ajs-submission

Submission Preflight (ajs-submission)

The last check before pressing submit on Editorial Manager (editorialmanager.com/ucp-ajs). AJS is double-blind, so the most common avoidable failures are an under-anonymized manuscript and a cover page left inside the manuscript file. Also unique to AJS: a $30 submission fee and AJS's own house style (not the ASA Style Guide). Verify volatile items on the live pages before submission.

When to trigger

• "Submitting tomorrow" — last pass before upload
• Unsure which files/metadata Editorial Manager expects
• Confirming the fee, anonymization, abstract, alt text, and house style are all handled

Process facts (verify volatile items on the official page)

• Owner / publisher: University of Chicago (Dept. of Sociology) / University of Chicago Press (NOT SAGE/ASA).
• Portal: Editorial Manager (editorialmanager.com/ucp-ajs); accepts Word, PDF, or LaTeX.
• Review model: double-blind — anonymize the manuscript; submit the cover page as a separate file so personal information is not in the manuscript.
• Submission fee: $30 per new submission; waived for graduate students submitting as sole authors (proof of status may be requested). Confirm the current amount and waiver workflow on the official page.
• Abstract: ~150 words (as close to 150 as possible); must state the question/puzzle, identify the data, and indicate findings. No abstract → not sent to reviewers.
• Length: no fixed word cap; be concise (referees may need more time over ~18,000 words). Live-check current guidance before upload.
• Style: AJS's own author-date house style (name + year; "et al." for 3+); NOT the ASA Style Guide. Notes start at "1"; acknowledgment note on the cover sheet with an asterisk; footnotes or endnotes both fine.
• Figures: alt text required for every figure at submission, with the captions.
• Format: serif typeface ≥11 pt (preferably 12), double-spaced, ≥1-inch margins.

Preflight checklist

Fee & files

• $30 submission fee ready (or sole-author grad-student waiver + proof of status)
• Manuscript file (Word/PDF/LaTeX) with no cover page inside it
• Separate cover page file (names, affiliations, acknowledgments)

Anonymity (double-blind)

• No author names, affiliations, or acknowledgments in the manuscript
• Self-references worded to avoid specific attribution
• Identifying file metadata stripped (document properties, comments)

Content & format

• Abstract present, ~150 words, states question + data + findings
• AJS house-style citations/notes/references (NOT ASA Style Guide)
• Serif ≥11 pt, double-spaced, ≥1-in margins
• Post-text sections in order: notes, references, tables, figures, appendices
• Alt text for every figure, with captions
• Originality statement prepared if the paper overlaps prior work
• Not under review elsewhere (concurrent submission violates Press ethics)

Avoidable-failure triage (what bounces a submission, and the fix)

Recurring pre-review failures specific to AJS's portal and double-blind model. Confirm volatile specifics against the journal's current submission guidelines.

Failure at submission	Fix before upload
Cover page or identifying metadata left in the file	separate cover page; strip document properties and tracked comments
Formatted to ASA Style Guide	convert to AJS author-date house style
No abstract	add ~150 words: question + data + findings
Fee unpaid / wrong waiver assumption	pay $30, or claim sole-author grad waiver only if eligible

Calibration (AJS-specific posture, hedged)

Reflects AJS's house and culture, not universal rules; confirm wording against the journal's current submission guidelines. The most common avoidable style failure is mis-applying the ASA Style Guide — AJS uses its own author-date system. Length is tolerated, not rewarded: no fixed word cap, but referees may need more time over an illustrative ~18,000 words. The $30 fee is waived only for graduate students submitting as sole authors; a coauthored paper does not qualify. Illustrative: a sole-author candidate's 17,500-word article catches three triage issues — an acknowledgments footnote naming the committee, references in ASA style from a prior ASR attempt, and two figures lacking alt text — and after fixes the waiver applies and the submission clears pre-review checks.

Anti-patterns

• Leaving the cover page / author identifiers inside the manuscript file (breaks double-blind)
• Formatting to the ASA Style Guide instead of AJS house style
• Forgetting the $30 fee (or wrongly assuming the grad-student waiver applies to coauthored papers)
• Submitting with no abstract (it will not be sent to reviewers) or missing figure alt text
• Submitting while the paper is under review at another journal

Output format

【Fee】$30 paid or sole-author grad waiver (+proof)? [Y/N]
【Files】manuscript clean of cover page + separate cover page file? [Y/N]
【Anonymized】text + self-refs + file metadata clean? [Y/N]
【Abstract】~150 words, states question/data/findings? [Y/N]
【House style】AJS author-date (NOT ASA Style Guide)? [Y/N]
【Alt text】every figure? [Y/N]
【Originality / ethics】statement if needed + not under review elsewhere? [Y/N]
【Next】await decision → ajs-rebuttal on R&R

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — reference managers, anonymization, portal summary
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — AJS fee, abstract, house style, alt-text, and ethics policy