City & Community is a quarterly journal established in 2001 to publish scholarly work of interest to urban and community sociologists. Published by Sage, it is sponsored by the Community and Urban Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. C&C is not an architectural journal.

Manuscript Submission Format

The editors of City & Community invite three types of submissions to the journal.

Research Articles in City & Community are the backbone of the journal. The typical research manuscript is between 8,000 – 10,000 words, although longer manuscripts will occasionally be permitted with the permission of the Editors. These articles make significant theoretical, empirical, and / or methodological advances within the field through innovative, original research. 

The editors of City & Community also accept Research Notes in our City Blocks section. Research Notes are shorter submissions designed to introduce new data, concepts, or methodologies into the field or make a more incremental contribution to the study of cities and community life. These submissions could also present a singular empirical finding through novel graphics, figures, or maps. Research Notes should be distinguished in the title (e.g., “Research Note: Title”) to differentiate them from manuscripts. These submissions should not exceed 3,000 words of text and may include up to four figures. Like full-length manuscripts, research notes undergo peer review. 

In consultation with the Editorial Board, City & Community invites brief scholarly debates on core topics, noteworthy anniversaries or events, and canonical scholarship in the discipline in our City Views section. Each of these debates will include up to five invited submissions offering multiple perspectives on a single topic. These invited submissions will be < 1,500 words and will not go through a formal peer-review process. Scholars are invited to propose topics for City Views by emailing the journal editors (CiCoJournal@gmail.com).

City & Community highlights newly published books in our City Books feature. To be considered for publication, please fill out our Google Form. These responses help us introduce your book, its key ideas, and the story behind the project in an engaging way. Once we receive your responses, we’ll evaluate your submission for fit with the journal. If your book is selected, we’ll prepare a short write-up based on your answers. If you have any questions about the process, reach out to us at citycombooks@gmail.com.

Submission Requirements:

City & Community uses ScholarOne Manuscripts for online manuscript submission and peer review. All submissions to the journal must be submitted online at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cico. As part of the anonymized peer review process, authors will need to upload an anonymized manuscript without a title page, as well as a separate title page with the authors' institutional affiliations, acknowledgments, and contact information for the corresponding author.

Authors will need to upload the following separate files/items into Sage Track:

In lieu of a cover letter, authors will be asked to provide 3-5 keywords and up to 100 words on (a) the contribution of the submission to urban sociology and the aims/scope of the journal; and (b) the method(s) used. Authors can optionally provide up to three recommendations for reviewers and any additional information for article processing (e.g., consideration for a special issue).

1. Title page. Please include the full title, the author's name (listed vertically if more than one), the institutional affiliation of each author, and a "running head." Use an asterisk (*) to add an endnote to the title giving the full address of the author to whom communications about the article should be sent. In the same endnote cite acknowledgment, credits, or grant numbers.
2. Abstract. Please upload an abstract of 200 words or fewer describing the contribution, methods, and general findings of the study.
3. Anonymized Manuscript. Anonymized manuscripts do not include the title page (or any self-identifying information, see below). There is no need to include the abstract with the anonymized manuscript. References, endnotes, tables, and figures each appear in separate sections following the text. 

Email for Correspondence: [email protected]

Note: Additional details on preparing manuscripts for C&C are published in the ASA Style Guide (7^th ed., 2022) available from the American Sociological Association.

Ethics: Submission of a manuscript to another professional journal while it is under review by City & Community is regarded by the ASA as unethical. Significant findings or contributions that have already appeared (or will appear) elsewhere must be clearly identified. All persons who publish in ASA journals are required to abide by ASA guidelines and ethics codes regarding plagiarism and other ethical issues.

Data Sharing: Authors are expected to adhere to ASA’s stated policy in the ASA Code of Ethics on data sharing: “As a regular practice, sociologists share data and pertinent documentation as an integral part of a research plan. Sociologists generally make their data available after completion of a project or its major publications, except where proprietary agreements with employers, contractors, or clients preclude such accessibility or when it is impossible to share data and protect the confidentiality of the research participants (e.g., field notes or detailed information from ethnographic interviews).” (ASA Code of Ethics, 2018).

City & Community encourages researchers to make their data, code, and other materials available for others to review and use. We are happy to assist authors in locating a suitable depository for these materials and would be pleased to add footnotes pointing to these deposits in the published article. Because we know that not all areas of urban sociology are able to provide these materials, practically or ethically, this is not a requirement and willingness to publicly release data and other materials will have no impact on the likelihood of acceptance.

