Proposing a Thematic Issue

Submitting a Prospectus

All issues begin with a prospectus submitted to the LAP Collective.  This proposal should outline the theme of the issue, explain its importance, and identify the major theoretical and empirical questions it will address.  These should be consistent with the LAP Mission (See Mission here.) A CV of the proposed issue editor(s) should accompany the prospectus.

If there are already some papers that might become articles in the issue, they should be identified and short abstracts included.  However, if approved, the issue will be open to all contributors and there is no guarantee that any specific submission will be accepted, even if it has been included in the original prospectus.  Looking at current Calls for Manuscripts (click here) offers the best guidance for preparing a prospectus.

After a prospectus is received, it will be considered by the Coordinating Editors.  If the prospectus theme is approved, there is usually some feedback and request for revisions before a final call for submissions is approved.

Feel free to contact Associate Managing Editor Rosalind Bresnahan at rosalind568@gmail.com for additional information on developing a prospectus.

 Role of Issue Editors

Once a prospectus has been accepted, issue editors play an important role in helping to publicize the issue, review all submissions, and work with authors as they revise.  However, it is not the issue editors’ role to put together a “ready to go” package.  All submissions should come directly to LAP and will go through the LAP review process.  All decisions on acceptances, revisions and rejections are made by the LAP Collective, with particular attention to the input of the issue editors.  However, in some cases, decisions of the Collective may disagree with the recommendations of the issue editors, who may appeal such decisions.

Developing a Thematic Issue

Two years is usually the minimum length of time from acceptance of a prospectus to publication, given that most manuscripts go through several revisions, each requiring review, and we usually send material to copy editing at least 7 months before publication.  LAP publishes 6 issues a year, usually 5 thematic issues and one open issue.  At any given time, we may have 10 or more issues in progress at the time of acceptance of a new prospectus.  The actual date of publication of any issue is determined by how quickly the material comes together and how many other finalized issues are awaiting publication.  Sage can publish articles on line before print publication and this counts as official publication for authors dealing with tenure and promotion timelines.