Journal of Poverty and Social Justice

The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice provides an internationally unique forum for leading research on the themes of poverty and social justice. Focusing on poverty and social exclusion, the journal explores links with social security (including pensions and tax credits), employment, area regeneration, housing, health, education and criminal justice, as well as issues of ethnicity, gender, disability, and other social inequalities as they relate to social justice.

The Journal encompasses an original and exciting mix of scholarly research articles and lively policy- and practice-oriented discussions of topical questions.

Interdisciplinary and international in scope the journal is essential reading for academics, students, policy-makers and practitioners interested in poverty, social security, welfare and justice.

The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice welcomes submissions from those working in these areas across the globe. All research articles are peer-reviewed.

For further information about the journal please follow the links below:

• Testimonials
• Editorial Board
• Social Impacts of COVID-19 collection
• Editors' choice
• Most read articles
• Highly cited articles
• Prize
• Abstracting and indexing
• Contact us

Editorial Board

Joanna Mack; Co-Editor, Open University, UK 
Marco Pomati; Co-Editor, Cardiff University, UK

Editorial Team

Rod Dacombe, Associate Editor: Reviews Co-Editor; King’s College London, UK
Simon Brimblecombe, Associate Editor: Policy & Practice; International Labour Organisation
Diana Skelton, Associate Editor: Policy & Practice;  ATD Fourth World, UK
Ruth Patrick, Associate Editor: Social Media; University of York, UK
Enrique Delamonica, Associate Editor: UNICEF
Shatakshee Dhongde, Associate Editor: Georgia Institute of Technology, US
Julia Gumy, Associate Editor: University of Bristol, UK
Alba Lanau, Associate Editor: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Luis Renato Vedovato, Associate Editor: Unicamp, Brazil

Stephen Sinclair, Reviews Co-Editor; Glasgow Caledonian University, UK
Caroline Paskell, Chair of Board; Research in Practice, UK
Julia Mortimer Publisher; Bristol University Press and Policy Press, UK 


Nick Bailey, University of Glasgow, UK
Grace Bantebya-Kyomuhendo, Makerere University, Uganda
Armando Barrientos, University of Manchester, UK
Daniel Beland, McGill University, Canada
Tania Burchardt, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
Qin Gao, Columbia University, USA 
Kayleigh Garthwaite, University of Birmingham, UK
Bjorn Hvinden, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
Bingqin Li, University of New South Wales, Australia 
Ruth Lister, Loughborough University, UK
Kinglun Ngok, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Cristina Rat, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania
Veli-Matti Ritakallio, University of Turku, Finland
Solange Rosa, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Peter Saunders, University of New South Wales, Australia 
Jane Waldfogel, Columbia University, USA

Instructions for Authors

What are we looking for?

How to submit an article

Copyright

Style

References

English Language Editing Service

Open Access

Self-archiving and institutional repositories

How to maximise the impact of your article

Contact Us

What are we looking for?

• Research Articles should be up to 8000 words (including references) in length (or longer by agreement with the editor). Authors should make clear the policy context, reference only directly relevant literature, adopt an intelligible structure and a lucid style, use rigorous argument and reach strong conclusions. Technical and statistical material is best omitted or presented as an appendix. Both empirical and non-empirical papers will be expected to make a clear contribution towards the understanding of poverty and social justice. All empirical papers should have a clear methodological section detailing data collection as well as strengths and limitations. Technical and statistical material should be presented in a transparent way that is understandable to a lay audience. An abstract of not more than 100 words should be included.
   
• Policy and Practice is concerned with policy ideas and themes emanating from pressure groups and think tanks, and also provides updates on new developments, issues, legislation and reviews especially with reference to welfare rights. Contributions should be no longer than 3000 words (including references).
   
• Book reviews: for information on how to submit a book review please contact the Book Review Editor, Rod Dacombe: rod.dacombe@kcl.ac.uk 

How to submit an article

All submissions should be made online at the Journal of Poverty & Social Justice Editorial Manager website: http://www.editorialmanager.com/jpsj/default.aspx, 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:

1. 1. A cover page including: the article title, author name(s) and affiliations (institution affiliation and country only, no department details required), the article abstract (up to 100 words), up to 5 key words/short phrases and the article word count including references. A cover page template is available to download here.
       
   2. A fully anonymized manuscript which does not include any of the information included in the cover page. It should not include any author or study names, acknowledgments, funding details, or conflicts of interest that would identify the author(s). References to the authors' own work should be anonymised as follows: "Author's own, [year]". Please note that submissions that have not been sufficiently anonymised will be returned.
       
