Sociological Spectrum

[Guest10]

Any experiences with or impressions of this journal?

[twice]

Published twice in that journal, both with the previous editor. The second paper was a mess. It was under review for a year. After I emailed about three times, I got an acceptance. No reviews, no revisions, just an acceptance. The paper did use high-end quant techniques, but they could have found at least one person to review it. The first go-around was pretty basic - 3 or 4 months for the initial review and about 8 weeks to acceptance after resubmission.

[anyone else]

bump

[myexperience]

Sent an article in. Waited 2 months and then got an e-mail back saying they couldn't find reviewers for the article-- could I suggest some? Sent them a few names of potential reviewers. Waited another 5 months. Got a reject (two reviewers were mixed on it -- one asked for an R&R, the other didn't). Reviewer comments were useless (think one short paragraph with very vague criticisms).

In summary: 7 months for a reject with no useful feedback.

#Avoid.

[sockpuppet]

I had the same experience as "twice." Total mess. After publishing there, though, I felt invested in the journal, so I agreed to review a manuscript for them a year later. It was awful, awful, awful; I recommended reject. Never heard back. Then, months later, I saw it in print without any changes. I emailed the editor and asked if I could see the other reviews (most decent journals send them along anyways). Editor too forever to respond, then was defensive. I'll never submit or review for them again.

[no]

Submitted there and was told they couldn't find reviewers. My topic was too narrow for a 'generalist' journal, so I was told. Would have been happy to recommend a number of reviewers, but was told "No." Funny thing is, I specifically chose the journal because they had published a number of papers in that area over the last few years. Go figure….

Won't submit there again.

[recent experiences]

Hi All,

Any recent experiences with this one? Older posts point toward a sh** show of a process here, but maybe they have improved of late?

Anyone who has submitted here over the last several months, please check in. Thanks. 

[anyone?]

bump.

[not extremely recent, but...]

I'd have to say I had a pretty positive experience with this journal.

Submitted in early Nov 2013, received R&R in late Dec, resubmitted after 2 months - late Feb 2014 (deadline given by journal), accepted in early March

[bump]

Bump

[Recent]

Submitted in Fall 2015, 2 months for an R&R, decent and constructive comments from 2 reviewers, 1 month for the revision to be accepted. Already out in print. Not a bad experience, I would submit again.

[acceptance rate?]

Any journal insiders know their acceptance rate?

[atlien]

The year before last was 15%, don't think the 2015 Editors' Report has been released yet.

[hard]

Low(ish) acceptance rate and a low impact factor. Happy to hear the process is smooth.

[Editor]

The journal changed hands several years ago. We try to get authors a decision in two months, although if the paper is not a good fit we will tell you in a week or so. Some papers take longer and that generally depends on some reviewers taking more time than we would like (we remind them offen), and in cases of r & r. We generally accept about 15-20%, although students do less well as you might expect. Always looked for good papers in areas of interest to the discipline and readers. We are not uncomfortable with controversy. And we are highly reviewer based. Rarely do we go against reviewer sentiment. Don't hesitate if you have any questions, we try to be as open and fair as possible. K. Breault