Andrew Jorgenson and Jeffrey Kentor are Editors of UC Press’s journal Sociology of Development. In this Q&A they discuss new developments with the journal, including the launch of their new Advance Articles feature.
UC Press: Sociology of Development is now in its seventh year of publication. Congratulations! How time flies.
AJ/JK: Thanks so much, Jeff. It’s been a terrific six years. We’ve had great support from the Development scholarly community, our Editorial Board, contributors, reviewers and, of course, our knowledgeable and engaged colleagues at UC Press. We’re receiving a wide range of submissions from established scholars as well as more junior researchers from around the globe. We’ve also published several special issues on topics such as Immigration, Health, and Professions in the Global South.
UC Press: Just this spring, the journal launched a new feature called Advance Articles. What are Advance Articles, and why did you want this new feature as part of the journal?
AJ/JK: We’re very excited about this new feature. Up till now, there’s been about a one year lag between manuscript acceptance and the time the actual paper is published in an issue. Advance Articles is a mechanism that enables us to publish each accepted article individually with a DOI as soon as it’s been copyedited. The article still comes out as part of an actual journal issue at a later date. Advance Articles is important for two reasons. First, it makes the article accessible to the journal’s diverse readership in a timelier manner. Second, it enables authors to get credit for their publications more quickly. This is especially helpful for junior faculty who are coming up for promotion and tenure reviews.
UC Press: Are there any new Advance Articles you’d like to highlight?
AJ/JK: Here are three of the most recent Advance Articles to be released, along with links to their abstracts:
Amanda Wyant. “A Cross-National Examination of Food Insecurity and Gender Equality”
Amy A. Quark. “Northern Firms, Standard-Setting Bodies, and Rising Powers: Influencing Regulatory Decision-Making in India and China”
Anthony Roberts. “The Globalization of Production, Industrial Upgrading, and Collective Labor Rights in the Global South”
UC Press: What else is happening with the journal in 2021?
AJ/JK: There’s a lot happening. Let us highlight a few items. Submissions to our journal continue to grow, in terms of number, discipline, and geographic distribution. We recently updated our Call for Papers, which gives potential contributors a quick overview of the breadth of topics published in our journal. At the request of some of our colleagues, we’ve just started to publish book reviews on an occasional basis. We’re considering adding this as a regular feature. We have several possible special issue themes under consideration, including Gender and Development, Environment and Development, and International Political Economy. The next big step for our journal is to obtain an Impact Factor, which we’re working on with our colleagues at UC Press.
UC Press: Thank you for your stewardship of Sociology of Development, and best wishes for the remainder of 2021!
AJ/JK: Thanks, Jeff. And best wishes to you and your colleagues for the coming year. We greatly value your continued support of Sociology of Development!
Sociology of Development is an international journal addressing issues of development, broadly considered. With basic as well as policy-oriented research, topics explored include economic development and well-being, gender, health, inequality, poverty, environment and sustainability, political economy, conflict, social movements, and more.
online.ucpress.edu/socdev