   3. If you have any Figures and Tables please upload them as separate files at the end of the manuscript. Please indicate where these should be placed in the text by inserting: ‘Figure X here’ and provide numbers, titles and sources where appropriate. 

All authors should comply with the Bristol University Press/ Policy Press ethical guidelines.
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

1. 1. A cover page including: the article title, author name(s) and affiliations (institution affiliation and country only, no department details required), the article abstract (up to 100 words), up to 5 key words and the word count.
       

A non-anonymised manuscript including:

1. 1. Funding details: list any funding including the grant numbers you have received for the research covered in your article as follows: "This work was supported by the [Funding Agency] under Grant [number xxxx]."
       
   2. Conflict of interest statement: please declare any possible conflicts of interest, or state "The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest" if there are none. Find out more about declaring conflicts of interest in the Bristol Universty Press/ Policy Press Ethical Guidelines.
       
   3. Acknowledgements: acknowledge those who have provided you with any substantial assistance or advice with collecting data, developing your ideas, editing or any other comments to develop your argument or text.
       
   4. Figures and Tables: should be included as separate files at the end of the manuscript. Please indicate where these should be placed in the text by inserting: ‘Figure X here’ and provide numbers, titles and sources where appropriate. For advice about less common file formats please contact dave.j.worth@bristol.ac.uk.
       
   5. Supplemental data: We recommend that any supplemental data are hosted in a data repository (such as figshare) for maximum exposure, and are cited as a reference in the article.

Editorial Review Process

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. Please note: submissions that, in the opinion of the editors, have not been anonymised for review will be returned to authors. The final decision on publication rests with the managing editors. 

Copyright and Permissions

Articles are considered for publication on the understanding that on acceptance the entire copyright shall pass to Policy Press as publisher of Journal of Poverty & Social Justice. Authors will be asked to sign a copyright agreement to this effect. All authors should agree to the copyright assignment. For jointly authored articles the corresponding author may sign on behalf of co-authors provided that s/he has obtained their consent for copyright assignment. When submitting online, the copyright assignment agreement is considered to be signed when the corresponding author checks the relevant box. The copyright assignment agreement can be read 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 Journal of Poverty & Social Justice please email Policy Press: pp-info@bristol.ac.uk. 

Please also read our Journals Editorial Policies and Ethical Guidelines.

Style

• British English spelling and punctuation is preferred.
• Non-discriminatory language is mandatory.
• Explanatory notes should be kept to a minimum. If it is necessary to use them, they must be numbered consecutively in the text and listed at the end of the article. Please do not embed notes in the text.
• Please do not embed bibliographic references in the text, footnotes, live links or macros; the final submitted file should be clear of track changes and ready for print.
• Tables and charts should be separated from the text and submitted in a Word or Excel file, with their placement in the text clearly indicated by inserting: ‘Table X here’. Please provide numbers, titles and sources (where appropriate).
• Figures, diagrams and maps should be separated from the text and, ideally, submitted in an Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) file. Figures created in Word or Excel are acceptable in those file formats. If the figures, diagrams and maps are in other formats (i.e. have been pasted into a Word file rather than created in it) please contact dave.j.worth@bristol.ac.uk for advice. Please indicate where figures should be placed in the text, by inserting: ‘Figure X here’ and provide numbers, titles and sources (where appropriate).

References

Download the Endnote output style for Bristol University Press and Policy Press Journals.

Bristol University Press and Policy Press use a custom version of the Harvard system of referencing:

• In-text citations: give the author’s surname followed by year of publication in brackets
• List all references in full at the end of the article and remove any references not cited in the text
• Book and journal titles should be in italics
• Website details should be placed at the end of the reference
• Spell out all acronyms in the first instance.

Example of book reference:
Dorling, D. (2010) Injustice: Why social inequality persists, Bristol: Policy Press.

Example of journal reference:
Warin, P. (2012) 'Non-demand for Social Rights: A new challenge for social action in France', Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 20(1): 41-53.

Example of chapter within edited / multi-authored publication:
Levitas, R. (2011) 'Utopia Calling: Eradicating child poverty in the United Kingdom and beyond', in A. Minujin and S. Nandy (eds), Global Child Poverty and Well-being: Measurement, concepts, policy and action, Bristol, Policy Press. pp. 449-73.

Example of website reference:
Womensaid (2016) What is domestic abuse?, https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/.