These papers present an original piece of scholarly research that might be empirical or theoretical in nature and with relevance to the aims and scope of the journal.

Key information

• Word limit: The word limit for these papers is 7,000 words (excluding the list of references).
• Metadata and references: They must include a title, abstract of up to 250 words, three to five keywords and references.
• Format: Submissions must follow the guidance in the ‘Formatting your article‘ section.

These papers focus on a theme of interest to the social policy community. They aim to discuss, critique and appraise the existing literature and current state of knowledge and understanding. They might identify specific gaps in the knowledge base or propose future research agendas.

Key information

• Word limit: These articles should not exceed 5,000 words (excluding the list of references).
• Metadata and references: They must include a title, abstract of up to 250 words, three to five keywords and references.
• Format: Submissions must follow the guidance in the ‘Formatting your article‘ section.

These papers are short, topical briefings that spotlight exciting new research and developments. We invite submissions from across the academic and policy communities. These articles should either:

• Inform our readership about key research findings and address the implications of the research for the policy community.
• Provide accounts of work undertaken by policy makers and practitioners that furthers policy knowledge and/or contributes to current debates around policy and practice.
• Open debate about the potential future direction of social policy, offering something new and thought-provoking in relation to a ‘burning issue’. These ‘think pieces’ do not need to be based on original fieldwork or research.

Key information

• Word limit: Focus articles should be between 2000-4000 words in total (excluding the list of references).
• Metadata and references:  They should have a succinct title, no abstract, up to five keywords, and minimal references.
• Format: Submissions must follow the guidance in the ‘Formatting your article‘ section.
• Examples: Examples of published focus articles are available on our website which can be found using the website filters or search box.

This consists of a main graphic and brief accompanying article. The graphic could range from a chart to a map or any other type of graphic, providing it communicates key themes to the reader in an accessible and informative way. We would invite submissions from not only the academic profession but also the wider data visualisation community, proving the subject matter is relevant to our readership. This article should include:

• What the graphic is showing the reader and why it matters and some of the key visual points of interest.
• A quick summary of the process the author went through in producing the graphic including some of their design choices.
• A brief description of how the graphic was made, including technical information and what software was included. Authors may wish to include some of this information in their article notes.

The graphic should be able to be viewed as a standalone item, meaning that it can be easily viewed and understood without the accompanying article. This includes providing the necessary title, subheading, legend, labels, annotations and so on.

Key information

• Word limit:  Accompanying the graphic should be a short article of no more than 750 words (not including notes and citations).
• Metadata and references: They should have a succinct title, no abstract, three-to five keywords, and minimal references.
• Images and artwork: Authors are encouraged to submit graphics in colour, unless the use of greyscale is a key part of their design. Graphics should also be submitted in as high a resolution as possible. Please see section 2.2 for further information.
• Format: Submissions must follow the guidance in the ‘Formatting your article‘ section.
• Examples: Recent examples of featured graphic articles are available on our website, which can be found using the website filters or search box.

Book reviews are short articles that provide reflection and opinion on recently published scholarly books. PPP is open to suggestions about books to review. Book reviews can take two forms:

• Standard book reviews cover a single publication.
• Review articles  examine two or more publications, and are designed to allow authors greater scope to place their comments within wider academic and policy debates.

Reviewers are encouraged to adopt a structure that best suits their style of writing and the material under review. However, as a minimum it is expected that both types of review will include: a summary of the contents of the book(s); some commentary on the social, economic and policy context for the subject matter; and comments, plaudits and criticisms that authors think would be of interest to the readership.

Information about the book under review and the reviewer should be laid out along the same lines as the example shown below:

BOOK REVIEW
Climate Change and Society
John Urry
Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011, pp. 217, £15.99 (pb)
ISBN 978 0 7456 5037 1

Key information

• Word limits:
  • Standard book reviews should be 1,000 words (excluding the list of references).
  • Review articles  should be 2,000-3,000 words (excluding the list of references).
• References: These should only be included where necessary and if used, they should follow the conventions outlined in section 2.3.
• Format: Submissions must follow the guidance in the ‘Formatting your article‘ section.

Please prepare a cover sheet or title page (see 3.1) and anonymised manuscript (see section 2.2 for details about images).

