Sociology of Education

NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS

Sociology of Education provides a forum for studies in the sociology of education and human social development. We publish research that examines how social institutions and individuals’ experiences within these institutions affect educational processes and social development. Such research may span various levels of analysis, ranging from the individual to the structure of relations among social and educational institutions. In an increasingly complex society, important educational issues arise throughout the life cycle. The journal presents a balance of papers examining all stages and all types of education at the individual, institutional, and organizational levels. We invite contributions from all methodologies.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION AND PROCESSING

Manuscripts submitted to Sociology of Education (SOE) are processed electronically using Sage Track. Authors can create an account and log in to submit a manuscript at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/soe.

Authors will need to upload the following separate items into Sage Track:

• Abstract. Please provide an abstract of no more than 150 words that describes the topic of the research, the specific research questions, the data and basic research design, and the major conclusions. Remember that abstracts are summaries of the research project, not summaries of the background or motivation for the project.
• Title Page. Please include the title of the manuscript; each author’s institutional affiliation; acknowledgments; and contact information for the corresponding author.
• Blinded Manuscript. Do not include the title page or any other self-identifying information in the blinded manuscript. There is also no need to include an abstract with the blinded manuscript.
• Preferred and Non-Preferred Reviewers. Please provide names and email addresses for reviewers who are particularly well-qualified to evaluate your manuscript. Do not recommend colleagues, collaborators, or others with whom you may have a conflict of interest. Note that the Editor may choose to disregard some or all of your recommendations.
• Cover Letter (Optional). Please provide any important and relevant information that the Editor may need to fairly and effectively evaluate your manuscript.
• $25.00 Non-refundable Manuscript Processing Fee. Authors must pay the non-refundable $25.00 manuscript processing fee electronically through Sage Track. All new manuscripts require a fee unless authored by ASA student members.

Please provide an abstract of no more than 150 words that describes the topic of the research, the specific research questions, the data and basic research design, and the major conclusions. Remember that abstracts are summaries of the research project, not summaries of the background or motivation for the project.

Authors will also be asked to provide information about the source of funding for their research (if applicable) and to affirm that any research on human subjects has been reviewed and approved by an appropriate ethics committee.

Address correspondence to the Editor socofed21@gmail.com.

Ethics: Submission of a manuscript to another professional journal while it is under review by SOE is regarded by the ASA as unethical. Significant findings or contributions that have already appeared (or will appear) elsewhere must be clearly identified. All persons who publish in ASA journals are required to abide by ASA guidelines and ethics codes regarding plagiarism and other ethical issues. This requirement includes adhering to ASA’s stated policy on data-sharing: “As a regular practice, sociologists share data and pertinent documentation as an integral part of a research plan. Sociologists generally make their data available after completion of a project or its major publications, except where proprietary agreements with employers, contractors, or clients preclude such accessibility or when it is impossible to share data and protect the confidentiality of the research participants (e.g., field notes or detailed information from ethnographic interviews)” (ASA Code of Ethics, 2018).

Name Change Policy: Sage has introduced a policy to enable name and pronoun changes for our authors. ASA journals published by Sage follow this policy. Going forward, all requests to make a name or pronoun change will be honored. This includes, but is not limited to, name changes because of marriage, divorce, gender affirmation, and religious conversion. For more information, read Sage’s Name Change Policy. 

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

All parts of the blinded manuscript should have at least 1 inch margins, should be double spaced, and should use a standard 12-point font. Manuscripts should generally not exceed 10,000 words (including text, endnotes, figures and tables, research ethics statement, references, and appendices); the number of tables and figures should be kept to a minimum. Please refer to the ASA Style Guide (7th edition, 2022) for more information.

Note: Authors are responsible for securing permission to reproduce copyrighted materials before they are published by SOE. A copy of the written permission should be included with the manuscript submission.

The blinded manuscript should include the following sections (when applicable) in this order: (1) body of manuscript; (2) research ethics statement; (3) endnotes; (4) references; (5) tables; (6) figures; and (7) appendices. Do not include a title page or abstract in the blinded manuscript, do not use footnotes, and be sure that each table and each figure appears on separate pages after the references.
 

