Policy & Politics is a world-leading journal that is committed to advancing our understanding of the dynamics of policy making and implementation. By exploring the interplay between political actors, governing institutions and policy issues, the journal contributes to theories of the policy process. By reflecting on the evolving context in which these interactions occur, it provides critical insights that are timely and fresh. Read more about Policy & Politics.
Impact Factor: 4.3 Frequency: January, April, July and October
Gender and Justice is open for submissions!
Gender and Justice is open for submissions!
Aims and scope
Supporters
Journal metrics
EDI statement
Equitable citations policy
Abstracting and indexing
Prizes
Testimonials
Book series
Contact us
Policy & Politics is a world-leading journal that provides the primary outlet for scholars and reflexive practitioners to engage with the most pressing governance challenges inhibiting the continued advancement in the study of public policy and its practice. These challenges span the globe and link communities in a common struggle to realise and sustain human dignity and quality of life for all. Moreover, they entail questions about: the impact on governance of political inequality and economic inequality; the implications of such inequalities on political voice and who receives help and who faces barriers from our public policies; how we advance knowledge about public policies comparatively as global phenomena; how we link across macro and micro scales within and between countries in understanding public policy and politics; advancing our theories and methodologies to address these challenges as a policy community; and bringing together a public policy research community that is interconnected globally but also sometimes siloed in distinct approaches and assumptions.
Policy & Politics serves scholars seeking an outlet that accepts these challenges and strives to overcome them. The journal is guided by three principles: (1) comprehensive coverage of public policy, politics and social issues; (2) inclusivity in research approaches, and (3) relevance for science and practice. We elaborate on these three guiding principles.
The Policy & Politics team is committed to an editorial process that is as quick as possible, fair and thoughtful, constructive, and tailored to the betterment of the scholarship under review. Given our embrace of the comprehensive coverage of public policy and diversity in research approaches, we recognise and accept diverse criteria in gauging and improving scholarship. We also adhere to some simple criteria expected of all published work including: (1) publicness and transparency in all aspects of its scholarship; and (2) substantial contributions to our understanding of public policy and/or its research approaches.
We would like to thank the University of Exeter, the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Colorado, Denver for supporting the Policy & Politics editorial team.
2023 Impact Factor: 4.3 (2yr), 4.2 (5yr)
Ranking: 19/317 in Political Science (Q1);
9/91 in Public Administration (Q1)
2023 Journal Citation Indicator: 1.77
Ranking: 36/317 in Political Science (Q1);
10/91 in Public Administration (Q1)
2023 Scopus Cite Score: 7.9
Ranking: 60/1,466 in Sociology and Political Science (95th percentile)
20/232 in Public Administration (91st percentile)
70/399 in Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law (82nd percentile)
2023 SJR: 1.111
Ranking: 30/216 in Public Administration (Q1)
Submission to first decision: 26 days
Acceptance to online publication: 32 days
Policy & Politics acknowledges that underrepresented and minority communities (women, ethnic or racial minorities, people who identify as LGBTQ+, indigenous peoples, first-generation university students, persons with disabilities, international students, English-as-subsequent-language learners, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and scholars in the Global South) encounter harmful bias in academic publication processes.
We aim to address these inequities at Policy & Politics through the following actions:
Diversity in scholarship promotes historically underrepresented authors, ideas and perspectives in policy scholarship. Mindful of these purposes, Policy & Politics remains dedicated to continual evaluation, reflection and innovation in all its endeavours.
Policy & Politics is committed to addressing inequities in academic publication processes that are suffered by underrepresented and minority communities and has set out its position in an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy.
As part of this commitment, we recognise that references cited in journals such as ours sometimes replicate and reinforce such inequities by underrepresenting minority scholars. Clearly not all minority group characteristics are easily visible in citations, but those inferred which are easier to discern include gender, race early career scholars and scholars from underrepresented parts of the world such as the Global South, among others.
To address these inequities, we exhort our authors whose manuscripts are accepted for publication to critically examine their references with a view to including citations of equally rigorous and relevant scholarship by underrepresented minority authors. To support this effort, Policy & Politics will no longer count reference lists in our maximum word count of 8,000 for all articles.
