wp-submission

Submission Preflight (wp-submission)

The last check before pressing submit on ScholarOne (mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wp). World Politics is triple-blind, so the most common avoidable failure is an under-anonymized manuscript. Verify volatile specifics on the official page before relying on them.

When to trigger

• "Submitting tomorrow" — last pass before upload
• Unsure which files/metadata ScholarOne expects
• Confirming the word limit, abstract, and anonymization are met

Process facts (verify volatile items on the official page)

• Sponsor / publisher: PIIRS, Princeton University / Johns Hopkins University Press (publisher from Vol. 75 / 2023; Cambridge through Vol. 74 / 2022).
• Portal: ScholarOne (mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wp).
• Review model: triple-blind — anonymize the manuscript; author anonymity is preserved through the editorial decision.
• Article types: research article and review article (review articles usually commissioned; confirm before submitting an unsolicited one — 待核实).
• Length: ≤ 12,500 words including notes and references; tables, figures, and appendixes need not be counted. Online supplementary material ≤ 15 pages.
• Abstract: ≤ 150 words.
• Manuscript: double spaced; word count indicated; house World Politics Style Sheet (author-date).
• Ethics: affirm APSA Principles and Guidance for Human Subjects Research (2020) if research engages human participants; ScholarOne prompts IRB/ethics questions.

Preflight checklist

Type & length

• Article type chosen (research / review; commissioning confirmed for review articles)
• ≤ 12,500 words including notes and references (tables/figures/appendixes excluded)
• Word count indicated; manuscript double spaced
• Online supplement ≤ 15 pages, used judiciously for material central to the argument
• Abstract ≤ 150 words, stating question + approach + findings

Anonymity (triple-blind)

• No bylines or information that could easily identify the author(s)
• Self-citations removed where possible; no "as we showed in…"
• Identifying file metadata stripped (document properties, comments)

Format & compliance

• World Politics Style Sheet formatting; consistent author-date citations
• Figures/tables self-contained, accessible (see wp-tables-figures)
• APSA human-subjects affirmation ready; ethical issues discussed in text/appendix if relevant
• Prior-publication rules cleared: not published, concurrently submitted, or already slated elsewhere (a print working paper or an author's own-site paper is generally OK)
• Quantitative data: replication package planned for the World Politics Dataverse at acceptance (see wp-transparency-and-data-policy)

Anti-patterns

• Leaving author identifiers in the text or file metadata (breaks triple-blind)
• Forgetting that notes and references count toward the 12,500 words
• An online supplement over 15 pages, or used as an overflow dump
• Submitting an unsolicited review article without checking the commissioning norm
• Dual-submitting or submitting previously published material (firm policy)

Avoidable-rejection map (what trips submissions)

The most common avoidable failures at a triple-blind comparative-and-IR venue are anonymity and length, not the science. Sort the risk before upload.

Trip-wire	Why it bites at World Politics	The fix
Author identifiers in text or file metadata	Defeats triple-blind, the venue's core process	Strip bylines, self-cites, document properties
Notes + references pushed over the count	They count toward the 12,500 words	Tighten apparatus; move detail to the ≤15-page supplement
Supplement used as overflow dump	Capped at 15 pages	Keep only material central to the argument
Unsolicited review article	Review articles are usually commissioned	Confirm commissioning before drafting

Worked micro-example (illustrative)

A hypothetical comparative paper on institutional design and post-conflict stability runs the preflight:

Type:     research article (not a review → no commissioning check needed)
Length:   12,480 words incl. notes + references — under 12,500 by a thin margin
Abstract: 148 words — under 150
Anonymity: removed 3 self-citations + stripped Word author metadata
Supplement: 14 pages (balance tables + full specs) — within the 15-page cap
Ethics:   no human subjects → APSA affirmation N/A
Repro:    Dataverse package staged for deposit at acceptance

The thin word-count margin is the live risk; trim notes first. (Length, abstract, and supplement limits are volatile — verify each against the official submission page before relying on them.)

Output format

【Type】research / review (commissioning confirmed? Y/N)
【Length】≤ 12,500 incl. notes + refs? supplement ≤ 15 pp? [Y/N]
【Anonymized】bylines + self-cites + file metadata clean? [Y/N]
【Abstract】word count (≤150)
【Double spaced + word count indicated + house style】[Y/N]
【Ethics + prior-publication】APSA affirmation + originality cleared? [Y/N]
【Repro package】planned for World Politics Dataverse? [Y/N/NA]
【Next】await decision → wp-rebuttal on R&R

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — reference managers, anonymization, repro tooling
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — official World Politics URLs behind every fact in this pack