Philosophy & Social Criticism
Philosophy & Social Criticism is a fully peer reviewed international journal that publishes original research and review articles. It presents original theoretical contributions to the latest developments in social and political thought, emphasizing the contributions of continental scholarship as it affects international theoretical developments
In contemporary society reason cannot be separated from practical life and at their interface a critical attitude is forged. Philosophy & Social Criticism was established nearly thirty years ago to bring together articles which foster this attitude. It is now a leading international journal in social and political philosophy.
Since it was established in 1973, the journal has published the work of some of the world's leading theorists, including:
· Seyla Benhabib · Cornelius Castoriadis · Umberto Eco · Michel Foucault · Jürgen Habermas · Agnes Heller · Axel Honneth · Hans-Georg Gadamer · Ernesto Laclau · Paul Ricoeur
Philosophy & Social Criticism has been at the forefront of contemporary academic scholarship and over the years has provided a focal point for major international debates and theoretical developments.
International Coverage
The journal presents an international range of theory and critique, emphasizing the contribution of continental scholarship as it affects major contemporary debates.
Interdisciplinary Perspective
Philosophy & Social Criticism is truly interdisciplinary, offering a critical viewpoint on areas such as: · Continental and American philosophy · ethics · politics · social theory · critique of science · political philosophy · sociology · legal thought · hermeneutics · literary theory · postmodernism · cultural critique · socio-economic thought
"Philosophy & Social Criticsm has been for some time the refuge of informed and erudite philosophy which refused to wear the straight-jacket of the Academe. Its spirit of domination-free communication, its genuine, but far from unprincipled pluralism, makes it an epitome of what committed and serious thinking should be." Agnes Heller
"Philosophy & Social Criticism is a unique and invaluable voice in philosophy and social criticism. It represents a non-ideological intervention into academic debates, offering a diverse range of philosophical perspectives" Drucilla Cornell
"For over twenty years, Philosophy & Social Criticism has set the standard for a truly interdisciplinary dialogue that has enriched the contemporary philosophical scene" Maurizio Passerin d'Entreves
"Philosophy & Social Criticism has the unique ability to bring together well thought through contributions by the leading theorists of the day and the daring endeavours of brilliant young people" Alessandro Ferrara
Electronic Access:
Philosophy & Social Criticism is available to browse online.
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
In modern industrial society reason cannot be separated from practical life. At their interface a critical attitude is forged. Philosophy & Social Criticism wishes to foster this attitude through the publication of essays in philosophy and politics, philosophy and social theory, socio-economic thought, critique of science, theory and praxis. We provide a forum for open scholarly discussion of these issues from a critical-historical point of view.
Philosophy & Social Criticism presents an international range of theory and critique, emphasizing the contribution of continental scholarship as it affects major contemporary debates.
| David Rasmussen | Boston College, USA |
| Zhuoyao Li | St. John’s University, USA |
| Amelia M. Wirts | Boston College, USA |
| Douglas Allen | University of Maine, Orono, USA |
| Albena Azmanova | University of Kent, Brussels School of International Studies, Belgium |
| Kenneth Baynes | Syracuse University, USA |
| James Bernauer | Boston College, Chestnut Hill, USA |
| Oliva Blanchette | Boston College, Chestnut Hill, USA |
| Remo Bodei | University of Pisa, Italy |
| James W. Boettcher | Saint Joseph's University, USA |
| James Bohman | St Louis University, USA |
| Hauke Brunkhorst | University of Flensburg, Germany |
| Patrice Canivez | Lille 3 University, France |
| Jean Cohen | Columbia University, New York, USA |
| Robert S Cohen | Boston University, USA |
| Drucilla Cornell | Rutgers University, USA |
| Simon Critchley | University of Essex, UK |
| Maurizio Passerin d'Entreves | University of Manchester, UK |
| Jodi Dean | Hobart and William Smith Colleges, USA |
| Alessandro Ferrara | University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Italy |
| Bernard Flynn | New School for Social Research, New York, USA |
| Rainer Forst | Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany |
| William C Gay | University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA |
| Helga Geyer-Ryan | University of Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Garth Gillan | Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA |
| William Griffith | Antioch University, Keene, USA |
| Agnes Heller | New School for Social Research, New York, USA |
| Axel Honneth | J W Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany |
| Dick Howard | State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA |
| Robert E. Innis | University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA |
| Richard Kearney | Boston College, USA |
| Peter Kemp | Centre for Ethics and Law, Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Gertrud Koch | University of Berlin, Germany |
| Michiel Korthals | Bussum, Netherlands |
| Ernesto Laclau | University of Essex, Colchester, UK |
| Cristina Lafont | Northwestern University, USA |
| Thomas McCarthy | Northwestern University, USA |
| Christoph Menke | University of Potsdam, Germany |
| Chantal Mouffe | University of Westminster, London, UK |
| Lucius Outlaw | Haverford College, USA |
| Thomas Owens | Boston College, Chestnut Hill, USA |
| W Creighton Peden | Highlands, NC, USA |
| Jacques Poulain | Amiens, France |
| Tong Shijun | East China Normal University, China |
| Yves Sintomer | Saint-Denis, France |
| Flavia Stara | University of Macerata, Italy |
| Tracey Stark | St John's Seminary, Boston, USA |
| Svetozar Stojanovic | University of Belgrade, Serbia |
| James Swindal | Duquesne University, USA |
| Jacques Taminiaux | Boston College, Chestnut Hill, USA |
| Joseph Tanke | California College of the Arts, USA |
| Carlos Thiebaut | Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain |
| Ivan Vejvoda | Smith College, USA |
| Arne Johan Vetlesen | University of Oslo, Norway |
| Stephen K White | University of Virginia, USA |
Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Philosophy & Social Criticism
This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics
Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/PASC to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Philosophy & Social Criticism 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, 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, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.
- What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Writing your paper - Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Declaration of conflicting interests - 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 Supplementary 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 - Further information
Before submitting your manuscript to Philosophy & Social Criticism, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.
Please note that manuscripts should be double-spaced throughout, and authors should provide an abstract of 100 to 150 words and up to 10 key words. Notes should be numbered consecutively, typed double spaced at the end of the manuscript. There is no specific word limit, but the editors may ask authors to shorten very long manuscripts before they are accepted for publication. Authors should include a list of references, and citations should be consistent. Authors are urged to check that the bibliographical information contained in their notes is accurate and comprehensive. The Editor wishes to remind authors that all manuscripts are published in gender neutral form.
Book review policy: As a general policy, Philosophy and Social Criticism does not publish unsolicited book reviews.
Books for review should be sent to: David M. Rasmussen, Editor, Philosophy & Social Criticism, P.O. Box 201, Strong, ME 04983, USA
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.
1.2.1 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.
Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication. Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a paper if:
• The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors
• The reviewer is based at the funding body of the paper
• The author has recommended the reviewer
• The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g. Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution).
Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.
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.
Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.
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.
2.4 Declaration of conflicting interests
Philosophy & Social Criticism 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 Research Data
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
Philosophy & Social Criticism 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
Philosophy & Social Criticism 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. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
For 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.
The Editor recommends the latest Chicago Style Manual as a guide for citation. Please also provide a Chicago style bibliography for the references included in the notes.
For journal entries and book chapters in the notes it is necessary to include the page number for a quotation or point of discussion. The page range of the whole article should be given in the references section.
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.
Philosophy & Social Criticism is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/PASC 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.
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 persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher 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 recognised.
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).
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. 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.
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Philosophy & Social Criticism editorial office as follows:
Zhuoyao Li, Managing Editor: psc@bc.edu.