American Politics Research
For over 40 years, American Politics Research has served as an integral forum for the dissemination of the latest theory, research and analyses in American political science.
Comprehensive...
American Politics Research presents original works by distinguished authors from a wide range of fields concerned with American politics. Articles examine and explore topics in every area of government, from local and state to regional and national. American Politics Research brings you the most recent scholarship on such subject areas as:
- Voting Behavior
- Political Parties
- Public Opinion
- Foreign Policy
- Legislative Behavior
- Courts and the Legal Process
- Executive Policies
- Domestic Issues
- Public Finance
- Women In Politics
In-Depth Coverage...
American Politics Research supplements its broad coverage with in-depth studies of topics of current interest. Special Issues and Symposia present thematic collections of articles that examine topics from several different angles. Research Agenda Papers synthesize past research on a particular subject and focus attention on future research directions. Recent topics include:
- Legislative Redistricting in the 1980s and 1990s
- The Politics of Abortion
- Tax Reform and American Politics
- Media, Campaigns and Elections
- American Foreign Policy
- State Public Policy
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
The purpose of Amercian Politics Research is to promote and disseminate high-quality research in all areas of American politics, including local, state, and national. American Politics Research will publish significant studies concerning American political behavior, political parties, public opinion, legislative behavior, courts and the legal process, executive and administrative politics, public policy, and all other topics appropriate to our understanding of American government and politics. Manuscripts from all social science disciplines are welcomed.
| Costas Panagopoulos | Northeastern University |
| Bethany Albertson | University of Texas at Austin, USA |
| Michael Bailey | Georgetown University, USA |
| Matthew Baum | Harvard University, USA |
| Sarah Binder | George Washington University, USA |
| Chris Bonneau | University of Pittsburgh, USA |
| Ted Brader | University of Michigan, USA |
| Dan Butler | University of California San Diego, USA |
| Wendy Tam Cho | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA |
| Dino Christenson | Boston University, USA |
| Paul Djupe | Denison University, USA |
| Johanna L. Dunaway | Texas A&M University, USA |
| Kyle Endres | Duke University, USA |
| Kim Fridkin | Arizona State University, USA |
| Melinda Gann Hall | Michigan State University, USA |
| Alan Gerber | Yale University, USA |
| James Gibson | Washington University, St. Louis, USA |
| Donald Green | Columbia University, USA |
| Christian Grose | University of Southern California, USA |
| Pete Hatemi | Pennsylvania State University, USA |
| Michael T. Heaney | University of Glasgow, UK |
| Paul S. Herrnson | University of Connecticut, USA |
| Michael C. Herron | Dartmouth College, USA |
| Greg Huber | Yale University, USA |
| Vincent Hutchings | University of Michigan, USA |
| Jeffery A. Jenkins | University of Southern California, USA |
| Jennifer Jerit | Stony Brook University, USA |
| Michael Jones-Correa | Cornell University, USA |
| Jonathan Ladd | Georgetown University, USA |
| Geoffrey Layman | University of Notre Dame, USA |
| Frances E. Lee | Princeton University, USA |
| Matthew Levendusky | University of Pennsylvania, USA |
| Neil Malhotra | Stanford University, USA |
| Wendy L. Martinek | Binghamton University, USA |
| Seth McKee | Texas Tech University, USA |
| Marc Meredith | University of Pennsylvania, USA |
| David Nickerson | Temple University, USA |
| John Patty | Emory University, USA |
| David M. Primo | University of Rochester, NY |
| Wendy Schiller | Brown University, USA |
| Daron R. Shaw | University of Texas at Austin, USA |
| Jessica Trounstine | University of California, Merced, USA |
| Nicholas Valentino | University of Michigan, USA |
| Jennifer N. Victor | George Mason University, USA |
| Ismail White | George Washington University, USA |
| Julia Carino | Northeastern University, USA |
| Brian J. Gaines | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA |
| James Garand | Louisiana State University, USA |
| James Gimpel | University of Maryland, USA |
| John Hibbing | University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA |
| Thomas Holbrook | University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA |
| Susan Welch | Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA |
Manuscripts, an abstract, and 4-5 key words should be submitted electronically at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/apr, where authors will be required to set up an online account in the SageTRACK system powered by ScholarOne. Articles should be the equivalent of approximately 25 typewritten, double-spaced pages with endnotes, references, tables, and figures on separate pages. Research notes should be approximately 10 pages in length. Except in unusual circumstances, submissions in excess of 45 pages will not be reviewed. Authors should closely follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Since manuscripts are reviewed anonymously, authors should avoid any identifying text references. Submission of a manuscript implies commitment to publish in the journal. Authors submitting manuscripts to the journal should not simultaneously submit them to another journal, nor should manuscripts have been published elsewhere in substantially similar form or with substantially similar content. Authors in doubt about what constitutes prior publication should consult the editor.