Manuscript Preparation:

City & Community follows the American Sociological Association Guidelines for manuscript formatting. Any submitted manuscript that does not follow this formatting will be sent back to the author(s). All text must be double-spaced (block quotes single-spaced) and typed in Times New Roman, 12-point font size. Margins should be 1.25 inches with numbered pages.

Reference section should have each citation with full first names (not initials) followed by the last name of all authors. You may cite your own work, but do not use wording that identifies you as the author.

Photographs should be minimal and in black and white.

should include the following: (1) Title page, (2) Abstract, (3) Text, (4) Endnotes, (5) References, (6) Tables, and (7) Figures.

1. Title page. Please include the following:
        a. Full article title
        b. Acknowledgements and credits
        c. Each author's complete name and institutional affiliation(s)
        d. Grant numbers and/or funding information
        e. Keywords (four or five)
        f. Corresponding author (name, address, phone, e-mail)
2. Abstract. The abstract (200 words or fewer) should not include authors’ names or other identifying information.
3. Anonymized manuscript. The manuscript should not include the title page, authors’ names or affiliations, or any other identifying information. C&C uses anonymous peer reviewers for manuscript evaluation. Delete or rewrite any text that identifies you as the author: when citing your own work, please write “Smith (1992) concluded…,” but do not write “I concluded (Smith 1992)..."
        a. Headings and subheadings in the text indicate the organization of the content.
        b. Citations in the text cite the last name of the author(s) and year of publication. Include page references for direct quotes or specific passages. Cite only those works needed to provide evidence for your assertions and to refer to important sources on the topic. In the following examples of text citations, ellipses (…) indicate manuscript text:
   
             i. When author’s name is in the text, follow it with the year in parentheses—... Duncan (1959).
             ii. When author’s name is not in the text, enclose the last name and year in parentheses—... (Gouldner 1963).
             iii. Pages cited follow the year of publication after a colon—... (Ramirez and Weiss 1979:239–40).
            iv. Provide last names for joint authors—... (Martin and Bailey 1988).
             v. For three authors, list all three last names in the first citation in the text—... (Carr, Smith, and Jones 1962). For all subsequent citations use “et al.”—... (Carr et al. 1962). For works with four or more authors, use “et al.” throughout.
             vi. For institutional authorship, supply minimal identification from the complete citation—... (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1963:117).
             vii. List a series of citations in alphabetical order or date order separated by semicolons—... (Burgess 1968; Marwell et al. 1971)
             viii. Use “forthcoming” to cite sources scheduled for publication. For dissertations and unpublished papers, cite the date. If no date, use “n.d.” in place of the date—... Smith (forthcoming) and Oropesa (n.d.).
             ix. For machine-readable data files, cite authorship and date—... (Institute for Survey Research 1976).
                  1. Equations in the text should be typed. Use consecutive Arabic numerals in parentheses at the right margin to identify important equations.
                  2. Notes should be numbered in the text consecutively using superscript Arabic numerals. When referring to a note later in the text, use a parenthetical note—... (see note 3).
4. Notes shoulddouble-spaced in a separate “ENDNOTES” section. Begin each note with the superscript numeral to which it is keyed in the text (e.g., “1 After 1981, there were…”). Notes can (a) explain or amplify text, (b) cite materials of limited availability, or (c) append information presented in a table or figure. Avoid long notes: consider (a) stating in the text that information is available from the author, (b) depositing the information in a national retrieval center and inserting a short endnote or a citation in the text, or (c) adding an appendix. Each note should not exceed 100 words.
5. References follow the text in a section headed "REFERENCES." All references used in the text must be listed in the references section, and vice versa. Publication information for each must be complete and correct. List the references in alphabetical order by authors’ last names; include first names and middle initials for all authors when available. List two or more entries by the same author(s) in order of the year of publication. When the cited material is not yet published but has been accepted for publication, use “Forthcoming” in place of the date and give the journal name or publishing house. For dissertations and unpublished papers, cite the date and place the paper was presented and/or where it is available. If no date is available, use “n.d.” in place of the date. If two or more cited works are by the same author(s) within the same year, list them in alphabetical order by title and distinguish them by adding the letters a, b, c, etc., to the year (or to “Forthcoming”). For works with more than one author, only the name of the first author is inverted (e.g., “Jones, Arthur B., Colin D. Smith, and James Petersen”). List all authors; using “et al.” in the reference list is not acceptable. References for data sets should include a persistent identifier, such as a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). Persistent identifiers ensure future access to unique published digital objects, such as a text or data set. Persistent identifiers are assigned to data sets by digital archives, such as institutional repositories and partners in the Data Preservation Alliance for the Social Sciences (Data-PASS). Refer to the ASA Style Guide (7th ed., 2022) for additional examples:
   
        a. Books:
   
   Bernard, Claude. [1865] 1957. An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine. Translated by H. C. Greene. New York: Dover.
   
