Sociological Focus

Submission of a manuscript to Sociological Focus clearly implies a commitment to publish in this journal. Previously published papers and papers under review by another journal are unacceptable.

A submission must include 1 electronic file (Word or Rtf only) that includes

  Abstract: Place on a separate page,  headed by the article title and omitting author identification. The abstract should be in italics.

 Text: Begin text on a new page headed by the title. Omit author identification.

Manuscripts should be prepared following the American Sociological Association “Style Guide.”

Submit the file to

Gustavo Mesch, Editor Sociological Focus

http://www.sociologicalfocus.net

or by email to

sociologicalfocusjournal@soc.haifa.ac.il

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Format and Length: All copy (including, abstract, text, notes, and references) must be typed, double-spaced on 8-1/2 inch by 11 inch white opaque paper. Left and right margins must be at least 1 inch; top and bottom margins must be at least 1-1/2 inches. (Bold and italic characters should be noted if not apparent in the text.).  Papers should be a maximum of 35 pages, including text, notes, references, tables, and figures or illustrations. The title page, abstract, text, notes (if any), references, tables, figures, and illustrations appear, in that order, in separate sections as described below.

a. Headings and subheadings in the text organize the content. Generally, three levels of headings are sufficient for an article. Heading styles are shown below (refer to the ASA style manual or an

ASA publication for additional examples).

THIS IS A LEVEL ONE HEADING

Level 1 headings are left justified (or centered) on the page, in capital letters, in type size two

points larger than your text.

This is a Level Two Heading

Level 2 headings are flush with the left margin, in italic capital letters at the beginning of

words except prepositions, articles, and coordinating conjunctions, and in the same type size

as your text.

This is a level three heading. Level 3 headings are run-in, printed in italics, indented at

the beginning of the paragraph, ending with a period in the same type size as your text.

Capitalize only the first letter and proper nouns.

b. References in the text must be listed in the reference section, and all references listed in the reference section must be cited in the text. Cite the last name(s) of the authors and year of publication.

Include page references whenever you think that information is necessary. References in text must be listed consistently either in chronological or alphabetical order. Subsequent citations of the same source are cited in the same way as the first, with the exception of a reference with three or more authors (see the example below). Some examples are listed below (refer to recent issues of  Sociological Focus, the ASA Style Guide, or ASA publications for other examples):

• If author’s name is in the text, follow it with the year of publication in parentheses: Fishbein

(1975).

• If author’s name is not in the text, enclose last name and year of publication in parentheses:

(Benedict 1938).

• Page citation follows year of publication: Antonovski (1979:142) or (Antonovski 1979:142).

• Give both names of joint authors (Jessor and Jessor 1977); for three authors, list all three last

names in the first citation (Jessor, Chase, and Donovan 1980), and in subsequent citations use

“et al.” (Jessor et al. 1980). For citations with four or more authors, always use the first

author’s last name followed by “et al.”

• For institutional authorship, supply minimum identification from the beginning of the

complete citation: (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1990:216).

• Separate references in a series with semicolons: (Yamaguchi and Kandel 1984; Johnston

1985; Thompson 1989).

• For unpublished materials: Robin and Robin (forthcoming) or White (unpublished) or

Johnston (personal communication).

c. Notes in the text should be numbered consecutively throughout the article with superscript Arabic

numerals. If a note is referred to again later in the text, use a parenthetical insertion "(see note 3)."

d. Equations in the text must be typed. Important equations should be identified by consecutive Arabic

numerals in parentheses to the right of the equation. Expressions should be aligned and subscripts

and superscript clearly marked. Use notes in the margin to clarify symbols.

e. Notes are not required in an article; when possible incorporate the information into the text.

f. Statistical Terms: All statistical terms, such as t, n, R2, SD are italicized.

4. Notes: If notes cannot be avoided, list the notes in a section entitled “Notes” directly following the text.

Begin each note with the Arabic numeral with which it is keyed in the text, e.g., “1 This is the first note.”