Code Ocean Trial
Through 2019 American Politics Research is running a trial with Code Ocean. Authors can upload the code associated to their published article so that readers can view and execute it. The platform, which is based on Docker, hosts the code and data in the necessary computational environment and allows users to re-run the analysis in the cloud and reproduce the results, bypassing the need to install the software. A link to the code, data and computational environment will be included in the journal article enabling readers to seamlessly access and reproduce the code or rerun it against their own inputs. Please visit this page for more information and instructions for how to utilise this service for your article. If you wish to use this service, please upload your code as soon as possible after receiving an acceptance letter, to ensure the code can be linked to your article during the production process.
Manuscript Preparation
Manuscripts should be prepared using the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association with all pages typed, double-spaced (including references and endnotes). Text must be in 12-point Times Roman. Block quotes may be single-spaced. Must include margins of 1inch on all the four sides and number all pages sequentially.
The manuscript should include four major sections (in this order): Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References.
Sections in a manuscript may include the following (in this order): (1) Title page (including abstract), (2) Keywords, (3) Text, (4) Notes, (5) References, (6) Tables, (7) Figures, and (9) Appendices.
1. Title page. Please include the following:
- Full article title
- Abstract (150 to 250 words). Omit author's names.
2. Text. Begin article text on a new page headed by the full article title.
a. Headings and subheadings. Subheadings should indicate the organization of the content of the manuscript. Generally, three heading levels are sufficient to organize text. Level 1 heading should be Centered, Boldface, Upper & Lowercase, Level 2 heading should be Flush Left, Boldface, Upper & Lowercase, Level 3 heading should be Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading that ends with a period, Level 4 heading should be Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading that ends with a period, and Level 5 heading should be Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading that ends with a period.
b. Citations. For each text citation there must be a corresponding citation in the reference list and for each reference list citation there must be a corresponding text citation. Each corresponding citation must have identical spelling and year. Each text citation must include at least two pieces of information, author(s) and year of publication. Following are some examples of text citations:
(i)Unknown Author: To cite worksthatdo not have an author, cite the source by its title in the signal phrase or use the first word or two in the parentheses. Eg. The findings are based on the study was done of students learning to format research papers ("Using XXX," 2001)
(ii) Authors with the Same Last Name: use first initials with the last names to prevent confusion. Eg.(L. Hughes, 2001; P. Hughes, 1998)
(iii) Two or More Works by the Same Author in the Same Year: For two sources by the same author in the same year, use lower-case letters (a, b, c) with the year to order the entries in the reference list. The lower-case letters should follow the year in the in-text citation.Eg.Research by Freud (1981a) illustrated that…
(iv) Personal Communication: For letters, e-mails, interviews,and other person-to-person communication, citation should include the communicator's name, the fact that it was personal communication, and the date of the communication. Do not include personal communication in the reference list.Eg.(E. Clark, personal communication, January 4, 2009).
(v) Unknown Author and Unknown Date: For citations with no author or date, use the title in the signal phrase or the first word or two of the title in the parentheses and use the abbreviation "n.d." (for "no date").Eg. The study conducted by of students and research division discovered that students succeeded with tutoring ("Tutoring and APA," n.d.).
3. Notes. If explanatory notes are required for your manuscript, insert a number formatted in superscript following almost any punctuation mark. Endnote numbers should not follow dashes ( — ), and if they appear in a sentence in parentheses, the endnote number should be inserted within the parentheses. The endnotes should be added at the bottom of the page after the references. The word “Endnotes” should be centered at the top of the page.
4. References. Basic rules for the reference list:-
- The reference list should be arranged in alphabetical order according to the authors’ last names.
- If there is more than one work by the same author, order them according to their publication date – oldest to newest (therefore a 2008 publication would appear before a 2009 publication).
- When listing multiple authors of a source use “&” instead of “and”.
- Capitalize only the first word of the title and of the subtitle, if there are one, and any proper names – i. e. only those words that are normally capitalized.
- Italicize the title of the book, the title of the journal/serial and the title of the web document.
- Manuscripts submitted to APR should strictly follow the APA manual (6th edition), including references.
- Every citation in text must have the detailed reference in the Reference section.
- Every reference listed in the Reference section must be cited in text.
- Do not use “et al.” in the Reference list at the end; names of all authors of a publication should be listed there.
Here are a few examples of commonly found references. For more examples please check APA (6th Ed).
