ICA Political Communication Division: Publications Policy (adopted 1991-2)

1.0 Political Communication

1.1 Statement of Purpose

It shall be the purpose of Political Communication to publish the best theory and research in the field of political communication.

1.2 Shared Responsibility for Publication

The Division shares with the Political Communication Section of the American Political Science Association the responsibility for advising the publisher with respect to the editing and the publication policies of the Journal. The Journal shall be designated an official publication of each Association.

1.3 Joint Publications Policy Committee

Under the terms of an agreement with the Political Communication Section of the American Political Science Association and within the spirit of the present document, decisions regarding policies of the Journal are made by the Editor, subject to consultation with, and review by, a Joint Publications Policy Committee (Joint Committee).

The Joint Committee includes seven members, three or four of whom will be selected by the Division within a six-year cycle of alternating editorships and majority membership. In alternating three-year periods of each cycle, the members of one Association shall select the Editor and three members of the Joint Committee, and the members of the other Association shall select four members of the Joint Committee and shall designate its Chair, subject in each instance to the internal mechanisms of the respective Associations.

The Joint Committee is authorized to negotiate with publishers on behalf of the Associations on matters related to publication of the Journal, subject to all extant limitations on legal standing and signature authority.

Where it deems appropriate, or when so instructed by the members of either Association, the Joint Committee may refer policy questions to the memberships of the respective Associations.

In years when the Division holds three positions on the Joint Committee, it shall be represented by the three members of the Division’s Publications Policy Committee who are appointed by the Chair of the Division. In years when the Division holds four positions on the Joint Committee, the Editor of the Political Communication Newsletter shall hold the fourth position ex officio, and the Chair of the Division shall designate one of the three appointed members to serve as Chair of the Joint Committee.

1.4 Editorial Structure

Editorial responsibility for the Journal shall be vested in an Editor to be nominated in alternate three-year periods by the Joint Committee members representing the respective Associations.

In the final year of a term in which the Division holds majority membership on the Joint Committee, or at such time as circumstances may require, the Divisional representatives, who also constitute the Divisional Publications Policy Committee, shall recommend to the membership a candidate for the Editorship, that nomination to be ratified by a simple majority of the votes cast by members of the Division in a mail ballot. The term of the Editor will be three years. No Editor shall be nominated by the Divisional representatives whose election would result in his or her serving more than two consecutive terms.

The Editor shall be authorized to designate one or more Associate or Assistant Editors to assist in the solicitation, review, and general processing of manuscripts. Associate and Assistant Editors may meet with, but not serve as official members of, the Editorial Board.

The Editor shall appoint an Editorial Board, comprising no fewer than five and no more than twenty active political communication scholars to assist him/her in the review of manuscripts submitted for publication and to provide guidance with respect to the development of Journal policy and the selection of symposium topics and editors. Terms of all Editorial Board members will be coterminous with the term of the Editor who appointed them, but members are eligible to serve additional, successive terms at the invitation of succeeding Editors. Members of the Editorial Board shall serve at the pleasure of the Editor.

In the aggregate, and insofar as possible, members of the Editorial Board shall represent a diversity of viewpoints, areas of specialization, and methodological approaches. Members shall be selected for their professional prominence, their critical abilities, and their willingness to serve. No more than two members, including the Editor, shall be affiliated with any one institution.

At least half of the members of the Editorial Board must be members of the Division, and at least half members of the Political Communication Section of the American Political Science Association.

The Editorial Board shall meet twice a year in conjunction with the Annual Meetings of the respective Associations. Proposed changes in editorial policy of the Journal must be submitted for review to the Joint Committee, which may refer them to the respective memberships for approval.

1.5 Frequency of Publication

The Journal shall be published quarterly and in a timely manner.

1.6 Style

The Journal shall be published in a finished typographic format and shall employ a style manual acceptable to the Joint Publications Policy Committee.

1.7 Editorial Policy

The Journal shall publish articles presenting theory and research reflecting diverse disciplinary traditions, approaches, and viewpoints. The unifying characteristic of all work published is to be its emphasis on both politics or political processes and communication.

Three of the issues in each annual volume shall be comprised of manuscripts, not commissioned by the Editor, in the several areas of political communication inquiry, and shall be compiled by the Editor. These areas include, but are not limited to, political marketing and campaign communication, political language and discourse, institutions and practitioners of political communication, politics and the mass media, process and effects of political communication, international political communication, and comparative political communication systems.

The fourth issue of each annual volume shall constitute a symposium on a topic, and under an issue editor, to be selected by the Editor.

In the selection of manuscripts for publication, topics for symposia, and symposium editors, the Editor shall be guided first and foremost by the quality of submissions, ideas, and candidates, and shall also work to assure the publication of scholarship with varied foci and approaches, and the participation in the Journal of scholars from all areas of the international community of political communication scholars.

Subject to the approval of the Joint Publications Policy Committee, the Editor may incorporate into the Journal sections providing book reviews, review essays, which examine both the monographic and periodical literatures in a given area of inquiry, bibliographies of political communication-related titles, brief descriptions of ongoing research activities by scholars in the field, brief reports of masters or doctoral theses completed in the field, or such other material as may be judged appropriate.

