About the Journal

The primary focus of the Policy Studies Journal (PSJ) is the development and refinement of public policy theory. Published on behalf of the Policy Studies Organization (PSO) and the American Political Science Association’s (APSA) Public Policy Section, PSJ is an International journal that publishes original research articles and symposia of exceptional quality. The journal addresses a wide range of public policy issues, at all levels of government, and encourages submissions that foreground theoretical queries and concerns. PSJ embraces diversity and welcomes submissions from different theoretical perspectives, has no methodological or analytic dogmas, and encourages submissions from historically underrepresented groups.

Policy Theory and Practice (PT&P) is a rolling special issue associated with the Policy Studies Journal. PT&P was launched in an effort to provide an outlet for rigorous policy research that is applicable to both academics and practitioners, but is outside the scope of the PSJ’s focus on the advancement of public policy theory. As such, PT&P accepts manuscripts focusing on a wide range of policy topics at all levels of government, as well as manuscripts utilizing a comparative or international approach. Areas of focus for PT&P include (but are not limited to):

• Manuscripts engaging in policy analysis and evaluation, with substantive foci as their priorities.
• Manuscripts applying policy theories to previously understudied issue areas, geographic regions, etc.
• Manuscripts examining previously identified hypotheses, seeking to replicate previous findings, or reporting null findings.

PT&P is published annually in the Fall. Articles published in PT&P will receive editorial support, social media promotion, and publicity comparable to all work published in the PSJ.

We conscientiously work to simultaneously maximize the quality of the reviews through a rigorous blind peer review process and minimize the length of time for a paper to wend its way through the submission-review-decision process. The goal is to return a decision to authors within two to three months of the initial submission.

The PSJ and PT&P are curated by the following editorial team:

Editor-in-Chief:
Geoboo Song, University of Arkansas, USA

Associate Editors:
Gwen Arnold, University of California Davis, USA
Melissa K. Merry, University of Louisville, USA
Holly L. Peterson, Lousiana State University, USA
Aaron Smith-Walter, University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA

Managing Editor:
Creed Tumlison, California State University Bakersfield, USA

Editorial Associates:
Nataliia Borozdina, University of Arkansas, USA
Benjamin Galloway, University of Arkansas, USA