The Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland is published once a year and incorporates the papers read to the Society during the preceding session. Submissions to the Society are considered year round on a rolling basis, and there are occasional calls for submissions. The Society also normally holds one symposium a year with invited speakers from Ireland and abroad. The Society welcomes submissions from authors in Ireland or abroad to present papers at ordinary meetings. However, authors should note that papers must be presented in person at a meeting of the Society and the Society does not normally have funding available to assist authors with travel expenses. Most meetings are held in Dublin, but the Society also holds meetings in Belfast and Cork.

Papers submitted to the Society, except those to be read at symposia, are subject to refereeing before being accepted for delivery and publication. The comments of discussants on papers, authors' replies and comments from the floor are not subject to refereeing. Those wishing to present papers to the Society must submit their papers to one of the Honorary Secretaries for review (preferably by email to Secretary(at)ssisi.ie).

Papers should be addressed at topics in the areas of statistics, jurisprudence, social or economic science. In general, papers should fall between 5,000 and 10,000 words and be accessible to non-specialists. Sources of funding (if any) should be acknowledged. Accepted papers will be read before the Society at a date and venue arranged by the Council and will normally have two discussants to propose and second the vote of thanks.

Before making a decision on the paper, an Honorary Secretary in consultation with the Editorial Board assesses whether the paper fits broadly into the scope of the Society and, if it does, obtains anonymous peer reviews from experts in the relevant area, at least one of which is not a current Council member.  In the light of these reviews the Honorary Secretary decides whether to reject the paper or to recommend to the Society’s Council that the paper be accepted for presentation at the Society. If the Secretary recommends the paper to Council, Council members are provided with the latest draft and copies of any review reports. The paper is deemed accepted if no concerns are raised by Council members within a specified time.

If accepted by the Council, papers are then presented at a public meeting of the Society.  Because SSISI is a learned society, public presentation to the Society represents an important part of each paper’s contribution and also provides a channel for improvements to the paper before final publication.  In addition to these formal processes, two discussants normally comment on the paper when it is presented.  Their comments, together with contributions made by others at the meeting, are provided to the Secretary.

After a paper is presented to the Society, an Honorary Secretary forwards any written comments received to both the authors of the paper and to the Editorial Board that manages the Society’s journal.  Having considered the paper and any written comments received, the Editorial Board may accept the paper, reject it or require the authors to make revisions or corrections. 

Because the Society wishes to ensure papers that are presented can be as relevant to current policy issues as possible but are also of adequate scientific quality, the pre-presentation review process operates to tight timescale.  Two single blind reviews are normally sought.  In order to obtain prompt reviews, the Secretary asks each referee to make only an ‘accept or reject’ recommendation and provide a brief paragraph or two on the reasons for their recommendations. SSISI’s editorial standard requires that papers be original, correct, and written to be interesting and accessible to a broad range of people with an interest in social and economic policy.

SSISI’s editorial process is illustrated in the figure below.