European Journal of Social Security
EJSS is a highly respected, peer-reviewed journal, which is aimed at academics, researchers, policy makers, and practitioners who are interested in social security in Europe.
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
The European Journal of Social Security welcomes contributions which deal with social security from a comparative, international and/or theoretical point of view. It is published in English, four times a year. In recent years, one of the four issues has been a Special Issue comprising a collection of articles on a single topic.
| Anja Eleveld | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Catherine Jacqueson | University of Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Michael Adler | Edinburgh University, UK |
| Frans Pennings | Utrecht University, Netherlands |
| Constanze Janda | Speyer University, Germany |
| Ane Aranguiz | University of Antwerp, Belgium |
| Eleni de Becker | KU Leuven and Free University of Brussels |
| Pauline Melin | Maastricht University, the Netherlands |
| Rachel Beasley | |
| Fiona McGrath | University of Edinburgh, UK |
| Mel Cousins | Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland |
| Isabelle Daugareilh | Université de Bordeaux, France |
| Eleni de Becker | KU Leuven and Free University of Brussels |
| Ivana Dobrotic | Zagreb University, Croatia |
| Martin Fritz | Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany |
| Sacha Garben | College of Europe, Belgium |
| Tim Goedemé | University of Antwerp, Belgium |
| Herwig Immervoll | Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, France |
| Matteo Jessoula | Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy |
| Katharina Ó Cathaoir | University of Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Nicolas Rennuy | University of York, United Kingdom |
| Paul Schoukens | KU Leuven, Belgium |
| Henriette Sinding Aasen | University of Bergen, Norway |
| Slavina Spasova | European Social Observatory, Belgium |
| Sara Stendhal | University of Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Dorrottya Szikra | Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary |
| Anne Pieter van der Mei | Maastricht University, Netherlands |
| Herwig Verschueren | University of Antwerp, Belgium |
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jssec to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned. Remember you can log in to the submission site at any time to check on the progress of your paper through the peer review process.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of European Journal of Social Security will be reviewed.
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that European Journal of Social Security may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy.
If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.
- What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types and general instructions
1.3 Writing your paper - Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
2.6 Non-sexist use of language
2.7 Research Data - Publishing policies
3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving - Preparing your manuscript
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplemental material
4.4 Reference style
4.5 English language editing services - Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions - On acceptance and publication
6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article - Special Issues
- Further information
Before submitting your manuscript to European Journal of Social Security, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.
1.2 Article Types and general instructions
EJSS publishes three different types of contributions: original manuscripts, book reviews and case reviews. Case reviews are handled by the Case Law Reviewers and should not be submitted by external authors.
Original manuscripts and book reviews must be submitted to the editors in British English through the online portal. Original manuscripts will be reviewed by external referees and the editors and may be returned to authors for revision. All manuscripts will be language edited and editors reserve the right to make alterations as to style, punctuation, grammar etc.
Original manuscripts
Manuscripts with original research should not normally exceed 9,000 words, including headings, references, footnotes and captions, but excluding the abstract. Papers that exceed the word count will be sent back to authors before being peer reviewed. Exceptionally, the editors may accept a longer paper, and authors wishing to publish a longer paper should justify this in the cover letter. Pages should be numbered consecutively throughout at the foot of the page.
EJSS welcomes contributions from a broad range of disciplines and accepts manuscripts that follow the style that is commonly used in these disciplines as long as the format adheres to the author guidelines specified below. Yet, all papers should reflect the following characteristics: In the introduction of the paper, authors should clearly indicate the originality of the paper and the added value to the literature. Empirical papers should include an appropriate data and methods section and authors should clearly discuss the limitations of the data and methods used and the reported findings. Law papers preferably, where relevant, indicate gaps or limitations to the analysis and directions for further research as well. EJSS strongly favours comparative research and papers on developments in social security and social policy at the EU level. Country case studies can be accepted as well, but all papers should include a discussion about the broader relevance of the findings for other European countries and/or the EU.
Submitting your manuscript: For details regarding required style and format (e.g. for references, graphs, and use of non-sexist language) and instructions for submission, please see below. Please include in two separate files a cover letter and title page which includes the title, the authors with their affiliation and contact details, the abstract (between 200 and 250 words), an acknowledgement, a statement on the contract for the data used and/or indication of how the data can be accessed (if applicable), a statement on funding, and a statement on potential conflicts of interest. Please visit this page for more information. Each of these statements should be included under a separate heading on the title page:
Acknowledgement
E.g. we are grateful to two anonymous referees for comments and suggestions. All remaining errors and shortcomings are our own.
Data access
The data were provided by Eurostat under contract xxx/xxx/xxx.
Funding
No specific source of funding was used for this paper.
Conflict of interest
Authors A, and B do not report any conflict of interest. Author C works at company Z / is lawyer at y.
