The American Journal of Political Science (AJPS) seeks manuscripts that make outstanding contributions to scholarly knowledge about notable theoretical concerns, empirical issues, or methodological strategies in any subfield of political science. Manuscripts submitted for review should address an important research problem or question, display a high level of creativity or innovation in research, contribute in a novel way to a body of knowledge, and also (as appropriate) demonstrate state-of-the-art use of appropriate methodology.
The American Journal of Political Science does not review manuscripts that:
- Do not contain original arguments or analyses;
- Are not analytically rigorous, of high quality, and self-contained;
- Do not have appropriate Institutional Review Board approval for studies involving human subjects;
- Are responses to recently published articles that do not follow the Correspondence submission guidelines described below;
- Are book reviews or essays on current events;
- Are simultaneously under review elsewhere;
- Contain material that has already been published elsewhere (without appropriate citation or acknowledgment);
- Fail to comply with the substantive, stylistic, formatting, and anonymity requirements described above; or
- Have been reviewed previously at the AJPS.
The AJPS accepts research note submissions (4,000 word limit) as well as article submissions (10,000 word limit). The title of each Research Note will start with the words, “Research Note,” as in, “Research Note: Populism and Violence Against Immigrants,” to help distinguish research notes from full-length articles. Research notes at AJPS will be confined to methodology papers (including methodology papers in normative political theory) and meta-analyses. Essays that primarily present new data, or that offer replications of previous studies without significant theoretical or research design innovations will not be accepted as research notes.
Correspondence is a new category of publication at AJPS. AJPS will publish short critical essays called “Correspondence” in which scholars who are not the original authors challenge the central claims of a previously published AJPS article. Correspondence submissions will have a 4,000-word limit. The title of each Correspondence piece will follow a standardized format beginning with the word “Correspondence,” as in “Correspondence: [Original Article Title], A Reanalysis and Discussion,” to help distinguish Correspondence from full-length articles and research notes. Correspondence at AJPS will be confined to submissions that convincingly challenge the central claims of a recently published AJPS manuscript. We will be especially likely to consider Correspondence submissions that provide broader contributions beyond narrowly refuting the claims in the previously published work—for example, new data collection, multiple replications, or methodological insights. Correspondence submissions that are not desk rejected will undergo external review. Authors of the original publication will be invited to submit a response to a Correspondence manuscript, capped at 2,000 words. The response will be published in the same issue as the Correspondence manuscript. When a Correspondence manuscript is submitted, AJPS editors will assess whether the manuscript simply identifies a relatively minor error in the original manuscript, such as mislabeling a variable, misreporting a result, or a coding error. In such a circumstance, the editors might desk reject the Correspondence submission, and invite the original author to submit a Correction, or the journal itself to publish an Erratum, as appropriate. AJPS will not publish Correspondence that addresses articles published in other journals.
AJPS publishes Corrections—short notes in which authors of original AJPS publications acknowledge errors in their work. Corrections appear under the original authors’ names. Note that an Erratum indicates a publisher error rather than an author error, such as the publisher assembling a result incorrectly in a table.
Manuscripts are selected for publication in the AJPS based on a double-blind review process. Authors and co-authors of submissions to the AJPS are expected to review manuscripts for the Journal. The AJPS Co-Editors reserve the right to refuse submissions from authors who repeatedly fail to provide reviews for the Journal when invited to do so.
The Editors of the American Journal of Political Science seek to provide constructive and informative manuscript reviews that provide authors with useful information regardless of the ultimate editorial decision. We are also committed to providing authors with efficient and timely turnaround when processing submitted manuscripts. But the speed of the process is directly affected by the timeliness of referee responses. Accordingly, it may take several months to complete the review of a manuscript. Note also that all reviews are advisory to the AJPS Co-Editors, who are responsible for publication decisions.
AJPS Appeals Policy
If authors wish to appeal an editorial decision, they should send their appeal to ajps@ajps.org. Authors must wait at least 24 hours between receiving the editorial decision they wish to appeal, and sending in their appeal. All appeals will be judged by the editors-in-chief, though the editors-in-chief may at their discretion consult with others, including but not limited to the managing editor, associate editors, and editorial board members. The decisions of the editors-in-chief on appeals are final.
Updated March 2026