We are excited that academic journal Sociological Research Online (SRO) has become the fourth journal published by a partnership of the British Sociological Association and SAGE Publishing. We want to see the journal continue to grow in submissions and impact in the coming years. We hope that readers and authors will engage with SRO’s extensive history of sociological research and help to develop its future.
The quarterly online journal has been published since its launch in 1996 on a stand-alone website by a consortium of the universities of Surrey and Stirling, the BSA and SAGE. The two universities have stepped down and the journal will now be hosted on the SAGE website, with its sales, marketing and production moving to SAGE and administrative and editorial support provided by the BSA.
The move and new systems will expand the number of university libraries and academics with access to the journal significantly. Universities which have a subscription to SAGE Premier, which gives access to 900 journals published by the company, will now receive Sociological Research Online at no extra cost. SRO will also be included in SAGE’s developing world initiatives, managed by the United Nations, that support access to journal research at little or no cost. All members of the British Sociological Association will also have free viewing as part of their membership package.
This brings SRO into line with the system currently used by three other journals, Sociology; Work, Employment and Society; and Cultural Sociology. The former system at SRO, in which people viewing from outside universities could get free access, while those in universities needed a subscription, will no longer apply. All pre-1999 SRO content has been made free to view for anyone, as have the 2017 issues during the transition period. Anyone who had access and no longer does can get in touch with the journal at sro.journal@britsoc.org.uk and special arrangements may be made.
The SAGE site will offer more functionality, giving authors a better idea of the impact of their research through metrics and collaboration tools such as Kudos and Altmetric. SAGE and the BSA will invest more heavily in the journal, including increased support for its social media presence to help bring research to a broader audience.
Professor Louise Ryan, a BSA Publications Director, said: “At its inception SRO was at the cutting edge of technological innovation, and many of us who over the last decades have used it as a teaching resource and as an outlet for our own publications will welcome the news that the journal is to benefit once again from new technology. In its new home with SAGE and the BSA, I look forward to seeing the journal’s important content hosted on a revitalized online platform.”
Miranda Nunhofer, an Executive Director, at SAGE Publishing, said: “Having worked with SRO since its inception, alongside the universities of Surrey and Stirling and the BSA, it has been a pleasure to see the journal evolve to be the key space for the exchange and debate of sociological research that it is today. By transitioning onto the SAGE journals platform SRO will benefit from the full range of our publishing services, ensuring that its high-quality content will reach an even wider audience globally.”
Sociological Research Online is currently edited by Dr Steven Roberts, of Monash University, Australia, and Dr Charlie Walker, of the University of Southampton, UK, who are supported by an Editorial Board reflecting a wide range of sociological interests and representing many departments where sociological work is undertaken.
SRO will continue to publish research articles, Special Section and Rapid Responses that address current issues, such as recent ones on Class and Christianity (http://journals.sagepub.com/toc/sroa/22/1) and Sex Work and Prostitution [http://journals.sagepub.com/toc/sroa/21/4]. It will also continue to publish book reviews and to welcome work using visual and audio materials.
The journal welcomes authors across the career journey and articles on the full scope of sociological enquiry. Submit online anytime.
Notes
Sara Miller McCune founded SAGE Publishing in 1965 to support the dissemination of usable knowledge and educate a global community. SAGE is a leading international provider of innovative, high-quality content publishing more than 1,000 journals and over 800 new books each year, spanning a wide range of subject areas. Its growing selection of library products includes archives, data, case studies and video. SAGE remains majority owned by its founder and after her lifetime will become owned by a charitable trust that secures the company’s continued independence. Principal offices are located in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC and Melbourne. www.sagepublishing.com