Policy & Politics is abstracted and/or indexed in:
The Ken Young Best Paper Prize is awarded to the paper published in the previous year’s volume judged to represent excellence in the field. The winner’s paper will receive publicity and a period of free electronic access to their article to encourage use and citation.
The Bleddyn Davies Early Career Prize is awarded to the best paper published in the previous year’s volume by an early career author. The winner’s paper will receive publicity and a period of free electronic access to their article to encourage use and citation.
“It is a truly stellar achievement that Policy & Politics celebrates its 50th year as a multidisciplinary journal in the study of national as well as European and global public policy. It is as accessible for the early career researcher as it is for the senior scholar. Alongside its wide-ranging scope and empirical interests, this journal also strives to exceed in its ambitions for scholarly quality and academic integrity you would expect from a top quartile publication. No wonder it’s the journal of choice for so many.”
Diane Stone, Professor of Global Policy, European University Institute in Florence, Italy and Vice President of the International Public Policy Association
“Policy & Politics should be the journal of choice for those of us studying public policy who refuse to be tribal. What matters is the quality of scholarship, not the method utilized for attaining new insights. This journal speaks to the pressing problems of our times.”
Agnes Batory, Professor of Public Policy and Pro-Rector for Social Sciences and Humanities, Central European University, Vienna, Austria
Based on special issues of Policy & Politics, the New Perspectives in Policy & Politics book series focuses on state-of-the-art contributions that aim to reorient perennial debates and open up emerging seams of research. Topics range from institutional reform to network governance, and from public expectations to political inequality.
Editorial enquiries:
Editorial Office: tpp-pp@bristol.ac.uk
Open Access, subscriptions and free trials:
Policy Press: bup-journals@bristol.ac.uk
Read our instructions for authors for guidance on how to prepare your submissions. The instructions include the following:
Instructions
How to submit
Submit a review article
Ethical guidelines
Copyright
Style
Alt-text
References
English language editing service
Editorial review process
Special Issues and themed issues
Open Access
Author toolkit
Tips for acceptance (PDF)
Editorial guidelines on maximising impact (PDF)
Video abstracts (PDF)
Contact us
Visit our journal author toolkit for resources and advice to support you through the publication process and beyond.
Submissions must not exceed 8,000 words, including all tables but not including references nor online appendices. References will be excluded from the word count in accordance with our equitable citations policy. The use of online appendices is encouraged, to make data associated with your article available to others.
Case studies that aim to make contributions in theory, methods or other forms of knowledge relevant for the diverse scholarship of P&P beyond the specific case are welcomed. Please note we do not accept policy reports.
Titles should be short, literal and include one or two of your keywords within the first 65 characters.
Abstracts should be up to 250 words, summarising your research clearly and concisely. Abstracts should contain your essential findings and 3–6 of your keywords in the first two sentences.
Keywords should be up to eight words or phrases that other scholars will use as search terms to find articles on your topic. Ensure that they are consistent with terminology used in your field, and if you’re unsure, check what keywords other articles on the topic use. Use your keywords throughout your article, but only where they flow naturally with the text.
All submissions will be subject to double anonymous peer-review processes (unless stated otherwise) by referees currently working in the appropriate field. The editors aim to provide quick decisions and to ensure that submission to publication takes the minimum possible time; most papers can be published online ahead of print publication. The final decision on publication rests with the editors.
Those submissions most likely to be accepted for publication are ones which:
Format neutral submission
Our format neutral submission makes preparing your manuscript easier and faster. No specific formatting is required for new submissions, however revised submissions must follow the journal house style. 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.
All submissions should be made online at the Policy & Politics Editorial Manager website: http://www.editorialmanager.com/policypol/default.aspx.
Instructions for using Editorial Manager
If you are interested in public policy and adjacent subjects, such as politics and social policy, we encourage you to either register at, or log in to, the Editorial Manager site and specify your areas of interest so that you can be invited to support the journal by reviewing articles relevant to your expertise.
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.
