Emotions and Society aims to publish high-quality, original peer-reviewed articles which advance theoretical and empirical understanding of emotions in social life. It is associated with the European Sociological Association's (ESA) Research Network on Sociology of Emotions (RN11), but seeks submissions from a wide range of international authors writing in this area. Read more about Emotions and Society.
Frequency: March, July and November
Gender and Justice is open for submissions!
Gender and Justice is open for submissions!
Aims and scope
Abstract and Indexing
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Testimonials
Contact us
Emotions and Society aims to publish high-quality, original peer-reviewed articles which advance theoretical and empirical understanding of emotions in social life. It is associated with the European Sociological Association's (ESA) Research Network on Sociology of Emotions (RN11), but seeks submissions from a wide range of international authors writing in this area. The sociology of emotions has developed unique perspectives on emotions that attend to their social construction and the ways in which they are embedded in social structures and inhere in social processes. The Journal seeks to expand the largely unexhausted potential for developing innovative approaches not only to emotions per se, but through them to the social generally. All methodological approaches to studying emotions are welcome, but they should demonstrate rigour and be framed in ways that will be of interest to sociologically inclined scholars.
A key feature of the Journal is to develop both a uniquely sociological perspective on emotions, while also engaging in interdisciplinary exchanges. This interdisciplinarity emerges not only from the character of present scholarly debates on emotions, but from the diversity of disciplines represented in the ESA Research Network 11. We welcome submissions from neighbouring fields, especially cultural studies, history, philosophy and social psychology. Psychology of emotions is quite well represented in existing journals and papers will be considered only insofar as their focus is interactional rather than biological. The Journal seeks to publish articles based on original research into the social aspects of emotions and emotional life. We are also interested in contributions to theoretical debates in the area and relevant substantial review articles. Principally we are looking for theoretical or theoretically informed empirical papers that engage with key concepts and debates furthering knowledge about the role of emotions in social life. We prioritize standard academic articles but are also open to receiving other pieces, for example, commentaries or interviews on highly topical issues or book review essays.
Emotions and Society is abstracted and/or indexed in:
Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion statement outlines the ways in which we seek to ensure that equity, diversity and inclusion are integral to all aspects of our publishing, and how we might encourage and drive positive change.
“As a sociologist researching emotions and emotional strategies for social justice and feminist resistance, I appreciate the intellectual space Emotions and Society provides for theoretical and empirical discussions.”
Ee Ling Sharon Quah, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Wollongong in Australia
“Emotions and Society publishes high-quality research on emotions with a unique social perspective. It will be the reference journal for the new generation of social scientists of emotions.”
Eduardo Bericat, Professor of Sociology at the University of Seville, Spain
Editorial Assistant: Sian Carrington, emotionsandsociety.editorial@gmail.com
Editors in Chief: Mary Holmes, mary.holmes@ed.ac.uk and Åsa Wettergren, asa.wettergren@socav.gu.se
Bristol University Press: bup-journals@bristol.ac.uk
Read our instructions for authors for guidance on how to prepare your submissions. The instructions include the following:
What are we looking for?
How to submit an article
Editorial review process
Ethical guidelines
Copyright and permissions
Style
References
Open Access
Self-archiving and institutional repositories
English language editing service
How to maximise the impact of your article
Contact us
Visit our journal author toolkit for resources and advice to support you through the publication process and beyond.
All submissions should be made online at the Emotions and Society Editorial Manager website: https://www.editorialmanager.com/emsoc/default.aspx.
Editorial Manager
Manuscripts must be in Word or Rich Text Format, not pdf. New users should first create an account, specify their areas of interest and provide full contact details.
Preparing your anonymised manuscript
Your initial submission must consist of the following separate files:
For help submitting an article via Editorial Manager, please view our online tutorial.
Once a submission has been conditionally accepted, you will be invited to submit a final, non-anonymised version.
A cover page including:
The main manuscript including:
All submissions are first desk-reviewed by the Editors who will assess whether the manuscript fits the aims and scope as well as the quality standards of Emotions and Society. Papers that are selected to be sent out for review will be evaluated through double anonymous peer review by at least two referees. Emotions and Society aims to return referee reviews along with an initial decision within four weeks.
Please also read our Journals Editorial Policies.
At Bristol University Press we are committed to upholding the highest standards of review and publication ethics in our journals. Bristol University Press is a member of and subscribes to the principles of the Committee of Publication Ethics (COPE), and will take appropriate action in cases of possible misconduct in line with COPE guidance.
Find out more about our ethical guidelines.
