Submitting a Manuscript

Manuscripts must be submitted electronically. Authors who wish to submit manuscripts for consideration at Perspectives on Politics must register with and use the online manuscript processing system called Editorial Manager. First-time users should register and create a profile. Returning users may log in and continue using their existing profile, and may update their user information at any time. 

Perspectives on Politics only accepts unsolicited research articles for publication in its “Articles” section. Every article submitted to Perspectives undergoes a standard review process. The first step in this process is a blind, in-house assessment by editorial staff aimed at determining whether the submission is of sufficient quality and an appropriate fit for the journal. Every article submitted is read and reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief or the Associate Editor and at least one additional member of the editorial staff. The editorial office seeks to promptly consider each article within two weeks of submission, during which time each article is discussed at a weekly editorial staff meeting. At this juncture, our aim is to determine whether or not we will send the manuscript out to external referees. Many submissions do not meet this hurdle, typically because the submissions in question are not geared toward the journal’s broad readership and seem more appropriately placed in more specialized scholarly journals. In all such negative cases, authors can expect to receive word within two weeks, along with an explanation for this editorial decision. The goal of the editorial office is to treat each manuscript with the seriousness it deserves, to subject each to careful consideration, and to render editorial decisions that offer clear explanations and useful comments. Those submissions that clear the internal review process are then sent out for external review according to a standard double-blind referee process. Learn more about the peer review process here. 

Perspectives does not consider papers that are currently under review at other journals or that duplicate or overlap with parts of larger manuscripts submitted to other publishers. Please do not submit manuscripts substantially similar to those published elsewhere (including parts of a book or other larger works, or articles published in other languages). If you have any questions about whether these policies apply in your particular case, contact us at perspectives@apsanet.org. 

Authors are required to upload a minimum of three separate files: 

• A separate title page that includes the full manuscript title, plus names and contact information (mailing address, telephone, fax, email address) for all credited authors in the order their names should appear, as well as each author’s 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.
• A file containing brief Author Bios.
• 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 in the body of the paper or mention institution names, web page addresses, or other potentially identifying information.

Although we strive to keep the review process as short as possible, commissioning prompt reviews can be a challenge and can sometimes take longer than we would like. Authors can monitor the status of their submissions through the Editorial Manager system, and we are always happy to answer questions. 

File Type Restrictions

When submitting manuscripts to Perspectives on Politics using Editorial Manager, be aware of the following file type restrictions: You are not permitted to submit manuscript files as PDF documents. The Editorial Manager system will build a PDF document from the Microsoft Word files you submit, which will ensure anonymity. If you have questions or concerns about this, including questions about submissions built using LaTeX, please contact the Managing Editor at perspectives@apsanet.org.

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 Proceed button to continue. You will provide further required details on the Additional Information page. When answering the question about a paper’s anonymity, consider the following:
• Is your manuscript saved on your computer with your name in the filename (i.e. Smith_perspectives_submission.docx)? If so, re-save your manuscript with a filename that has no identifying information before submitting the paper.
• Do your names appear in the header or footer areas of your manuscript? If so, remove them before submitting the paper.
• Does the paper refer to your previous work in the text of the manuscript using phrases such as “in my earlier work (Smith 2004),” or “in our 2003 article on … we”? Such self- references do not comply with the double-blind review structure of Perspectives.
• Have acknowledgements been included within the manuscript submitted for review that indicate 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 be evaluated.

You can provide the Perspectives editor with your cover letter text or other background information on your submission using the Enter Comments page. The text can be copied and pasted into the comment box, or remarks can be typed there directly. We hope that you will make clear how your submission is well suited for Perspectives and consistent with its distinctive editorial mission.

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 point out 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 Proceed button to bypass suggesting or opposing potential reviewers.

Use the Attach Files page to furnish the submission itself. The title page, abstract, and a brief third-person 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. Please do not upload your manuscript with a filename that includes your name. Select the order in which you wish the manuscript to be viewed; the system then creates an anonymous PDF file of the entire submission. Finally, it is important to note that any files uploaded as ‘Supplementary Files’ will not be sent to reviewers. So please do not upload Appendices or other items reviewers need to access as ‘Supplementary Files’.

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 the submission 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.