- Books:
Book with place of publication--Airey, D. (2010). Logo design love: A guide to creating iconic brand identities. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
Book with editors & edition-- Collins, C., & Jackson, S. (Eds.). (2007). Sport in Aotearoa/New Zealand society. South Melbourne, Australia: Thomson.
Book with author & publisher are the same-- MidCentral District Health Board. (2008). District annual plan 2008/09. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Author.
Chapter in an edited book--Dear, J., & Underwood, M. (2007). What is the role of exercise in the prevention of back pain? In D. MacAuley& T. Best (Eds.), Evidence-based sports medicine (2nd ed., pp. 257-280). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
- Periodicals:
Journal article with more than one author (print)--Gabbett, T., Jenkins, D., & Abernethy, B. (2010). Physical collisions and injury during professional rugby league skills training. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 13(6), 578-583.
Journal article – 8 or more authors-- Crooks, C., Ameratunga, R., Brewerton, M., Torok, M., Buetow, S., Brothers, S., … Jorgensen, P. (2010). Adverse reactions to food in New Zealand children aged 0-5 years. New Zealand Medical Journal, 123(1327). Retrieved from http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/123-1327/4469/
- Internet Sources:
Internet – no author, no date--Pet therapy. (n.d.). Retrieved from htttp://www.holisticonline.com/stress/stress_pet-therapy.htm
Internet – Organisation / Corporate author-- SPCA New Zealand. (2011). Your dog may be dying from the heat [Press release]. Retrieved from
http://www.rnzspca.org.nz/news/press-releases/360-your-dog-may-be-dying-...
-
- Examples of various types of information sources:
Act (statute / legislation)--Copyright Act 1994. (2011, October 7). Retrieved from http://www.legislation.govt.nz
Blog post-- Liz and Ellory. (2011, January 19). The day of dread(s) [Web log post]. Retrieved from
http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/St-Kilda/...
Brochure / pamphlet (no author)--Ageing well: How to be the best you can be [Brochure]. (2009). Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Health.
Conference Paper--Williams, J., &Seary, K. (2010). Bridging the divide: Scaffolding the learning experiences of the mature age student. In J. Terrell (Ed.), Making the links: Learning, teaching and high quality student outcomes. Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the New Zealand Association of Bridging Educators (pp. 104-116). Wellington, New Zealand.
DVD / Video / Motion Picture (including Clickview&Youtube)--Gardiner, A., Curtis, C., & Michael, E. (Producers), &Waititi, T. (Director). (2010). Boy: Welcome to my interesting world [DVD]. New Zealand: Transmission.
Magazine--Ng, A. (2011, October-December). Brush with history. Habitus, 13, 83-87.
Newspaper article (no author)--Little blue penguins homeward bound. (2011, November 23). Manawatu Standard, p. 5
Podcast (audio or video)--Rozaieski, B. (2011). Logan cabinet shoppe: Episode 37: Entertainment center molding [Video podcast]. Retrieved fromhttp://blip.tv/xxx
Software (including apps--UBM Medica.(2010). iMIMS (Version1.2.0) [Mobile application software].Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com
Television programme--Flanagan, A., &Philipson, A. (Series producers & directors).(2011). 24 hours in A & E [Television series]. Belfast, Ireland: Channel 4.
Thesis (print)--Smith, T. L. (2008). Change, choice and difference: The case of RN to BN degree programmes for registered nurses (Master’s thesis). Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
Thesis (online)--Mann, D. L. (2010). Vision and expertise for interceptive actions in sport (Doctoral dissertation, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia). Retrieved fromhttp://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/44704
Non- English reference book, title translated in English
Real Academia Espanola. (2001). Diccionario de la lenguaespanola [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (22nded.). Madrid, Spain: Author
IMPORTANT NOTE: To encourage a faster production process of your article, you are requested to closely adhere to the points above for references. Otherwise, it will entail a long process of solving copyeditor’s queries and may directly affect the publication time of your article. In case of any question, please contact the journal editor at costas@post.harvard.edu
5. Tables. They should be structured properly. Each table must have a clear and concise title. When appropriate, use the title to explain an abbreviation parenthetically.Eg.Comparison of Median Income of Adopted Children (AC) v. Foster Children (FC).Headings should be clear and brief.
6. Figures. They should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text and must include figure captions. Figures will appear in the published article in the order in which they are numbered initially. The figure resolution should be 300dpi at the time of submission.
IMPORTANT: PERMISSION- The author(s) are responsible for securing permission to reproduce all copyrighted figures or materials before they are published in APR copy of the written permission must be included with the manuscript submission.
7. Appendices. They should be lettered to distinguish from numbered tables and figures. Include a descriptive title for each appendix (e.g., “Appendix A. Variable Names and Definitions”).Cross-check text for accuracy against appendices.