Checklist: what to include in your final, accepted non-anonymised manuscript
Your non-anonymised manuscript should include:
At Policy Press we are committed to upholding the highest standards of review and publication ethics in our journals. Policy 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.
Policy & Politics is published by Policy Press. Articles are considered for publication on the understanding that on acceptance the author(s) grant(s) Policy 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 Publishing 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 Publishing 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 Policy Press. General information on rights and permissions can be found here.
To request permission to reproduce any part of articles published in Policy & Politics, 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.
In order to improve our accessibility for people with visual impairments, we are now required to ask authors to provide a brief description known as alt text to describe any visual content such as photos, illustrations or figures. It will not be visible in the article but is embedded into the images so a PDF reader can read out the descriptions. See our guidance on writing alt-text.
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/.
The practice of editorial review is at the heart of good scholarly publishing and is carried out on all reputable journals. To maintain high standards of academic rigour, Policy & Politics employs double anonymous review, where both the referee and the author remain anonymous throughout the process, and all submissions are handled according to the procedure below:
Initial manuscript evaluation
All new submissions are screened for completeness and adherence to our house style and word limit as well as for fit with our editorial statement. Those that pass are then assigned to a co-editor for consideration for sending for peer review.
Co-editor evaluation
The assigned co-editor reads the paper and makes a recommendation to either send the paper for peer review or to reject without review. This recommendation is second checked by at least one other co-editor who also reads the paper. All decisions are discussed and agreed collectively. Those manuscripts deemed suitable for peer review are passed to at least two expert referees for review. If the decision is taken to reject the paper without review, authors are given feedback to explain this.
Reviewer selection
Reviewers are sought according to their expertise. We welcome suggestions for reviewers from authors, though these recommendations may or may not be used.
Reviewer reports
Reviewers are asked to evaluate the manuscript and provide constructive anonymised comments for the author. Reviewers are not expected to correct or copy edit manuscripts.
Duration of review
Typically the manuscript will be reviewed within 45 days from the date it was sent out, although this can vary significantly depending on the availability of reviewers for the particular subject. Should the reviewers' reports contradict one another or a report is unduly delayed, a further expert opinion will be sought. If necessary, revised manuscripts may be returned to the initial reviewers. Co-editors may request more than one revision of a manuscript, and alternative reviewers may also be invited to review the manuscript at any time.
Decisions
As a result of the peer-review process, the possible decisions are (1) reject; (2) request major revisions; (3) request minor revisions; (4) conditionally accept subject to minor amends; or (5) accept. Please note that the request for major or minor revisions does not guarantee that a revised paper will be automatically accepted. Once again, all decisions are collectively agreed by the co-editors. This decision is sent to the author along with any recommendations made by the referees. The above process ensures that all submissions are considered transparently, fairly and on merit. The co-editors’ decisions are therefore final.
Time to publication
On acceptance, after receipt of the final version of the manuscript, it takes, on average, 28 days for the final citable article to be published online via Fast Track. Subsequently this is compiled into an online and printed issue which can take up to several months.
Policy & Politics has been publishing innovative works at the intersection of public policy and politics for over 50 years. It is a leading, top quartile journal that is committed to advancing scholarly understanding of the dynamics of policy-making and implementation. By exploring the interplay between political actors, governing institutions and policy issues, the journal contributes to building policy process theory; and by reflecting on the evolving context in which these interactions occur, it provides timely and fresh insights into the influence of politics on policy and vice versa.
Please see our annual call for special issue proposals for information about ongoing calls.
