Social Science Research

[experience]

This has been helpful so far. Let's keep it rolling.

Anybody have experience with Social Science Research? It has a high impact factor (on par with Social Forces and Social Problems). If anybody has experience they'd like to share, please do!

[SSR]

I've published in SSR and also reviewed for them. The Editor, James Wright, is extremely professional and efficient. He runs a tight ship.

They have a single-blind review process (reviewers know who the author is), but if that doesn't turn you off, I say go for it.

It is very deserving of its high impact factor. Many big-name scholars publish in SSR and they've had some truly transformative articles appear there. Many junior faculty have also come out with pretty groundbreaking work in SSR.

[guest000]

I hear they can get you from submission to publication in 40 days.

[nottypical]

That might be possible, but it certainly wouldn't be typical at all. It would have to essentially be a manuscript accepted as is, with all reviewers turning in reviews on time, followed by a super quick proofing job.

Yes, the journal gives reviewers only a few weeks to do their thing (which I think is awesome, by the way). But I recently completed reviewing an R and R, and the editor's been a bit slow to make decisions, and the authors took a while to submit their revision.

[lol]

I would assume the 40 day comment is in reference to the steaming pile of shit SSR just published causing all of the uproar recently. That one publication and how it came to be is going to cause irreparable harm to the journal and the editor.

SSR: rigorous science only with exceptions for thinly veiled Christian supremacy and bigotry.

[abeliangrape]

Huh, I stumbled across this via a non-sociology news source. Where was all of this discussion amongst sociologists taking place? thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/bombshell-letter-scores-of-ph-d-s-ask-for-retraction-of-regnerus-study/legal-issues/2012/06/29/42413

[guest2]

Your link doesn't work but I'm assuming it was a link to something about the Regnerus article in SSR.

There was discussion here scatter.wordpress.com/ and here familyinequality.wordpress.com/

I wonder what this will do for SSR's reputation. Will citation counts go up because suddenly more people know about the journal or should we all cut those publications from our CVs?

[thats nuts]

Take an article off of your c.v. because it appeared in the same journal as this other article? That's crazy. An article in a top journal is still an article in a top journal, despite an apparent editorial lapse in judgement. In some people's eyes, it may count for less. But, it still counts.

Anyone who would criticize you (especially as part of the tenure and promotion process) for having an article in SSR because of this particular issue is pretty despicable.

It's a big deal now, but SSR has been around for a long time and has established a solid reputation. This will be a blip on the radar screen.

[ssr]

I agree that it's a blip on the radar and one that SSR will work to address. In the meantime, I wonder if submissions will be down, increasing chances of publication there?

[think again]

Here's a link to a letter signed by 200 sociologists and psychologists who work on family studies, gender, and sexuality protesting the expediting and publication of the Regnerus paper: familyinequality.wordpress.com/2012/06/29/200-researchers-respond-to-regnerus-paper/.

Since they're questioning the review process and the scholarly merits/ methodology of the paper, this might taint the journal for awhile. I don't see why you would want to submit here now when there are comparable journals not embroiled in drama over legitimate concerns.

[anon]

Whether SSR takes a hit is highly contingent on how they handle their giant mistake. The editor has an questionable track record on lgbtq issues and has demonstrated some major errors in judgement in not only publishing a deeply flawed study in record time but also selecting responses from people that he did. If they retracted the article it would go a long way in restoring some credibility. There are plenty of comparable (and better) better journals so I have no plans to submit unless they handle this well, and I say that as someone who has published in SSR with a good experience overall.

[evidence]

That's an ad hominem attack. What's the evidence that the editor has a spotty track record on lgbtq issues?

[then again]

Jul 4, 2012 17:58:44 GMT -5 @think again said:

I don't see why you would want to submit here now when there are comparable journals not embroiled in drama over legitimate concerns.

One reason you might want to submit there is that their submission numbers will go down, increasing the likelihood that your paper will get accepted. SSR had a fine reputation before this fuck up and as long as it is an isolated incident then search committees will not think any less of your article. Nobody's going to say, "Gee this is a good article, but it was published in SSR so we're not interested because they published the Regnerus article."

[Methodologist]

Sorry to be pesky and I'm sure I'll get shouted down, but methodologically, both what Regnerus did and what a lot of the LGBTQ researchers do are indefensible. Rigging a national sample to make gay folks look bad is bad. But so is collecting small convenience samples of the LGBTQ community. Who do you expect to show up in those samples? Advantaged people who will demonstrate a null effect perhaps?

Whether we like it or not, the science on LGBTQ families at this point is simply not capable of drawing the conclusions either side is claiming. Regnerus's data (not his analysis), however, may get us a lot closer. Somebody ought to do a propensity score analysis matching kids from LGBTQ parents (try defining it the way Regnerus did first) to otherwise similar kids (family transitions, SES, etc.). I bet the differences go away.

And stop this nonsense about one article dragging down a major journal's reputation. Have you seen some of the stuff AJS/SF has published through the years (e.g., eugenics)? If you've got something good, send it to SSR.

[apparently out of touch]

umm...what?! Can you share the eugenics citation, please?