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Post by terse on Mar 27, 2013 11:48:14 GMT -5
What are the word counts for SF articles?
I am at 5500 words, no tables or references.
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Post by here on Mar 27, 2013 11:58:57 GMT -5
I have absolutely no idea why I did for you what you could have done in about five seconds, but here it is: www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/sf/for_authors/ms_prep.htmlManuscript Format Articles are limited to 9,000 words (including text, endnotes, references), and no more than 10 tables and figure panels. (Social Forces no longer accepts Research Notes.) Manuscripts may not be submitted to another journal while under review by Social Forces. Microsoft Word is the preferred format for submitted manuscripts. Manuscripts should be single-spaced, with one-inch margins all around. Please use standard fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Garamond. Include callouts to tables and figures at appropriate places in the text; tables, their titles, and their notes should appear at the end of the article, after the references.
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Post by terse on Mar 27, 2013 12:33:11 GMT -5
Dear here,
Thank you. What I meant was what was the average or typical word count, not the limit.
I suspect I'm short.
Thanks, terse
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Post by here on Mar 27, 2013 14:50:24 GMT -5
Dear terse,
Now I feel kind of bad for being a jerk, but you probably could have been more specific the first time. I can't comment on average length. But good luck!
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Post by crankster on Mar 27, 2013 17:00:30 GMT -5
As a cranky old fart professor the question I hate the most is: "how long should the paper be?" This question focuses on one of the least important features of writing and suggests that the questioner was trained in an authoritarian school that emphasizes conformity. I don't think I alone with this point, so I suggest that grad students and assistant profs never ask this question of old-fart cranky professors.
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Post by terse on Mar 27, 2013 17:06:25 GMT -5
Dear here,
I absolutely should have been more specific!
And crankster, I hear you. On the other hand, is there much variance in the length of these articles? If not, then conforming probably is important.
- terse
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Post by easy to find out on Mar 27, 2013 17:38:28 GMT -5
Dear terse:
I'm curious why you're asking these questions here rather than just looking at jstor.org to see the variation of page lengths in recent issues. That seems like a basic homework assignment when preparing any article for a specific journal. Not trying to be snarky here, but it seems like basic info that you could figure out on your own.
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Post by terse on Mar 27, 2013 17:43:20 GMT -5
Dear Easy to Find Out,
Thanks for your suggestion. I am not sure how to translate between number of journal pages and number of words, or for that matter between number of pages in microsoft word and number of journal pages. I've seen a rubric of 1000 words per page but that seems high -- many AJS articles are over 20 pages, are they really 20,000 words? No.
I thought that if someone in this community had the answer that they would share it. Seems as if no one does. If I do figure it out, I'll post it myself.
Be well, terse
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Post by Protip on Mar 27, 2013 18:43:53 GMT -5
Pick five recent articles that are similar in methodological approach and copy and paste each into a word doc and use the word count function. This will work for any recently digitized PDF. This should give you some idea of the average length. Like the cranky old fart I agree that substance trumps all. Have seen Ajs manuscripts that are right at 5000.
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longer than you think
Guest
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Post by longer than you think on Mar 27, 2013 19:16:57 GMT -5
Jim Moody presented some relevant work on this at ASA. My memory was an interquartile range of about 17-22,000 words in major sociology journals.
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Post by how strict? on Nov 1, 2013 9:39:26 GMT -5
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Post by very strict on Nov 1, 2013 13:15:24 GMT -5
When it was 9,000 I submitted something that was around 9,500 and they immediately sent it back to me and told me to cut it. This was a year or so ago.
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Post by SF- recent on Jul 7, 2014 7:15:03 GMT -5
Do you have a recent experience with Social Forces? Is the wait still as long as implied by some of the comments above? I am trying to decide whether to send my paper to them or to Social Problems. Thanks! Any thoughts appreciated!
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Post by Reviewed recently on Jul 7, 2014 10:11:58 GMT -5
I reviewed for them recently. In the email, they asked reviewers to turn it around in four weeks. I got an email to review in early November and the first decision was made in late January (a reject). So that's likely around 3 months. That said, a friend of mine who regularly reviews there told me that it often comes back faster if it's a reject.
In personal conversation with the editorial team at Social Problems, average time to first decision at Social Problems is 5 months.
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Post by manuscript on Jul 25, 2014 13:58:33 GMT -5
Anyone have experience submitting to Social Forces? I'm planning to submit a qualitative piece, I've seen a few published there, but I wanted to get a sense for others' experiences with wait times and feedback before submitting. Thanks!
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