Submitting revisions: When submitting a revision, please remove the old manuscript from the online portal and upload a separate document along with the anonymous revised manuscript in which you list the comments by the reviewers and editors, and a response under each comment which indicates how you modified the manuscript or a motivation for not modifying the manuscript in line with the suggestions received.
Book reviews
Authors wishing to publish a book review in EJSS should contact the book review editor before submitting a review (see contact details below). The book review editor makes a selection of books that will be reviewed in EJSS and maintains a database of potential reviewers.
Book reviews should provide at the top of the review the following information about the book under review:
The name(s) of the author(s) or editor(s) [(eds.)] (year of publication), the title of the book, the place of publication: the publisher’s name, number of pages; ISBN.
This is followed by the reviewer’s full name and affiliation.
Reviews preferably do not contain footnotes. Reviews should be between 700 and 900 words (including footnotes and references, if any). Reviews should include a summary of the main argument and structure of the book as well as an assessment of its originality and contribution to knowledge. We strongly prefer analytical rather than descriptive reviews. In other words, we prefer reviews in which the central part contains an assessment of the quality and added value of the book, supported by examples from the book, rather than describing the content of each individual book chapter. Book reviews typically conclude with a suggestion for who might benefit most from reading the book.
Book reviews should be submitted through the online portal. On submission, the title of the submitted review should be: “Book Review: ‘book title’”. Book reviews are reviewed by the book review editor and general editors and do not undergo an external peer review. The manuscript should contain the author’s name.
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.
European Journal of Social Security operates a strictly anonymized peer review process in which the reviewer’s name is withheld from the author and, the author’s name from the reviewer. The reviewer may at their own discretion opt to reveal their name to the author in their review but our standard policy practice is for both identities to remain concealed.
All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.
Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support. It is customary to also thank reviewers for their input.
2.3.1 Third party submissions
Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:
- Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
- Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
- Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.
Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
European Journal of Social Security encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.
2.6 Non-sexist use of language
The Journal is committed to a non-sexist use of language. Thus, the use of masculine pronouns (he, him, his) should be avoided unless they are used specifically to refer to a male. Sexist language can often be avoided by using the plural form (‘they’) (e.g. ‘When a claimant is sanctioned, he receives only…’ is better written as: ‘When claimants are sanctioned, they receive only…’). Further guidance can be obtained from the Editors.
The journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.
Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:
- share your research data in a relevant public data repository
- include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, we encourage you to consider using the statement to explain why it cannot be shared.
- cite this data in your research
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.
3.1.1 Plagiarism
European Journal of Social Security and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
3.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway.
3.3 Open access and author archiving
European Journal of Social Security offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.
4. Preparing your manuscript for submission
The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. Word templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.
4.2 Artwork, figures, other graphics and tables
Figures in colour should always include symbols and a legend that allow colour-blind people to read the figures and graphs. Figures/charts and tables created in MS Word should be included in the main text rather than at the end of the document. Figures/charts/tables and other files created outside Word (i.e. Excel, PowerPoint, JPG, TIFF, EPS, and PDF) should also be included in the main text at the appropriate place AND submitted separately.
Artwork, figures and tables should be included with an appropriate title (above the artwork, figure or table), reading note and source (below the artwork, figure or table) at the appropriate place in the main text.
For further guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines. Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.
This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files.
For non-legal sources, citations in the text are added using the (Author, Date: page) system. References at the end follow the Sage Harvard reference style. Legal sources should be cited in footnotes and follow a modified version of the OSCOLA reference style. Please consult this document before submitting your paper for the details of the EJSS referencing style. Manuscripts that do not follow these guidelines will not be reviewed.
4.5 English language editing services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
European Journal of Social Security is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jssec to login and submit your article online.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
All papers must be submitted via the online system.
5.1 ORCID
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.
The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.
If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
5.3 Permissions
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.
6. On acceptance and publication
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. No substantive changes are allowed at this stage. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.
6.3 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.
Usually, EJSS publishes one special issue a year. In the case of a special issue, guest editors propose a list of contributors and articles. After review by the guest editors, these articles are submitted through the online submission portal, adhering to the same author guidelines as is the case for all other manuscripts. If the special issue contains more articles than usual issues, the editors will request to submit shorter articles (typically between 6,000 and 7,000 words). All articles will undergo the usual peer review process, and can be rejected or relegated to another issue of EJSS if authors fail to produce an accepted manuscript on time. The editors may decide at their own discretion to add Case Law Reviews and Book Reviews that align well with the topic of the special issue.
Calls for special issue proposals are published online at the journal’s homepage, and the deadline is usually 15th October of the year preceding the year of publication.
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the European Journal of Social Security editorial office as follows:
Co-Editor-in-Chief: Catherine Jacqueson catherine.jacqueson@jur.ku.dk
Co-Editor-in-Chief: Tim Goedemé tim.goedeme@uantwerpen.be