1. Body of Manuscript. Please use headings to structure the manuscript; see recent articles in SOE for examples. Please do not use language that identifies you as the author. Example: Instead of writing “I found … (LePore 2012)” please use “LePore (2012) found…”

• Abbreviations and acronyms should be spelled out at their first mention unless they are commonly used as words (e.g., "IQ").
• Equations in the text should be numbered using consecutive Arabic numerals in parentheses at the right margin.
• In-text citations should include the last name of the author(s), the year of publication, and page numbers (when quoting directly from a work or referring to specific passages). If the author’s name is in the text, follow it with the publication year in parentheses. Example: "…in a study by Binder (2010)." If the author’s name is not in the text, enclose the last name and publication year in parentheses. Example: "...whenever it occurred (Bills 2004)." Pagination follows the year of publication after a colon, with no space between the colon and the page number. Example: "...according to Fomby (2005:71)." Give both last names for joint authors. Example: "... based on prior evidence (Grodsky and Muller 2009)." If a work has three authors, cite all three last names in the first citation in the text; thereafter, use et al. in the citation. If a work has more than three authors, use et al. throughout. Example: "...obtained the same results (Liebler, Ruggles, and Fitch 2007; Hauser et al. 2008). However, ... (Liebler et al. 2007)." Separate a series of references with semicolons, and list the series in alphabetical or date order (but be consistent throughout the manuscript). Example: "…for more information (Park 2006; Schofer 2009)."

2. Research Ethics Statement. Manuscripts submitted for publication in SOE must contain a statement affirming that all research on human subjects has been approved by an appropriate ethics committee (e.g., an IRB) and has therefore been performed in a way that is consistent with the ethical standards articulated in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments and Section 12 (“Informed Consent”) of the ASA’s Code of Ethics. In particular, the statement should either (a) note—when appropriate and necessary—that all human subjects gave their informed consent prior to their participation in the research and that adequate steps were taken to protect participants’ confidentiality or (b) explain why such steps were inappropriate or unnecessary (e.g., because the research does not constitute human subjects research). These statements should be contained in a separate section—labeled “Research Ethics”—appearing immediately before the reference list. These statements should not specifically reference the author's institution. The Editor reserves the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with these requirements.

3. Endnotes. Endnotes should be used sparingly, and should be brief. They should be numbered in the text consecutively using superscript Arabic numerals; be double-spaced and in the same font style and size as the rest of the manuscript; and appear in a separate section labelled “Endnotes.”

4. References. All references cited in the text must be listed in the "References" section, and vice versa. It is the author's responsibility to ensure that publication information for each entry is complete and correct. References should be double-spaced and should appear in the same style and sized font as the rest of the text. They should be listed in alphabetical order by first authors’ last names. Include first names and surnames for all authors; use first-name initials only if an author used initials in the original publication.

• Books should appear as:
  Author1 (last name inverted), Author2 (last name not inverted), and Author3. Year of publication. Name of Publication (italicized). Location of publisher: Publisher’s Name.
  Example: Arum, Richard and Josipa Roksa. 2011. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
• Journal articles should appear as:
  Author1 (last name inverted), Author2 (last name not inverted), and Author3. Year of publication. “Title of Article.” Name of Publication (italicized) Volume Number (Issue Number): Page numbers.
  Example: Horvat, Erin M., Elliot B. Weininger, and Annette Lareau. 2003. "From Social Ties to Social Capital: Class Differences in the Relations Between Schools and Parent Networks." American Educational Research Journal 40(2) 319-351.
• Internet resources follow the same pattern, with the exception that page numbers are omitted and the URL and date of access are included.
  Example: Schafer, Daniel W. and Fred L. Ramsey. 2003. “Teaching the Craft of Data Analysis.” Journal of Statistics Education 11(1). Retrieved December 12, 2006 (http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v11n1/schafer.html)

5. Tables and Figures. Tables and figures should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text and must include descriptive titles. Each table and each figure should appear on a separate page. Tables must be editable (e.g., in Word), and figures should be submitted as high-resolution black and white images; SOE does not print in color. All tables and figures should stand alone and should not require the reader to refer to the text. Use short notes to define key terms, briefly describe the data and research design, spell out acronyms, etc. When reporting results of hypothesis tests, use one, two, and three asterisks for p<0.05, p<0.01, and p<0.001, respectively.

6. Appendices. Appendices should be lettered to distinguish them from numbered tables and figures. Include a descriptive title for each appendix (e.g., “Appendix A. Variable Names and Definitions”). Please note which appendices are intended to appear in print and which might appear online; because of page limitations, most appendices will need to appear online.

ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.