What does IMR publish?

The International Migration Review (IMR) publishes cutting-edge research focused explicitly on international migration. Beyond full-length journal articles, IMR also publishes a small number of shorter reports and essays, including:

●        Country/Region Reports

●        Methods, Research, and Teaching Notes      

●        Dispatches from the Field

●        Book reviews

IMR seeks and prioritizes manuscripts with the following characteristics:

1. Primary empirical and conceptual focus on international migration.
2. Original conceptual or theoretical contribution (i.e., the manuscript is more than an empirical case study)
3. Strong and convincing argument for the significance, or value added, of the research/findings.
4. Clear and compelling prose written for an interdisciplinary and international audience.
5. Rigorous engagement with relevant literatures and fully substantiated claims.
6. Obvious connections between the research questions, literature review, empirical material, analysis, and conclusions.

What does review at IMR entail?

The International Migration Review (IMR) publishes manuscripts that reflect the highest quality of migration scholarship. IMR seeks articles with significant new knowledge relevant to processes of international migration and migration policy. IMR publishes a corpus of research that is geographically and demographically inclusive of topics in the international and interdisciplinary field of migration studies, as well as disciplinary and analytic approaches to those topics. Publication in IMR is a highly selective process, and IMR’s acceptance rate is below 10%.

IMR publishes original scholarly papers, following a rigorous process of peer review. All submitted manuscripts are first reviewed by an IMR editor, and the strongest papers are then sent out anonymously to external reviewers for further evaluation. External reviewers are selected based on their knowledge and experience related to the paper’s topic, analytic perspective, and/or methodologies. Based on these reviews and confidential recommendations to the Editor, editorial decisions range from (1) Accepting the paper for publication; (2) Minor revisions, to be overseen by IMR editors; (3) Major revisions and additional external review; and (4) Rejection. Authors are not paid for their submissions. Submission of a manuscript to IMR is taken to indicate the author’s commitment to publish in this journal. Time to first decision at IMR is, on average, 6 months.

Manuscripts submitted to IMR may not be submitted simultaneously to another publication. Manuscripts that have appeared in repositories as peer-reviewed working papers or discussion papers are considered to be previously published and not eligible for publication in the IMR. Once a submitted article has been accepted for publication at IMR, authors must modify manuscripts or headers in non-peer-reviewed electronic collections (including their own personal websites) to indicate that the paper is forthcoming in the International Migration Review. Once the article is published, authors must modify manuscripts or headers to indicate that a revised version of the paper is now published and must include a complete citation to the published paper.

English language editing and translation assistance is available for authors at the Sage Language Services website. Please note that usage of this service is paid at the author’s expense and is for use pre-submission.

Authors are expected to maintain the highest ethical standards in their research and publication practices, in accordance with guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and in alignment with the ethical publication standards of our publisher, Sage. Authors and reviewers should pay close attention to Sage’s policy relating to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and follow these rules in their submissions.

How do I submit a manuscript to IMR?

The International Migration Review uses the web-based submission and peer review system, ScholarOne Manuscripts. All manuscript submissions must be made at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/imreview. Full instructions and support are available on the site, and a user ID and password can be obtained on the first visit.

In submitting an original paper for consideration for publication in IMR, authors must follow the guidelines below. Failure to adhere to these instructions will lead to return of the manuscript without review.

Upon login to the IMR ScholarOne Manuscripts page, authors will be prompted to submit author and manuscript details (e.g., corresponding author name, co-authors, contact information, institutions, acknowledgments, etc.), as well as the abstract.

Authors will also be prompted to indicate in ScholarOne whether the manuscript has been published elsewhere or made publicly available (e.g., in institutional repositories, working paper series, conference proceedings). If an earlier version of the manuscript has been published or made publicly available, the author should indicate the location of the manuscript and specify how the submitted paper differs from the earlier version.

After completing all required fields, authors must upload the following to ScholarOne Manuscripts:

1. an anonymous manuscript omitting all references to the author(s)’s name(s) or identity; and
2. tables and figures should be placed in appropriate locations within the text (in-line), not at the end of the manuscript nor in additional files.

