Dear Colleagues: the MPSA is pleased to announce that the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS) has resumed editorial operations including reviewing previously submitted manuscripts, and will begin accepting new submissions later this week after some required updates to the journal’s Editorial Manager site. We are grateful to Jan Leighley of American University for agreeing to serve as Interim Lead Editor for a one-year term. Jan comes with a distinguished academic record and extensive editorial experience, having previously served as co-editor of both the AJPS and the Journal of Politics. Jan will lead a team of Interim Associate Editors including Sarah M. Brooks of The Ohio State University, Mary G. Dietz of Northwestern University, Jennifer L. Lawless of the University of Virginia, and Rocio Titiunik of the University of Michigan. An additional associate editor will be named in the coming weeks. With the transition to the interim editorial team, there are a number of changes in the journal’s operations:
ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Each manuscript (both newly submitted and those already in the Editorial Manager system) will be assigned to the lead editor or an associate editor, according to subfield and workloads. That assigned editor will be responsible for assigning reviewers and collaborating with the lead editor to make editorial decisions.
EDITORIAL OPERATIONS: Editorial operations will be managed through American University. Contact email for the new editorial team is ajps@mpsanet.org.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The new Editorial Conflict of Interest Policy, which was adopted by the MPSA council at the April 5, 2018 council meeting, is now in effect. Submitting authors will be prompted on Editorial Manager to disclose possible conflicts of interest relevant to the editorial process when they submit their manuscripts. According to the policy, several types of reported conflicts (e.g., one of the associate editors served as the submitting author’s dissertation chair) will be referred to the Interim Lead Editor, who will determine the best process for managing the manuscript in question. Other types of reported conflicts (e.g., having been a victim of harassment or discrimination by an editor) will be referred directly to the new Publishing Ethics Committee, comprised of Sarah Binder of George Washington University (chair), Ray Duch of Oxford University and Laurel Weldon of Purdue University. The committee will review the COI disclosure and work with the AJPS staff and/or MPSA officers to identify an alternate editor to handle the manuscript.
Please note that, to our knowledge, very few of our peer journals have such a policy, and as such, we consider it a work in progress with potential for questions and unanticipated challenges to arise. If you have any questions or suggestions about the new COI policy, please contact any of the MPSA’s officers. Once again, thank you for your patience and support during the AJPS editorial transition.
Elisabeth Gerber, MPSA President
Vince Hutchings, MPSA Past President
Sarah Binder, MPSA President Elect
Will Morgan, MPSA Executive Director