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Editorial enquiries:
Editorial office: tpp-pp@bristol.ac.uk
Open Access, subscriptions and free trials:
Policy Press: bup-journals@bristol.ac.uk
Oscar Berglund, Co-Editor; University of Bristol, UK
Claire Dunlop,Co-Editor; University of Exeter, UK
Elizabeth Koebele, Co-Editor, University of Nevada, Reno, US
Christopher M. Weible, Co-Editor, University of Colorado Denver, US
Allegra Fullerton, Digital Associate Editor, University of Colorado Denver, US
Alex Marsh, Chair of the Board; University of Bristol, UK
Sarah Brown, Senior Journal Manager; University of Bristol, UK
Karen West, Head of School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, UK
Julia Mortimer, Publisher; Bristol University Press and Policy Press, UK
Abdulai Abdul-Gafaru, University of Ghana, Ghana
Heidrun Åm, Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Norway
Rhys Andrews, Cardiff University, UK
Sarah Ayres, University of Bristol, UK
Christina Boswell, University of Edinburgh, UK
Paul Cairney, University of Stirling, UK
Meng-Hsuan Chou, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Rob DeLeo, Bentley University, US
Jennifer Dodge, University at Albany, US
Anna Durnova, Institute for Advanced Studies, Austria
Thomas Elston, University of Oxford, UK
Isabelle Engeli, University of Exeter, UK
Alejandro Miguel Estévez, Universidad Torcuato di Tella and Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Paul Fawcett, University of Melbourne, Australia
Maria Tullia Galanti, University of Milan, Italy
Ting Gong, City University, Hong Kong SAR
Tanya Heikkila, University of Colorado Denver, US
Eva Hejzlarova, Charles University, Czechia
Karin Ingold, University of Bern, Switzerland
Yijia Jing, Fudan University, China
Ann Kingiri, African Centre for Technology Studies, Kenya
Jenny Lewis, University of Melbourne, Australia
Emanuela Lombardo, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
Steve Martin, Cardiff University, UK
Felicity Matthews, University of Sheffield, UK
Amy Mazur, Washington State University, US
Jack Mewhirter, University of Cincinnati, US
M. Jae Moon, Yonsei University, South Korea
Ana Cláudia Niedhardt Capella, São Paulo State University, Brazil
Raul Pacheco-Vega, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Mexico
Stephanie Paterson, Concordia University, Canada
Caryn Peiffer, University of Bristol, UK
Evangelia Petridou, Mid Sweden University, Sweden; NTNU Social Research, Norway
Osmany Porto, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil
R. A. W. Rhodes, University of Southampton, UK
Christine Rothmayr Allison, Université de Montréal, Canada
Thomas Schillemans, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Caroline Schlaufer, University of Bern, Switzerland
Elizabeth Shanahan, Montana State University, US
Saba Siddiki, Syracuse University, US
Gabriel Siles-Brugge, University of Bristol, UK
Richard Simmons, University of Stirling, UK
Katherine Smith, University of Strathclyde, UK
Diane Stone, European University Institute, Italy
Emily Flore St Denny, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Jale Tosun, Heidelberg University, Germany
Annemieke van den Dool, Duke Kunshan University, China
Sam Workman, West Virginia University, US
Hongtao Yi, Florida State University, US
Nikolaos Zahariadis, Rhodes College, US
Ling Zhu, University of Houston, US
Xufeng Zhu, Tsinghua University, China
Gracia Brueckmann, Post-doctoral researcher, University of Bern, Switzerland
Juan Du, Assistant Professor, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Diego Galego, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University, US
Rachel McGovern, PhD student, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, US
Bishnu Mohapatra, Assistant Professor, MIT-World Peace University, Pune, India
Katrin Pakizer, Post-doctoral researcher, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Switzerland and Research Associate, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), Switzerland
Sandra Plumer, Post-doctoral researcher, Bielefeld University, Germany
Julia Schmidt, PhD student University of Vienna, Austria
Hope Yohn, PhD student University of Colorado, Denver, US
Each of our featured content sets brings together research from a range of different perspectives to explore a key aspect of policy making.
Public participation, gender and the policy process and policy innovation
Pushing the boundaries of policy knowledges
The complexities of policymaking
Knowledge in policymaking, influencing the policy process and policy diffusion and transfer
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2023 Impact Factor: 4.3 (2yr), 4.2 (5yr)
Ranking: 19/317 in Political Science (Q1);
9/91 in Public Administration (Q1)
2023 Journal Citation Indicator: 1.77
Ranking: 36/317 in Political Science (Q1);
10/91 in Public Administration (Q1)
2023 Scopus Cite Score: 7.9
Rankings:
2023 SJR: 1.111
Ranking: 30/216 in Public Administration (Q1)