A completed submission is confirmed by email immediately, and your paper will then enter the editorial process, described above.

Your manuscript will have a unique manuscript number, and you can check the progress of your manuscript at any time by returning to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/imreview. Authors will be notified by email when a decision is issued. If a positive decision is made, revisions must be submitted online, with an opportunity to view and respond to all comments from the editor and reviewers.

Full support is provided, by clicking on the "Get Help Now" icon located on every page to connect directly to the online support system at http://mchelp.manuscriptcentral.com/gethelpnow/index.html. If you cannot submit online, please contact the IMR Editorial Office at the Center for Migration Studies by emailing imr@cmsny.org.

Submission Style Format:

All submitted manuscripts must be typed in 12-pt Times New Roman font and double-spaced, including indented matter, footnotes, and references. Submissions with comments or tracked changes will be returned without full review. All documents will be converted to .pdf format and renamed by ScholarOne. Papers must be submitted in Microsoft Word format. Submissions prepared in LaTeX may be accepted for initial review; however, if papers are accepted for publication, manuscripts must be converted to Word format.

IMR manuscripts should be 10,000 words or less, including citations. Significantly longer manuscripts are better suited for another outlet, although they may be considered for publication in IMR, depending on their topic and scope. IMR also publishes a small number of shorter essays, described in detail below, whose length ranges from 2,500 to 5,000 words.

Tables and Figures

Tables and figures should be prepared for communication of results and should not include output from statistical software. Tables and figures should be placed in appropriate locations within the text (in-line), not at the end of the manuscript nor in additional files. Within the paper’s body, authors should insert a location note (e.g., “Table 2 about here,” at the appropriate place in the text). Tables should not contain more than 20 two-digit columns or lines or the equivalent.

Artwork Guidelines

Illustrations, pictures, and graphs must be submitted in their native file format (i.e., the default file format an application uses to create/save files). For example, if the figure was created in PowerPoint, please submit the file as a PowerPoint file. Please follow the guidelines below to enable us to prepare your artwork for the printed issue as well as the online version.

NOTE: Manuscripts that fail to follow these guidelines will be returned to the authors, without review.

●        Format: TIFF, JPEG: Common format for pictures (containing no text or graphs). EPS is the preferred format for graphs and line art (retains quality when enlarging/zooming in).

●        File Type: Artwork (figures, pictures, graphs, etc.) should be placed in appropriate locations within the text (in-line),  identified by name (i.e., “Figure 2”). 

●        Resolution: Rasterized based files (i.e., with .tiff or .jpeg extension) require a resolution of at least 300 dpi (dots per inch). Line art must be supplied with a minimum resolution of 800 dpi.

●        Color: Please note that images supplied in color will be published in color online and black and white in print (unless otherwise arranged). Therefore, you must supply images that are comprehensible in black and white as well (i.e., using color with a distinctive pattern or dotted lines). The captions and text should reflect this practice by not using words indicating color. 

●        Fonts: The lettering used in the artwork should not vary in size and type (usually sans serif font as a default).

Citations and References

In-text citations and references should follow the Author-Date format of The Chicago Manual of Style. The only exception is that an author’s first name in the references must be written with the first initial only. In-text citations should be parenthetical. For example, sources should be identified at an appropriate point in the text by author’s last name, publication year, and pagination, all within parentheses.

Examples:

(Gonzalez 2014)

(Massey 2009, 124-27)

(de Haas 2010; Gurak 2014) – multiple citations

(Nystedt and Dribe 2015, 16) – for two authors

(Massey, Durand, and Pren 2014) – for three authors

(Johnson et al. 2015, 128) – for three or more authors

Use of footnotes should be minimized and only for substantive observations or citation of websites, blogs, or social media.

At the end of the manuscript, please include a section entitled “References,” which should list all referenced items alphabetically by author’s last name and first initial, then by publication year, beginning with the most recent year. For multiple author or editor listings, include all authors. Use italics for titles of books and journals. Please note that references are included in the word count.

