CASS working papers

Working papers

Co-editors: Dr Lesley Deacon and Dr Nicola Roberts.

CASS Working Papers are work in progress papers, perhaps presenting initial findings from research; a reflective piece from practice; a commentary on a current social issue; or a first submission from an early career researcher. Through the reviewing process and in allowing unlimited re-submissions, we actively support new and emerging authors to write their papers to a high standard.

Who can submit?

Submissions are actively encouraged from CASS members, practitioners in the field, PhD students and both experienced and early-career researchers. We also encourage submissions from master's students (in collaboration with their supervisors/mentors) who have completed primary research projects as part of their dissertations.

Submissions

We encourage papers in the following formats (guidance word counts are given so please try to stay within these):

• Research paper (5,000 words): presenting findings from a research project related to the Applied Social Sciences where a conceptual framework is either applied throughout or just in the discussion (as is more common in practice papers).
• Theoretical paper (5,000 words): we encourage submissions that engage with theoretical ideas, challenging or expanding on concepts/conceptual work, and/or contributing to debates about the theoretical or philosophical frameworks around research, policy or practice.
• Reflections from practice (3,000 words): we'd like to encourage practitioners to reflect on learning from practice, especially relating to the application of theory, research, policy or practice in real-life practice environments related to their field.
• Commentary (3,000 words): this type of paper presents the opportunity to comment on a current social issue.
• Responses (3,000 words): where commentary papers are published, we encourage response papers to enhance further debate on the topic.
• Exceptional master’s-level dissertations (3,000 words): if you're a master’s student and received over 70% for your dissertation, we'd like to welcome you to submit a shorter piece explaining your research and findings, in collaboration with your supervisor/mentor.
  
  

What's the process?

Once you have your paper ready to be considered for publication, you should prepare it using the working paper template*. Then, email this directly to the co-editors Lesley Deacon (lesley.deacon@sunderland.ac.uk) and Nicola Roberts (nicola.roberts@sunderland.ac.uk). The editors will complete a quality check to ensure it's ready for review (if it's not, the editors will contact you to make corrections). When it's ready, the paper will then be anonymously reviewed by two staff members chosen by the editors (at least one will have specialist knowledge of the written topic).

*A template will be available to download soon.

What's the double-blind review process?

This means that your paper is anonymised so the reviewer isn't aware of who you are, and when you receive feedback, you'll not know the reviewers’ details. The editors act as an intermediary to ensure anonymity is upheld and feedback is constructive and helpful.

What to expect

Once reviewed, you'll be contacted by the editors to discuss the corrections needed. These may be minor, but for many, you may be required to make more substantial revisions. The editors have experienced this process themselves so are mindful of how this feedback should be shared. With that in mind, when contacted by the editors, you can decide how you'd like to receive the feedback, e.g., a meeting (in person or virtual) with the editors, a phone call, or just the reviewers’ comments. If you happen to have a writing mentor, you may want to include them in this process. It's important to the editors that you're supported in the development of your writing and not discouraged.

Published CASS working papers

The format of our published papers are being reviewed and will be available to access here soon.