1.8 Editorial Selection Procedures

All unsolicited manuscripts submitted to the Journal and judged by the Editor to fall within its purview shall be reviewed by a minimum of three referees, at least one of whom is not a member of the Editorial Board. It will be the policy of the Journal that insofar as circumstances permit, editorial decisions will be rendered within ninety days of manuscript submission. Where that deadline cannot be met, the Editor shall, as a matter of policy, write to the author(s) explaining the reason for any delay, setting forth an expected decision date, and offering the author(s) the opportunity to withdraw the manuscript. Any manuscript found to have been submitted to another journal for simultaneous review shall be returned to the author immediately without further consideration, and the author shall be barred from publication in the Journal for a period of three years. In such instances, the evidence of simultaneous submission must be incontrovertible, and the author must have been provided with an opportunity to defend him/herself against the charge.

Solicited manuscripts for symposia and other solicited manuscripts need not be submitted for full review. However, all such manuscripts must be reviewed by the Editor and at least one member of the Editorial Board, and the editor shall have the opportunity to judge any such item unworthy of publication in the Journal.

The Division shall encourage authors of papers presented at each Annual Meeting, and especially of those judged among the top three papers each year, to submit their work for publication in the Journal.

1.9 Contractual Arrangements

The Chair of the Division, with the advice of the Divisional Publications Policy Committee, is authorized to contract in the Division’s behalf with a publisher for publication of the Journal, subject to approval by the Board of Directors of the International Communication Association.

1.10 Circulation

In setting policies and negotiating with publishers, the Joint Committee shall seek for the Journal as wide an audience as possible, including libraries, non-member professionals, and other interested parties. Consistent with this objective, the Joint Committee shall pursue agreements that provide subscriptions at the lowest possible rate, especially for members of the Associations, but for other subscribers as well, and that provide for editorial subsidies and royalties to be paid by the publisher.

1.11 Advertising

Policies with respect to the publication in the Journal of advertising shall be established and reviewed regularly by the Joint Committee.

1.12 Distribution of Revenues

The Division is entitled to receive one-half of any Journal-related revenues derived from the publisher except for those paid directly to the Editor. The Divisional Publications Policy Committee shall recommend to the Chair of the Division or to the membership annually an allocation of revenues received or anticipated among the following: subvention of publication costs of the Journal, subvention of publication costs of the Political Communication Newsletter, or the general accounts of the Division.

2.0 Political Communication Newsletter

2.1 Purpose

It shall be the purpose of Political Communication Newsletter to provide timely and complete information on the professional activities of the Division and its members; to disseminate to the members information relating to the study, teaching, and practice of political communication which, in the judgment of the Editor, they may find of interest; and to engender among the members of the Division a sense of commonality and collective professional identity.

2.2 Frequency of Publication

The Newsletter shall be published two times each year, on the first days of March and November.

2.3 Editorial Content

The Newsletter shall publish information about the professional activities (appointments, promotions, awards, grants, research activities, etc.) of the membership; notices of position vacancies in political communication; pedagogical and other items of interest to members, including such items as course syllabi and internship opportunities; descriptions of courses, programs and curricula in political communication; and the like. The March issue shall carry news of the forthcoming Annual Meeting, including abstracts of selected papers and items of business likely to come before the Division membership. Members shall be encouraged to submit material to the Newsletter on a regular basis.

2.4 Editorial Structure

All decisions regarding the material to be published in the Newsletter and the actual publication and distribution thereof shall be made by the Editor, who may solicit general advice from the Publications Policy Committee. The Editor shall be nominated by the Publications Policy Committee, that nomination to be ratified by a simple majority vote of the membership of the Division in a mail ballot. The term of the Editor will be three years. An Editor may succeed him/herself.

To facilitate the flow of material into the Newsletter editorial process, the Editor shall name a Board of Reporters, comprising at least ten members, each affiliated with a different institution. Terms of service of the board members shall be coterminous with that of the Editor who appoints them, and there shall be no limit on their ability to succeed themselves at the invitation of succeeding Editors. Members shall serve at the pleasure of the Editor. In accepting an appointment to the Board of Reporters, nominees must agree to submit copy for the Newsletter during each publication cycle. The Board of Reporters shall meet annually in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Division for the purpose of reviewing and improving the Newsletter.

2.5 Publication and Circulation

The Newsletter shall be published in an inexpensive format. No provision shall be made for library or other subscriptions. However, the Editor shall maintain an archive of Newsletter issues.

2.6 Finances

Insofar as possible. the Division shall accept a subsidy from the host institution to cover the costs of publishing the Newsletter, though the selection of the Editor should not be conditioned on the availability of such a subsidy. Expenses not thus covered shall be paid by the Division out of its budget. When the budget of the Division does not provide sufficient funds for this purpose, the Division shall request of the ICA an increase in its allocation or an increase in its dues.

3.0 Publications Policy Committee

3.1 Establishment

The Publications Policy Committee is established as a standing committee of the Division.

3.2 Membership

The committee shall be composed of five members. The Editor of Political Communication Newsletter shall serve ex officio with full voting privileges. The Editor of Political Communication shall serve ex officio with full voting privileges if he or she is a member of the Division. In years when the Editor is not a member of the Division, this position on the committee will be left vacant. The remaining members shall be appointed by the Chair of the Division to renewable three-year terms. The Chair of the Division shall designate the Committee Chair on an Annual basis.

3.3 Functions

The Publications Policy Committee shall establish and review policies of the Division with respect to the publication of Political Communication and Political Communication Newsletter, and such other publications as the Division may develop or produce; and shall develop, review, and, where appropriate, refer to the membership policies on publication-related issues that may arise in connection with these or other activities. As provided above, committee members will represent the Division on the Joint Publications Policy Committee.