keywords, listed after the abstract. Keywords should be as specific as possible. You should include 3-4 JEL Codes.

Tables, Images, Figures and Other Illustrations

Images and figures should be submitted in a separate document following APA style, not embedded in the article itself. For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures, and graphs in electronic format, please refer to the APA’s guidance on formatting tables and figures. Alt-text will be required for all tables, images, figures, and other illustrations of accepted papers.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish images if necessary.

Equations

• Equations should be written as clearly as possible. Use separate lines for each equation and number them in chronological order.
• Use italics for scalar variables.
• Use boldface for vectors.
• Use 𝒮𝒞ℛℐ𝒫𝒯 for sets.
• Use only two levels of subscripts and superscripts.
• Use a slash “/” and clearly denote numerator and denominator with parentheses for fractions.
• Use blackboard font only to indicate real numbers, integers, and natural numbers only.
• Alt-text should be provided for all equations.
• Please do not provide equations as images.

Numerals

• Spell out numbers under 100.
• Use numerals for measurements (e.g., 12 km) and ages (e.g., 10 years old).
• Insert a comma for both thousands and tens of thousands, with no space following (e.g., 1,000 and 20,000).
• Use the minimum number of figures for ranged numbers and dates (e.g., 22, 4, 105–6, 1966–7, 112–3, 1914–8).
• Use the percentage sign only in figures and tables; spell out “percent” in the text using a numeral for the number (e.g., 84 percent).

Dates

• Use the following format for dates. For example, October 15, 1985.
• Use on October 15, or on the 15th of October.
• Use 1980s.
• Use eighteenth century and use it hyphenated when used as an adjective (e.g., eighteenth-century literature).

After the conclusion of the manuscript please upload separately the following documents

Acknowledgments

Declaration of Conflict of Interest

1. Include a statement that discloses any potential conflict of interest, real and perceived, for all listed authors.

Declaration of Competing Interest

1. Include a statement that discloses any potential competing interest for all listed authors.
2. Relevant competing interests may include, but are not limited to employment (current, recent, or anticipated), consulting arrangements, research funding, grants, and editorial or advisory roles with this journal.

Funding Statement

1. Include a statement that indicates your sources of funding and acknowledgments of any kind of financial assistance in the process of writing the manuscript.
2. Include a statement describing the role of funding institution(s) in the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article.

Statement on Use of AI

1. Please indicate if you have used generative AI or AI-assisted tools. JSE only recommends utilizing these technologies for writing and clarity purposes.
2. AI should not be listed as an author or co-author.

Reference Style and Citations

The journal follows the APA reference style. View the APA guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms. Every in-text citation must have a corresponding citation in the reference list and vice versa.

Footnotes

Footnotes can be used to give additional information, which may include the citation of a reference included in the reference list. Avoid using footnotes solely for citations, and do not include full bibliographic entries. Moreover, figures and tables are not permitted in footnotes.

Supplemental Material

This journal can host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, additional tables, etc.) alongside the full text of the article.

Prepare the Supplemental Materials following The Journal of Stratification Economics’ Guide for Preparing Replication Files.

Data

Data Availability Statement
Please provide a data availability statement indicating how others can access the data, code, study protocols, and any other relevant materials.

Guidelines for Human Research Participant Data

1. Before sharing human-subject datasets, researchers must consult with the appropriate ethics committee to ensure full adherence to participant permissions and various legal requirements
2. JSE requires researchers to continuously protect human-subject privacy. Hence, researchers must de-identify all data prior to submission of their dataset or study protocols.
3. In the case of small sample sizes, researchers must implement heightened privacy protections so that the identities of the research participants remain impossible to infer from the submitted dataset.
4. Institutional Review Board (IRB) Statement must be provided for human subject research.
5. For authors conducting research outside the U.S., please include a statement from your country’s IRB-equivalent ethics body. Examples include EC in India, IEC in the EU, and ERC in China.
6. An Informed Consent Statement must be provided for human subject research.

Data and Code Availability Policy

1. Authors of accepted papers must submit all relevant data, protocols and code used in their analysis.
2. Please refer to the Data and Code Availability Standard (DCAS) and our broader data replication guidelines before preparing or submitting any study protocol(s), data or code.

JSE Guide for Preparing Replication Files

1. At the time of submission, authors must state whether the data is restricted or not.
2. All dataset(s), code(s) and study protocol(s) used in the research must be archived in the journal’s data repository page on Harvard Dataverse Network.

Accessibility
Please note that it is the responsibility of authors to ensure that accepted manuscripts comply with University of California Press’s Accessibility Requirements. University of California Press cannot guarantee publication of an article if it does not meet accessibility requirements.

Contact

1. For general matters related to the journal and its editors, email jse-editor@umass.edu.
2. For questions about a submission in process and the management of submissions in general, email jse-submissions@umass.edu.
3. For data- and replication-related matters, email jse-data@umass.edu.
4. For conference abstracts and other conference-related matters, email jse-conference@umass.edu