Ageing & Society is an interdisciplinary and international journal devoted to advancing the understanding of ageing and the circumstances of older people in their socio-economic and cultural contexts. Committed to publishing original and high-quality research papers that substantially contribute to ongoing debates in social gerontology. Ageing & Society welcomes submissions using different theoretical and methodological approaches as long as they aim to advance research, policy and practice and encourage the exchange of ideas across the broad audience of multidisciplinary academics and practitioners working in the field of ageing. Please note that due to the number of submissions we receive every year, we are unable to offer pre-screening services. We encourage you, however, to read the instructions to authors carefully.
Article categories
The journal accepts the following types of article (see below for more information):
- Article*
- Book Review
- Forum Article*
- Review Article*
* If publishing Gold Open Access, all or part of the publication costs for these article types may be covered by one of the agreements Cambridge University Press has made to support open access.
Articles
Articles that report on empirical research in order to substantially contribute to ongoing debates in social gerontology must contain between 6,000 and 8,000 words (excl. the title page, abstract, keywords, reference list and any supplementary material). Most papers usually have the following sections in sequence:
- Title page
- Abstract
- Keywords
- Main text (which is often comprised of the following sections):
o Introduction
o Literature Review
o If applicable, Theoretical Framework
o Methods
o Results/ Findings
o Discussion/ Conclusion and
o If applicable, Implications for Policy and/or Practice
- Statement of ethical approval as appropriate
- Statement of funding
- Declaration of contribution of authors
- Statement of competing interest
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
- References
- Supplementary material (where applicable) – this is not included in the word limit and will be published online only.
Authors have the flexibility to organise the main text of their manuscripts into the format that best suits the topic under consideration but all of the information alluded to above should be included. Please make note of the guidelines offered under the headings ‘Appropriateness for Ageing & Society’ and ‘Preparation of manuscript’ since they offer more detailed information about some of these sections. Note also that the Journal accepts manuscripts that rely on different methodological approaches, as well as conceptual and theoretical contributions. The later may be appropriate as Forum article submissions so consult that section below.
Review articles
Worth noting is also that Ageing & Society
Forum articles
In addition to research and review articles, we welcome critical/reflective commentaries on research, policy, theory or methods relevant to the Journal’s readers. These commentaries are not appropriate for the presentation of empirical research results even though they could be informed by the submitting authors’ previous research. Sometimes these articles reflect the viewpoint of the author(s) who have submitted the paper, while other times these are theoretical and/or conceptual contributions that aim to ignite ongoing debates in the field of social gerontology. Because of the critical/ reflective/ theoretical and/or conceptual nature of these submissions, it is important that authors take into account the opinions of scholars, practitioners and/ or policy makers that may disagree with the thesis/ viewpoint expressed in their Forum submissions. Please note also that Forum articles undergo the anonymous peer-review process just as all submissions to our journal do. Worth mentioning is that because our journal caters to an international audience, authors should not assume that the reader has the country-specific knowledge to fully understand the thesis/viewpoint expressed. There should therefore be enough background/ context information in a Forum manuscript to allow readers to understand why the commentary is necessary. Papers submitted for consideration as a forum article should contain 2,000-5,000 words (incl. abstracts and reference list).
Book review articles
The Journal welcomes also book reviews, which offer our readers an opportunity to become acquainted with recently published books in the field. Because the Journal’s aims, among others, to encourage the exchange of ideas across the broad audience of multidisciplinary academics and practitioners working in the field of ageing, it is important that book reviews are constructed with our readership in mind. Please note also that educators in the field of ageing tend to read book reviews when searching for potential contributions to their courses’ syllabus so authors for book reviews are encouraged to keep this in mind. Please make also note of the guidelines you will receive from our book review editors once you have committed yourself to reviewing a book for us.
Submission requirements
Exclusive submission to Ageing & Society
- Submission of the article to Ageing & Society is taken to imply that it has not been published elsewhere nor is it being considered for publication elsewhere. Authors are required to confirm on submitting their manuscript that it is not published, in press, or submitted elsewhere.
- If the submitted manuscript is based on a working paper (or similar draft document published either online or in print), the working paper should be acknowledged in the manuscript that the author is submitting to our journal. Submissions that are identical to a working paper or are similar to a document published online will not be accepted for publication in Ageing & Society.
Appropriateness for Ageing & Society
- All submissions must fall within the remit of the Journal, as described at the beginning of this document (i.e. the aims and scope).
- Authors should bear in mind that social gerontology is an interdisciplinary field so care must be taken to draw out the implications of the analysis for readers that may not share the disciplinary background of the author.
- The international nature of the readership of this Journal should also be kept in mind when crafting manuscripts for submission. Information on the country-specific-context upon which the study was designed may be needed for readers in other regions to appreciate the relevance of the work.
- The stereotypical presentation of individuals or social groupings, including the use of ageist language, must be avoided. Thus, for example, words such as elderly, elders, the aged should be avoided. Please consult the following guidelines if uncertain as to what constitutes ageist language:
o https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/ageing/quick-guide-to-avoid-ageism-in-communication
- All manuscripts must meet the submission requirements set out in this document, closely following the instructions in the ‘Preparation of manuscripts’, ‘Citation of references’ and ‘Table and Figures’ sections below.