Midwest Social Sciences Journal

CALL FOR PAPERS

MSSJ (Previously JIASS) is a peer-reviewed journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences. It published annually. Since 2010, the Journal publishes both in print and online. The Journal MSSJ is committed to publishing the highest quality social science theory and research. Papers may be submitted throughout the year. 

MISSION AND EDITORIAL POLICY

In February of 2018, the IASS Board of Directors first approved a name change from the Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences (JIASS) to the Midwest Social Sciences Journal (MSSJ). This decision was reaffirmed by the IASS Board on February 17, 2019. The now former title of JIASS has itself only been in existence since 1998 when it replaced the former Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences. Our new journal name reflects several developments in recent years, the most important of which is that our journal’s non-Indiana authors, topics, and readership have grown considerably and often reflect a regional, Midwestern or national/international focus. While we do not intend to lose sight of our “Hoosier” roots and history in Indiana, we have also become increasingly aware that Indiana and surrounding states are best understood from a larger regional and even national and global context. The world has not only become “smaller”—it has also become more connected and interconnected than ever before in ways not conceivable even twenty years ago. Indiana today is intertwined in complex ways with regional, national and international economics, culture, environmental concerns, race and gender issues, politics, urban development, crime and the media. It is simply no longer possible to understand Indiana today without simultaneously understanding the other parts of this equation: regional, national, and global. And as both the quality and the reputation of our journal has grown significantly beyond our state borders, we must support and acknowledge our authors and readers from both within and outside Indiana for their interdisciplinary social science scholarship published in a regional journal. We believe our name change will encourage even more such scholarship and audience participation from across the Midwest and beyond. 

The Midwest Social Sciences Journal retains its commitment to interdisciplinary social sciences scholarship: The mission of the Midwest Social Sciences Journal is to promote and to advance the social sciences and interdisciplinary social science scholarship throughout the Midwest region, and beyond. We shall do so by publishing high quality research from scholars from across the Midwest and world on issues of scholarly concern at the state, Midwestern, national and global levels. Our social sciences and interdisciplinary commitment remains fixed and unchanged, representing the sine qua non of our identity. Disciplinary specialization and its institutional correlates, institutionalization and professionalization, threaten to shortchange the promise of the social sciences to provide deep knowledge and understanding to guide constructive social policies that promote human potential and social justice. Our journal remains one of the very few places one can find high quality academic research from across the social sciences in one location.  

The Journal recognizes and supports the many diverse perspectives and methods across the several social sciences; we neither espouse nor champion any specific theoretical, methodological, ideological or political commitments. The Journal is committed to intellectual integrity, rigorous standards of scholarship, and rational and civil discourse. We encourage the presentation and free exchange of diverse viewpoints and seek to foster open and critical inquiry that privileges no particular standpoint while operating within the limits of a standard of discourse and reason that distinguishes between the pursuit of knowledge and truth versus mere assertions of dogma. While every effort will be made to publish issues that represent a fair balance of scholarship across the entire spectrum of social science disciplines, the Journal’s first priority will always be to publish the best social science research available at any given time regardless of disciplinary representation. Papers are accepted for editorial review and publication in the journal at any time of the year from members and non-members of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, and whether or not they have been presented at the IASS Annual Conference.