Examples:

Bedford, R., and P. Spoonley. 2014. “Competing for Talent: Diffusion of An Innovation in New Zealand Immigration Policy.” International Migration Review 48(3): 891-911.

Tajfel, H., and J. C. Turner. 1986. “The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior.” In Psychology of Intergroup Relations, edited by S. Worchel and W. G. Austin, 7-24. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.

Appendices and Supplemental Material

All IMR appendices are online only and should be labeled as such. Appendices and supplemental material containing questionnaires and instruments, intervention materials, supplemental data analyses, or other materials or information that are proposed by the authors(s) and deemed to be valuable by the editor may be made available for public access via links to a section for such material at the International Migration Review website. All supplementary material should be included in one Online Appendix, uploaded with the manuscript under review.

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 part of the submission process at IMR. If you already have an ORCID iD, you will be asked to associate that iD 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 by clicking the link when prompted, signing into your ORCID account, and updating our systems. 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.

Additional IMR publications:

IMR Country/Region Reports

Borrowing an innovative practice from Social and Cultural Geography, IMR publishes Country/Region Reports. As was the case for Social and Cultural Geography, IMR Country/Region Reports are “both an intellectual and political project” designed to include a wider array of scholarly voices, perspectives, and geographic contexts in IMR’s discussion of international migration. Although international migration is a global phenomenon in every way possible, the published literature on international migration remains focused on dynamics in North America and Europe. IMR Country/Region Reports are an intentional intervention into that focus.

IMR Country Reports will be a maximum of 2,500 words and should include the following elements:

●        (1) A succinct, thorough, and well-organized discussion of BOTH the current state of international migration dynamics in the given country/region AND the current state of scholarship on international migration in the given country/region. The latter element can reflect studies of the given country/region, as well as studies by scholars in the given country/region.

●        (2) The disciplinary orientation of migration studies in the given country/region, as well as common methods used by migration scholars there.

●        (3) Emerging research agendas or topics in the given country/region.

●        (4) The lessons a close study of the given country/region can offer to the wider study of international migration.

IMR Country/Region Reports are peer reviewed, frequently by a combination of the IMR editorial team and editorial board. Authors are encouraged to review country/region reports published in the journal as examples for their own submissions.

For the rationale for Social and Cultural Geography’s Country Reports, see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262008414_New_section_Country_r...

IMR Methods, Research, and Teaching Notes

In addition to its full-length journal articles, IMR publishes a small number of shorter essays.

●        IMR Methods Notes are designed to offer critical reflection on a method(s) associated with the interdisciplinary study of international migration or to make the case for an underutilized method.

●        IMR Research Notes are designed to present interesting or preliminary empirical findings from a study or to offer more modest contributions than a full-length journal manuscript.

●        IMR Teaching Notes are designed to offer critical insight into the challenges, benefits, and possibilities of teaching the topic of international migration.

IMR Methods, Teaching, and Research Notes undergo external review overseen by an IMR editor. All three contributions should be 5,000 words or less. Authors interested in IMR Methods, Research, or Teaching Notes are encouraged to review methods/research/teaching notes published in the journal as examples for their own submissions.

IMR Dispatches from the Field

IMR  publishes short essays (approximately 2,500 words) on new or emerging trends in international migration. IMR Dispatches are designed to report on new or emerging developments, rather than to present a polished argument or analysis. Topics that are good matches for Dispatches include new migration streams, the initial impacts of new migration policies, and new political developments in migrant reception. Authors are encouraged to review dispatches from the field published in the journal as a guide for their own submissions. Dispatches are meant to focus on new, yet-to-be-studied trends, rather than well-worn territory in migration studies.

Book Reviews

The IMR Book Review Editor oversees the commissioning and publication of book reviews. IMR does not accept unsolicited book reviews and typically does not publish reviews of edited collections. Publishers and authors may send books for consideration to the IMR Book Review Editor:

Dr. Emrah Atar
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Türkiye
bookreviews_imr@cmsny.org

Contact

For any further inquiries on IMR, please direct correspondence to the IMR Editorial Office at imr@cmsny.org or the editor-in-chief at hreed@cmsny.org.