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Editorial

Societies: An Open Access Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities

Founding Editor-in-Chief, Department of Sociology and Criminology, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3C3, Canada
Societies 2011, 1(1), 1-2; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc1010001
Submission received: 16 February 2011 / Accepted: 17 February 2011 / Published: 17 February 2011
Scholars have long recognized the value of moving beyond their disciplinary silos to view the world from a variety of different perspectives. Our understanding of humanity and the world in which we live has been greatly enhanced by the insights produced by multidisciplinary research teams and the emergence of interdisciplinary programs within academia. Societies, the latest open access journal from MDPI, contributes to this thriving enterprise in three inter-related and unique ways. First, it is a cross-disciplinary forum focusing on human societies as a bridge between the humanities and social sciences. In particular, it encourages intellectual engagement between history, the classics, religious studies and philosophy on the one hand and sociology, political science, economics and geography on the other. Second, it is a forum that welcomes cross-cultural comparisons not only between ethnic and national entities but also in terms of broader east/west and south/north political realities. Third, and this is perhaps Societies most distinctive feature, it is cross-temporal and seeks to enhance our understanding of social phenomena across time by exposing and critically examining the threads that connect ancient societies with modernity and the future. Topics can range from how human beings construct their social identities (e.g. gender, ethnicity, values and beliefs), to the formation and evolution of social organizations and institutions (e.g. economic, social, political and legal structures) to the exploration of global phenomena such as population movements, environmental sustainability, war and conflict.
Societies welcomes the submission of manuscripts from scholars around the world. Our Editorial Board, a panel of international leading scholars in the humanities and social sciences, is committed to ensuring a top quality, cutting edge journal through the implementation of a rigorous peer-review process. Once a manuscript is accepted, it can be prepared for on-line publication much faster than most print journal formats and does not require that an issue be “filled” before publication actually occurs. The on-line and open access format provides free access via the internet to peer-reviewed literature without subscription or price barriers, literature is immediately released in open access format, without “in press” delays or embargo periods, and published material can be re-used without permission as long as the original publication is correctly and completely cited. The full text of published articles can be queried and retrieved from all search engines, which means that published articles can be easily and quickly added to many literature databases, resulting in higher visibility and possibly more citations. The on-line and open access format will also strengthen communication and knowledge dissemination within and among organizations and countries that have had limited access to academic journals.
Societies has the broad scientific backing and publishing experience of MDPI, an international organization located in Basel, Switzerland, that has been publishing peer-reviewed, full open access scholarly journals since 1996. All MDPI journals are included in Google Scholar and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and, once established, MDPI aims to have Societies covered by the Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science) [1]. Similar to most open access journals, the cost of publication in Societies will be paid by the authors or their institutions. Publication costs, regardless of article length, will be the same, and are relatively modest compared to many other open access journals. Publication charges will be waived for all articles that are submitted to Societies before the end of 2012 and which do not require major editing or formatting. I encourage you to use this as an important incentive for submitting your papers soon. In addition, we welcome your suggestions and ideas for special issues.

References

  1. Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science): (http://scientific.thomsonreuters.com/products/ssci/)

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

VanderPlaat, M. Societies: An Open Access Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities. Societies 2011, 1, 1-2. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc1010001

AMA Style

VanderPlaat M. Societies: An Open Access Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities. Societies. 2011; 1(1):1-2. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc1010001

Chicago/Turabian Style

VanderPlaat, Madine. 2011. "Societies: An Open Access Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities" Societies 1, no. 1: 1-2. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc1010001

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