February 2022
Gender & Society, published by Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) since 1987, is a top ranked journal in both gender studies and sociology. The journal receives over 650 new submissions each year with about 11,000 subscribers and about 500,00 article downloads each year. The journal has a strong tradition of supporting mentoring, professional development, disseminating gender scholarship broadly, and for developing feminist scholarship throughout the peer review and editorial process.
The SWS Publications Committee announces a search for the next Editor of Gender & Society, the official journal of SWS. The Editor will serve a four-year term beginning August 2023 with Volume 37 and ending with Volume 40 in December 2026. There will be two transition periods, May to July 31, 2023, to transition into the editorial duties and January through July 31, 2027, to transition to the next Editorial Office. The Publications Committee seeks an Editor or Editorial team with a demonstrated consistent track record of productive scholarship, commitment to the mentoring mission of the journal, and a vision and strategy for maintaining and strengthening Gender & Society as a prestigious interdisciplinary journal. While the publisher, SAGE Publications and SWS provide resources to the editorial office, the journal’s host institution is also expected to provide support for both the Editor and the office. The proposal should indicate the expected institutional support, including a letter from an institutional representative, such as Chair and/or Dean. The proposal must also formally specify the details of the proposed editorial structure, including names and qualifications of all Editors who will be actively involved in the reviewing and editing processes and the methodological and substantive range of the Editorial team.
Gender & Society operates on an electronic platform (Manuscript Central) through which the Editor manages all aspects of the publication and review process. In 2021, the journal received an average of 55 new submissions each month, resulting in about 750 decisions on manuscripts in a year. The average time to a decision on externally reviewed manuscripts is less than 70 days.
It is the Editor’s responsibility to work with the publisher to ensure timely and accurate delivery of manuscripts for bi-monthly publication. The Editorial Office also works with the Book Review Editor and the SWS Media Relations Committee with the aim of promoting the scholarship in the journal through a variety of mechanisms (e.g., blogs, Twitter, Facebook, podcasts, and press releases). The Editor is accountable to SWS (through the Publications Committee) for accomplishing the goals of the journal within the budget.
Editors have taken different approaches to the journal, as discussed in this SWS 2020 session with former editors (https://journals.sagepub.com/home/gas). We strongly encourage prospective applicants to have a preliminary discussion of the work, key issues, resources provided, and expectations with the Chair of the Search Committee and SWS Publications Committee co-chair Victoria Reyes (vreyes@ucr.edu), and the current Editor, Barbara Risman (brisman@uic.edu). Members of SWS are encouraged to apply and/or suggest colleagues who might apply. Editorial teams, preferably at the same institution, are welcome to apply.
Applicants should send a cover letter of application including a vision for the future of the journal, detailed outline of the proposed editorial structure, including capacity to manage the journal’s volume, documentation of institutional support, and curriculum vita of the proposed Editor or Editorial team and any Deputy Editors by June 1, 2022 to: Victoria Reyes at vreyes@ucr.edu.