Theme: The Journal

Editorial advisory board

• 
  Henrik Bengtssen, University of California, San Francisco
  
• 
  Gabriela de Quiroz, Chief Data Scientist, IBM
  
• 
  Michael Kane, Yale University, USA
  
• 
  Rebecca Killick, Lancaster University
  

Aims & Scope
The International Review of Public Policy (IRPP) is an inclusive and integrative open access journal, free to its authors and readers. IRPP is the flagship journal of the most important world-wide association for public policy in the social sciences, the International Public Policy Association (IPPA). Our journal is dedicated to advance knowledge about public policy in different sectors, countries and regions of the world. We accept submissions with a word-limit of 10,000 words, including references, footnotes, tables and graphs.
The journal hosts contributions on theories of the policy process, empirical tests of models, agenda-setting, decisions, policy instruments policy types, policy change, policy implementation, evaluation & appraisal, and a host of other social-scientific issues revolving around public policy. IRPP publishes both comparative studies and single case studies.
Methodologically, it is completely open to individual methods (such as experiments, statistics, qualitative and interpretive methods) as well as to mixed-methods contributions. The IRPP does not discriminate against any ontological presupposition. An important aim of the journal is to publish research that has high translation value – by this, we mean policy research that makes a broad range of findings available to policy-makers, civil society organizations, pressure groups and citizens concerned about policy issues.
The IRPP is inclusive and integrative:
Inclusive: Public policy is a diverse field. The IRPP reflects this diversity by supporting the broadest array of approaches. We welcome contributions that address public policy issues from different disciplinary traditions, empirical and theoretical approaches, methodologies that reflect different ontological and epistemological assumptions.
Integrative: The IRPP aims to be integrative by building bridges, making connections between different methodologies, and developing a common language between scholars. We also welcome contributions that make their research and ideas accessible to audiences different from academics.
In seeking to translate these two ideals into practice, IRPP does not discriminate against any ontological presupposition. All disciplines contributing to public policy are welcome, such as, to mention a few, ethnography, economics, political science, psychology, socio-legal studies and sociology.
The journal does not accept political/policy commentary, explanations of legislation and courts decisions, and personal opinions.
Peer Review Policy
All submissions go through rigorous double-blind peer review. Submissions to the journal undergo an initial editorial screening and, when a submission is considered appropriate, it is reviewed by at least two referees.
Once a paper is submitted by an author, the editor(s) checks the paper’s composition and arrangement against the journal’s submission guidelines. In particular, we check the presence of required sections and stylisations; that the paper is within the scope of the journal; and that it is sufficiently original and topical. If not, the paper may be rejected without being reviewed any further. A designated editor in chief will take care of the review process from this point onwards. The designated editor in chief assigns at least two Referees for manuscript review according to their expertise. The referees shall be experts in the given field and, if possible, they should not be institutionally or personally associated with the author. Referees are asked to evaluate the manuscript and provide constructive anonymised comments for the author. The paper is double-blind reviewed and recommendation sent to Editor.
As a result of the peer review process, the possible decisions are:
Accepted
Conditionally accepted
Revise and resubmit
Rejected
The editor in chief makes a final decision when appropriate consulting with the other Editors and one or more members of the Scientific Committee and sends a notification to the author. This decision is sent to the author along with any recommendations made by the referees. The above process ensures that all submissions are considered transparently, fairly and on merit.