Emotions and Society is published by Bristol University Press. Articles are considered for publication on the understanding that on acceptance the author(s) grant(s) Bristol University Press the exclusive right and licence to publish the article. Copyright remains with the author(s) or other original copyright owners and we will acknowledge this in the copyright line that appears on the published article.
Authors will be asked to sign a journal contributor agreement to this effect, which should be submitted online along with the final manuscript. All authors should agree to the agreement. For jointly authored articles the corresponding author may sign on behalf of co-authors provided that they have obtained the co-authors' consent. The journal contributor agreement can be downloaded here.
Where copyright is not owned by the author(s), the corresponding author is responsible for obtaining the consent of the copyright holder. This includes figures, tables and excerpts. Evidence of this permission should be provided to Bristol University Press. General information on rights and permissions can be found here.
To request permission to reproduce any part of articles published in the Emotions and Society, please email: bup-permissions@bristol.ac.uk. For information on what is permissible use for different versions of your article please see our policy on self archiving and institutional repositories.
To ensure your bibliography is complete before submitting your final article, we recommend using a reference manager such as Zotero when writing your article. If you cannot find the style under the specific Bristol University Press journal name, the closest format is Zotero "Consumption and Society".
Download the endnote output style for Policy Press and Bristol University Press Journals.
Policy Press uses a custom version of the Harvard system of referencing:
Examples
Book:
Bengtson, V.L. and Lowenstein, A. (2003) Global Aging and its Challenge to Families, New Jersey, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Darling, D. (2010) Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists, Bristol: Policy Press.
Book with editor:
Bengtson, V.L. and Lowenstein, A. (eds) (2003) Global Aging and its Challenge to Families, 5th edn, New Jersey, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Chapter in book or in multi-authored publication:
Bengtson, V.L. and Lowenstein, A. (2003) Citizenship in action: the lived experiences of citizens with dementia who campaign for social change, in R. Smith, R. Means and K. Keegan (eds) Global Aging and its Challenge to Families, New Jersey, NJ: Transaction Publishers, pp 305–26.
Journal reference:
Williamson, E. and Abrahams, H. A. (2014) A review of the provision of intervention programmes for female victims and survivors of domestic abuse in the UK, Journal of Women and Social Work, 29(1): 178-191. doi: doi.org/10.1177/0886109913516452
Jeffrey, C., Williams, E., de Araujo, P., Fortin-Rochberg, R., O'Malley, T., Hill, A-M., et al (2009) The challenge of politics, Policy & Politics, 36(4): 545–57. doi: doi.org/10.1177/0886108913516454
Website reference:
Womensaid (2016) What is domestic abuse?, https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/.
Mary Holmes, Editor in Chief, University of Edinburgh, UK
Åsa Wettergren, Editor in Chief, Gothenburg University, Sweden
Nathan Manning, Co-Editor, University of Adelaide, Australia
Maja Sawicka, Book Reviews Editor & Chair of Board, Warsaw University, Poland
Julie Brownlie, University of Edinburgh, UK
Ian Burkitt, University of Bradford, UK
Jessica L. Collett, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Jonathan Heaney, Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Quah Ee Ling, Western Sydney University, Australia
Nina Margies, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
Adrian Scribano, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Lisa Slattery Walker, University of North Carolina, USA
Deadline for proposals: 25th March 2025 (the issue would be published in November 2026)
Potential special issue editors are requested to send a short proposal (no more than 1,500 words) describing the following:
• Scope of the proposed theme;
• the (potential) papers that it would contain;
• approximate timetable;
• short (100-150 word) biography of proposed editors.
It should be clear how the theme of the proposed special issue fits with the aims and scope of Emotions and Society.
Proposals based on past events/workshops are welcome. If based on a past event/workshop, special issues will still require an open call for papers as part of the process of sourcing articles. An open call is not required for themed sections.
Special issues should comprise 6-8 papers, while themed sections require 3 articles.
We are looking for a strong analytical and theoretical coherence to the issue or section. Guest Editors will collaborate closely with the journal editors and all papers will be subject to the normal double-anonymous peer review process. Further information about the editorial process will be provided to the successful Guest Editors, and is available on request from the Chief Editors.
Proposals should be emailed to the Emotions and Society Chief Editors, Mary Holmes (mary.holmes@ed.ac.uk) and/or Åsa Wettergren (asa.wettergren@socav.gu.se).
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2023 Impact Factor 1.2 (2 yr), 1.5 (5 yr)
2023 Journal Citation Index: 0.7
Ranking: 121/217 in Sociology
2023 Scopus CiteScore: 2.1.
Ranking: 168/1304 in Cultural Studies - 87th percentile