Sociological Focus does not use footnotes.

5. References: All references in the text must be listed in the reference section; all references in the reference section must be cited in the text. Authors are responsible for ensuring that publication information for each reference must be complete and correct. Listed below are guidelines and examples for citations in your reference list (see recent issues of Sociological Focus, the ASA Style Guide, or ASA publications for further examples):

• List the references alphabetically by the first author’s last name.

• The author’s last name should be inverted. In the case of multiple authors, only the first

author’s name should be inverted. (e.g., Dryfoos, Joy D., David J. Hawkins, Denise M.

Lishner, and Matthew O. Howard). Use first and last names of all authors, unless only initials

are given on the cited publication. List all authors in the references: the use of et al. is not

permitted in the reference section.

• If your reference list includes more than one item by the same author, list them in order of the

year of publication. For listing more than one work by the same author(s) within the same

year, distinguish them (in alphabetical order by title of article) by adding the letters a, b, c,

etc. to the year (or to forthcoming, unpublished, etc.).

• If the material listed has been accepted for publication but has not yet been published, use

“forthcoming” in place of the date and give the journal or publisher.

Books Dryfoos, Joy D. 1991. Adolescents at Risk. New York: Oxford University Press.

Periodicals Johnson, Robert H. and Howard B. Kaplan. 1990. “Stability of Psychological

Symptoms: Drug Use Consequences and Intervening Processes.”

Journal of Health and Social Behavior 31:277–298.

Robin, Stanley S. and Eric O. Johnson. Forthcoming. “Early Onset Drug Use

and the Gateway Phenomenon.” Journal of Health and Social

Behavior 33:157–166.

Yamaguchi, Kazuo and Denise Kandel. 1984a. “Patterns of Drug Use from

Adolescence to Young Adulthood: II. Consequences of Progression.”

American Journal of Public Health 74:668–672.

———. 1984b. “Patterns of Drug Use from Adolescence to Young Adulthood:

III. Predictors of Progression.” American Journal of Public Health

74:673-681.

E-References Roberts, Les, Pascal Ngoy, Colleen Mone, Charles Lubula, Luc

Mwezse, Mariana Zantop, and Michael Despines. 2003. “Mortality in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Results from a Nationwide Survey.” International Rescue Committee. Retrieved November 23, 2004 (http://intranet.theirc.org/docs/drc_mortality_iii_full.pdf).

Collections Greenspan, Stanley L. 1986. “Research Strategies to Identify Developmental Vulnerabilities for Drug Abuse.” Pp. 136–154 in Etiology of Drug Abuse: Implications for

Prevention, edited by Carly L. Jones and Robert J. Battjes. Washington, DC: National Institute on Drug Abuse Series. NIDA Research Monograph 56.

6. Tables: Number tables consecutively as referenced in the text, and place each on a separate sheet at the end of the paper. Avoid the use of lines between rows in tables. Insert a note in the text indicating the approximate placement of each table, e.g., “[Table 3 about here].” Each table must have a descriptive title and headings for all rows and columns (avoid abbreviations). Gather footnotes to tables at the bottom of the respective tables as “Note(s)” and designate each note as a, b, c, etc. with corresponding designations within and at the bottom of the tables. Asterisks indicate statistical significance [*p < .05; **p < .01; etc.].

All tables should provide easily interpreted titles and labels, and contain the minimum amount of

formatting necessary. Authors are responsible for removing any superfluous lines, boxes, or other

formatting prior to publication.

7. Figures and Illustrations: should be numbered in the same way as tables; place each on a separate sheet at the end of the paper. Insert a note in the text indicating the approximate placement of each, e.g., “[Figure 3 about here].” Figures and illustrations submitted with the final draft must be camera-ready, executed in black ink on white paper or vellum; artistic standards must be observed in the production of figures and illustrations.