Call for Papers: Social Sciences & Humanities

The Boston Research Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities (BRJSSH) — ISSN 2834-4863 — invites original research contributions from scholars, practitioners, and independent researchers working across the full breadth of the social sciences and humanities. This is a standing call for papers with no fixed submission windows: the journal operates on a continuous submission model, and manuscripts are processed as they arrive throughout the year. If your research addresses questions of significance to human society, culture, governance, identity, or behaviour, BRJSSH is a publication venue worth considering.

About the Journal

BRJSSH is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by Boston Research Journals. It carries ISSN 2834-4863 and is committed to rigorous scholarly standards while remaining accessible to researchers at all career stages. The journal publishes original research articles, review articles, and methodological contributions. All published work undergoes independent peer review; the process is documented in full at BRJ's peer review process page. Open access means that accepted articles are freely available to all readers immediately upon publication, with no paywalls or subscription barriers — maximising the reach and impact of your research.

The journal's editorial mission is to advance knowledge across the interconnected disciplines of the social sciences and humanities, with particular interest in work that crosses traditional disciplinary lines, applies rigorous methodology to contemporary societal questions, or recovers and interprets underrepresented voices and communities. Both quantitative and qualitative methodological traditions are equally welcomed.

Disciplines and Topics in Scope

BRJSSH's scope is intentionally broad. The following discipline areas fall within the journal's remit. Consult the full BRJSSH journal scope page for a comprehensive list of topics within each category.

History & Archaeology

Ancient, medieval, modern, cultural, military, economic, political, and social history; transnational and global history; oral history; public history; archaeological methods from prehistoric to historical contexts including bioarchaeology, environmental archaeology, urban archaeology, and archaeometry.

Education, Language & Literature

Pedagogical theory and practice; educational policy and leadership; curriculum development; technology in education; linguistics, semiotics, and language acquisition; sociolinguistics; computational linguistics; literary theory and criticism; comparative literature; postcolonial studies; gender studies in literature.

Law & Criminology

Constitutional and administrative law; international law and human rights; environmental law; criminal law and justice; cyber law; comparative law; theories of crime and justice; forensic science; victimology; penology and correctional administration; white-collar crime.

Political Science & Sociology

Comparative politics; international relations; political theory; public administration; electoral systems; conflict studies; social theory and sociological methods; social stratification; urban and rural sociology; sociology of family, gender, and sexuality; race, ethnicity, and migration studies; medical sociology.

Sports & Physical Education

Sports science and exercise physiology; sports psychology; coaching sciences; sports nutrition; biomechanics; sports medicine and injury prevention; performance analysis; physical literacy and long-term athlete development; adapted physical activity; technology in physical education.

Culture & Tourism

Cultural studies and identity; intangible cultural heritage; cross-cultural communication; cultural impacts of globalisation; arts, music, and cultural performance; sustainable tourism development; tourism management and policy; heritage and eco-tourism; tourist behaviour and psychology.

Art & Applied Science

Art history and criticism; contemporary art practices; performing arts; digital art and multimedia; art therapy; curatorial studies; applied sciences with social dimensions including environmental science, health sciences, and agricultural sciences; philosophy; gender studies; social work.

Geography

Physical geography; human geography; geographic information systems and remote sensing; environmental geography; cartography; population geography; regional geography; urban and rural planning; transport geography.

Family & Child Studies

Family dynamics; intergenerational relationships; parenting; family psychology and counselling; child development and early childhood education; child psychology; children's rights; youth studies; child welfare and protection services.

What to Prepare Before Submitting

Before you begin the submission process, gather the following elements. Having each component ready will allow you to complete the submission efficiently and avoid common delays.

• Complete manuscript: Your full paper, including abstract, keywords, introduction, body sections, conclusion, and reference list. Even under a format-free initial submission model, the intellectual content must be complete.
• Author information: Full names, institutional affiliations, and contact details for all authors. Designate a corresponding author who will manage communications with the editorial office.
• Abstract (150–250 words): A self-contained summary of the research question, methodology, principal findings, and significance. Avoid citations in the abstract where possible.
• Keywords (5–8 terms): Terms that accurately represent the paper's subject matter and that researchers in your field would use in database searches.
• Cover letter: A brief letter addressed to the editorial team stating the paper's title, the nature of the contribution, and a declaration that the work is original, has not been published elsewhere, and is not under simultaneous review at another journal.
• Ethical declarations: Any required statements regarding informed consent, data availability, funding sources, and conflicts of interest.

Detailed requirements, including formatting preferences and reference style guidance, are available on the author guidelines page.

How Submission Works

BRJSSH operates a continuous submission model — there are no submission deadlines tied to particular issues. Manuscripts are accepted year-round and processed in the order in which they arrive. The editorial process begins with a desk review to confirm that the submission falls within scope and meets basic quality and completeness standards. Manuscripts that pass desk review are assigned to independent peer reviewers with relevant expertise. Authors receive reviewer feedback and an editorial decision; those invited to revise are given clear guidance on what is required.

All submissions are made through BRJ's online submission system. To begin, visit the manuscript submission page and follow the step-by-step instructions. If you wish to receive notifications about calls for papers and thematic issues as they are announced, you can register at the call-for-papers notification page.

What Makes a Strong Submission

BRJSSH welcomes work at all career stages — from doctoral candidates publishing their first peer-reviewed article to senior scholars reporting on long-running research programmes. The criteria by which manuscripts are evaluated at peer review are the same regardless of the author's career stage: clarity of research question, methodological appropriateness and rigour, engagement with the relevant literature, and significance of the contribution to knowledge in the field.

Methodological diversity is genuinely valued. The journal publishes quantitative studies using survey instruments, experiments, and secondary data analysis; qualitative studies using interviews, ethnography, discourse analysis, and archival methods; mixed-methods work that combines both traditions; and purely theoretical or conceptual contributions that advance the discipline's analytical frameworks. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of existing literature are also in scope when they synthesise evidence in ways that materially advance understanding.

The journal is also open to work that challenges established paradigms or engages with minority perspectives, provided the argument is grounded in evidence and developed with scholarly rigour. Interdisciplinary work — research that meaningfully draws on two or more of BRJSSH's subject areas — is particularly encouraged. Some of the most significant advances in social science and humanities scholarship in recent decades have come from scholars willing to cross conventional disciplinary lines, and BRJSSH's broad scope is designed to accommodate and support that kind of inquiry.

A Note on Academic Rigour and Scope Fit

BRJSSH is committed to publishing work that makes a clear and verifiable contribution to knowledge. The most common reason for desk rejection is a mismatch between the manuscript's content and the journal's scope — not a deficiency in the research itself. Before submitting, we encourage prospective authors to read a few recent articles in the journal's archive to develop a sense of the publication's level, style, and focus. The BRJ archives are freely accessible and provide a representative sample of the journal's output.

If you are uncertain whether your manuscript falls within BRJSSH's scope, the editorial office welcomes brief pre-submission enquiries through the contact form. Providing a working title and a 150-word abstract is usually sufficient for an initial scope assessment.

Publish with Boston Research Journals

Boston Research Journals is committed to supporting the dissemination of rigorous, original scholarship across the social sciences and humanities. We look forward to reading your work. Submit your manuscript and review all submission requirements at our manuscript submission page.