   Mason, Karen O. 1974. Women’s Labor Force Participation and Fertility. Research Triangle Park, NC: National Institutes of Health.
   
   U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1960. Characteristics of Population. Vol. 1. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office
   
        b. Periodicals:
   
   Goodman, Leo A. 1947a. “The Analysis of Systems of Qualitative Variables When Some of the Variables Are Unobservable. Part I—A Modified Latent Structure Approach.” American Journal of Sociology 79(5):1179–1259.
   
   Goodman, Leo A. 1947b. “Exploratory Latent Structure Analysis Using Both Identifiable and Unidentifiable Models.” Biometrika 61(2):215–31.
   
   Szelényi, Szonja and Jacqueline Olvera. Forthcoming. “The Declining Significance of Class: Does Gender Complicate the Story?” Theory and Society.
   
        c. Collections:
   
   Sampson, Robert J. 1992. “Family Management and Child Development: Insights from Social Disorganization Theory.” Pp. 63–93 in Advances in Criminology Theory. Vol. 3, Facts, Frameworks, and Forecasts, edited by J. McCord. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
   
        d. Dissertations:
   
   Charles, Maria. 1990. “Occupational Sex Segregation: A Log-Linear Analysis of Patterns in 25 Industrial Countries.” PhD dissertation, Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
   
        e. Web sites:
   
   American Sociological Association. 1997. “Call for Help: Social Science Knowledge on Race, Racism, and Race Relations” (ASA Action Alert, October 15). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association. Retrieved October 15, 1997 (http://www.asanet.org/racecall.htm).
   
   Kao, Grace and Jennifer Thompson. 2003. “Racial and Ethnic Stratification in Educational Achievement and Attainment.” Annual Review of Sociology 29:417–42. Retrieved October 20, 2003 (http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100019).
   
        f. Data Sets:
   
   Deschenes, Elizabeth Piper, Susan Turner, and Joan Petersilia. Intensive Community Supervision in Minnesota, 1990–1992: A Dual Experiment in Prison Diversion and Enhanced Supervised Release [Computer file]. ICPSR06849-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2000. doi:10.3886/ICPSR06849.
    
6. Tables. Tables should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text and must include table titles. Tables will appear in the published article in the order in which they are numbered initially. Each table must include a descriptive title and headings for all columns and rows. Gather general notes to tables as “Note:”; use a, b, c, etc., for table endnotes. Use asterisks *, **, and *** to indicate significance at the p < .05, p < .01, and p < .001 levels, respectively, and always specify one-tailed or two-tailed tests. Generally, results at p > .05 (such as p < .10) should not be indicated as significant.
7. Figures. Figures should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text and must include figure captions. Figures will appear in the published article in the order in which they are numbered initially. Preferred programs and formats for figures include the following: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, .wmf, .emf, and .tif (300 dpi).  Figures/illustrations submitted with the final draft must be "camera-ready," executed in black ink on white paper or vellum, with clear, medium-weight lines. All lettering should be done by an artist in pen and ink, or by applying press-type or typeset text to the artwork. Figures/illustrations should be legible when reduced or enlarged to 51/16 inch (full page width).
   Permission: The author(s) are responsible for securing permission to reproduce all copyrighted figures or materials before they are published by C&C. A copy of the written permission must be included with the manuscript submission.
8. Appendixes. Appendixes should be lettered to distinguish them from numbered tables and figures. Include a descriptive title for each appendix (e.g., “Appendix A. Variable Names and Definitions”).

Name Change Policy: Sage has introduced a policy to enable name and pronoun changes for our authors. ASA journals published by Sage follow this policy. Going forward, all requests to make a name or pronoun change will be honored. This includes, but is not limited to, name changes because of marriage, divorce, gender affirmation, and religious conversion. For more information, read Sage’s Name Change Policy.

ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent, and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that with your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

Posting and Sharing Policy

Please find the ASA posting and sharing policy for authors of ASA journal articles here.

This journal accepts articles previously published on preprint servers.

Article Preparation Support

See Sage’s Author Gateway for resources and general guidance about writing and preparing your manuscript.