PPP style guide

• No numbering should be used on headings.
• British English is used for PPP articles, For example, -ise spellings should be used wherever ‘s’ and ‘z’ are alternatives.
• Single quotation marks should be used, with double for quotes within quotes; revert to single for quotes within quotes within quotes. Use no quotation marks around indented extracts.
• Quotations of more than three or four lines should be indented in the text. When this is done no quotation marks are needed, except where they appear in the original. Any words interpolated by the author in a quotation should be enclosed in square brackets [ ] to show that they are not part of the quoted matter.
• Dates should be written 21 December 1971 and decades should be the 1970s without an apostrophe.
• Abbreviations consisting of capital, initial letters are usually expressed without full stops – GNP, EU etc. Contractions ending with the same letter as the original word do not take a terminal full stop (edn, Mr, Dr) but if they do not take the same letter then a full stop is included (ed., ch.). Thus ed. and eds are the correct forms. The abbreviations etc., i.e. and e.g. are usually best replaced by ‘and so on’, ‘that is’ and ‘for example’.
• Numbers from one to ten should be written out in full unless using decimal places; numerals should be used for numbers above ten.
• Bullet points and bulleted lists can be used in articles but should be used sparingly.
• Per cent is spelt out in the text and the number preceding it appears in figures. The symbol (%) can be used in tables.
• Full stops are not needed after headings, sub-headings, and table and figure captions.
• Endnotes and footnotes are not permitted. All relevant information, other than references, should be incorporated within the text. If you add any footnotes or endnotes these will be moved by the Copyeditor to a ‘Notes’ section which will appear before the References section.

Tables, figures and maps can be inserted into the main text. But in order to maintain the highest possible quality on the website we request that the original figures are also supplied separately through the submission portal when uploading your manuscript and title. The files should be high quality and in one of the following formats: JPEG, EPS, TIFF.

Special requirements for reproducing tables, figures and maps should be indicated in correspondence with the editors. It is the responsibility of the authors to obtain permission to reproduce previously published tables, figures and maps, and this permission should be clearly stated in notes under the table.

ALT Text

Alternative text (alt text) needs to be provided for tables, graphs, photos and any other type of media.

Alt text is a description of the figure or image that is read by a screen reader for users who have visual impairments. As authors you are best placed to provide this text as you know what you are trying to convey or communicate through the image/figure selected.

Alt text should be added using Word, guidance on how to do this is available on the Microsoft website. There are also various websites available, like this Harvard University page, designed to help you write your Alt Text.

PPP uses the APA style of referencing. A full list of references must be included at the end of the article: please do not use footnotes or endnotes for these (see 2.1).

References should be cited in the text by giving the last name of the author(s) followed by the year of publication in parentheses, for example, Lyde and Dunston (1995); (Dunston, 1997a, 1997b). For three or more authors use the first author followed by et al. Also note, that the APA style guides explains that for a work with up to 20 authors, include all the names in the reference. When the work has 21 or more authors, include the first 19 names, an ellipsis, and then the final name.

• Cover sheet: Once your article is ready for submission you will need to prepare a separate cover sheet, which should include relevant author details:
  • All authors should include their full name and affiliation on the title page.
  • Please identify the corresponding author and include their postal and email address for adding to the paper. If you require more than one author to be listed in the correspondence details, please ensure that their postal and email addresses are also included.
  • ORCID Id’s for each author should also be provided If you want to include email addresses for any others you can and these will be included online.
• Article manuscript: Your manuscript should be anonymised (please include the article title but no author information). Please ensure that the following are included:
  • Acknowledgements: Can be given at the end of the article, before the References section.
  • Abstract (research and review articles only)
  • Keywords: If applicable to your submission type, please provide three to five keywords under the abstract.

• Journal policies: Have you reviewed the policies on the site prior to submission?

First time user

If you have not submitted a paper to this journal before, you will need to create an account. If you need any help with this system, please contact the PPP Editorial Team.

Emails

Any emails you receive are sent via the automated system, if you do not receive any emails, please contact us via the PPP inbox and we can investigate.

Help using OJS

If you experience any problems or the submission process is unclear,  you can view the guidance available on the developers website.

When undertaking the peer-review process, reviewers are asked to respond to the following questions:

• Does the paper make a contribution to the field?
• Is it well argued and logically structured?
• Is the article well expressed and the narrative easy to follow?
• What aspects of the article, if any, require further reflection, development or clarification?
• Does it appear that English is not the author(s)’s first language? Does the author(s)’s use of English require particular attention?

When checking your final proofs ensure that:

• Any tables, figures and maps are inserted in the correct place within the article.
• You have supplied the original files to the Journal via the OJS submission portal – this ensures the highest quality is maintained on the website. Referring to section 2.2 might be useful to check what file types are accepted as well as other useful information.
• Do you have the necessary permissions to use all images and included appropriate credit/source information along with the image in the article.
• Have you included ALT text for all images used – see 2.2 for guidance on writing.

PPP publish articles ahead of issue publication so that readers can access your article quicker. You will receive an email when your Early View article is live and later you will also be notified when the article has been assigned to an issue.

As the publisher, we promote your article using Mailchimp, LinkedIn and Bluesky.

As the author, you no doubt have networks where you can share your work, but have you considered the following:

• Share your article using your social media accounts.
• Writing a blog – these can be powerful as they summarise your topic. If you do, we’d love to read it and share with our networks.
• Add a link to your article in your email signature – this is a simple, effective way to promote to a wider audience.