Here are a few examples of commonly found references. For more examples please check APA(6th Ed).
- Books:
Book with place of publication-- Airey, D. (2010). Logo design love: A guide to creating iconic brand identities. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
Book with editors & edition-- Collins, C., & Jackson, S. (Eds.). (2007). Sport in Aotearoa/New Zealand society (2nd ed.). South Melbourne, Australia: Thomson.
Book with author & publisher are the same-- MidCentral District Health Board. (2008). District annual plan 2008/09. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Author.
Chapter in an edited book-- Dear, J., & Underwood, M. (2007). What is the role of exercise in the prevention of back pain? In D. MacAuley & T. Best (Eds.), Evidence-based sports medicine (2nd ed., pp. 257-280). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
-
Periodicals:
Journal article with more than one author (print)-- Gabbett, T., Jenkins, D., & Abernethy, B. (2010). Physical collisions and injury during professional rugby league skills training. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 13(6), 578-583.
Journal article – 8 or more authors-- Crooks, C., Ameratunga, R., Brewerton, M., Torok, M., Buetow, S., Brothers, S., … Jorgensen, P. (2010). Adverse reactions to food in New Zealand children aged 0-5 years. New Zealand Medical Journal, 123(1327). Retrieved from http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/123-1327/4469/
- Internet Sources:
Internet – no author, no date-- Pet therapy. (n.d.). Retrieved from htttp://www.holisticonline.com/stress/stress_pet-therapy.htm
Internet – Organisation / Corporate author-- SPCA New Zealand. (2011). Your dog may be dying from the heat [Press release]. Retrieved from
http://www.rnzspca.org.nz/news/press-releases/360-your-dog-may-be-dying-...
-
- Examples of various types of information sources:
Act (statute / legislation)-- Copyright Act 1994. (2011, October 7). Retrieved from http://www.legislation.govt.nz
Blog post-- Liz and Ellory. (2011, January 19). The day of dread(s) [Blog post]. Retrieved from
http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/St-Kilda/...
Brochure / pamphlet (no author)-- Ageing well: How to be the best you can be [Brochure]. (2009). Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Health.
Conference Paper-- Williams, J., & Seary, K. (2010). Bridging the divide: Scaffolding the learning experiences of the mature age student. In J. Terrell (Ed.), Making the links: Learning, teaching and high quality student outcomes. Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the New Zealand Association of Bridging Educators (pp. 104-116). Wellington, New Zealand.
DVD / Video / Motion Picture (including Clickview & Youtube)-- Gardiner, A., Curtis, C., & Michael, E. (Producers), & Waititi, T. (Director). (2010). Boy: Welcome to my interesting world [DVD]. New Zealand: Transmission.
Magazine-- Ng, A. (2011, October-December). Brush with history. Habitus, 13, 83-87.
Newspaper article (no author)-- Little blue penguins homeward bound. (2011, November 23). Manawatu Standard, p. 5
Podcast (audio or video)-- Rozaieski, B. (2011). Logan cabinet shoppe: Episode 37: Entertainment center molding [Video podcast]. Retrieved from http://blip.tv/xxx
Software (including apps-- UBM Medica. (2010). iMIMS (Version1.2.0) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com
Television programme-- Flanagan, A., & Philipson, A. (Series producers & directors). (2011). 24 hours in A & E [Television series]. Belfast, Ireland: Channel 4.
Thesis (print)-- Smith, T. L. (2008). Change, choice and difference: The case of RN to BN degree programmes for registered nurses (Master’s thesis). Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
Thesis (online)-- Mann, D. L. (2010). Vision and expertise for interceptive actions in sport (Doctoral dissertation, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia). Retrieved fromhttp://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/44704
SUPPLEMENTAL DATA
Authors are also encouraged to submit supplemental data along with their manuscripts. As supplemental data only appear online as complimentary information to the manuscript content, anything from additional tables, figures, detailed data sets, movie clips and audio files is considered supplemental. Although supplemental data does not necessarily need to be mentioned within the submitted manuscript, please make sure to inform the journal editor of this once the manuscript has been accepted for publication. Questions can be directed to the journal editor.
Sage Choice
If you or your funder wish your article to be freely available online to nonsubscribers immediately upon publication (gold open access), you can opt for it to be included in Sage Choice, subject to the payment of a publication fee. The manuscript submission and peer review procedure is unchanged. On acceptance of your article, you will be asked to let Sage know directly if you are choosing Sage Choice. To check journal eligibility and the publication fee, please visit Sage Choice. For more information on open access options and compliance at Sage, including self/author archiving deposits (green open access) visit Sage Publishing Policies on our Journal Author Gateway.
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.