The Society for Political Methodology (SPM) invites applications for the editorship of Political Analysis (PA) with a 48 month term (with potential extension) beginning on September 1, 2026. PA is an online-only journal that publishes peer reviewed articles that provide original and significant advances in the general area of political methodology, including both quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches. It is the official journal of the Society for Political Methodology and the Political Methodology Section of the American Political Science Association.

It is the official journal of the Society for Political Methodology and the Political Methodology Section of the American Political Science Association.

The journal receives over 200 submissions per year and is consistently ranked as one of the highest impact political science journals. As of 2024, it has an impact factor of over 5.

We seek proposals for an editorial team with a commitment to publishing articles that represent the best of political methodology and that will maintain PA’s reputation in the field. Proposals may involve multiple institutions and editors. Proposals are due on May 1, 2026. 

The selected team will be expected to:

§ Sustain the journal’s leading reputation for methods content.

§ Competently manage the review and editorial process, ensuring authors receive timely and helpful peer reviews on their submissions.

§ Attend the annual summer conference (PolMeth) and the annual APSA conference, planning to present at the business meeting for the section both times as well as to provide a detailed annual report to the section president and publications committee.

§ Work with our publisher Cambridge University Press on matters pertaining to Open Access, replication, and other journal administration. On replication specifically, the team will need access to (local) research assistants–typically PhD students– who can work with authors to ensure results are replicable, data is available, code is legible and correct prior to final acceptance of manuscripts.

Your proposal will be evaluated on the following:

1. Vision for the journal under your editorship including specific topics of interest, planned innovations and how you will deal with editorial challenges. For example, what will your policy be on papers dealing with (closed source) Large Language Models and replication materials for the same?

2. Your plan to solicit high-quality, impactful methods pieces to publish in the journal.

3. Proposed editorial process and how you would conduct peer review, deal with potential author disputes, replication and manage the overall process.

For example, what will your policy be on the degree to which authors may be assisted by AI/LLMs? Similarly, what is your policy on reviews undertaken with the aid of AI/LLMs?

4. CVs and an outline of previous editing (or similar) experience.

5. Budget including the financial support of your institution(s), the requested amount from SPM and how it will be used.

SPM provides the following support for the editor and Journal:

§ A dedicated Managing Editor based at CUP (subject to specific negotiation of SPM financial support arrangements)

§ Scholar One manuscript submission and peer review system.

§ Copyediting and electronic production services.

§ Reporting on bibliometrics (citations, downloads, Altmetric, etc.) to inform decision-making.

§ Financial support to be used for graduate student support, summer salary and travel.

The editorship is initially a 48 month term beginning on September 1, 2026. After this, renewal for a further term may be possible. The SPM Publications committee will review applications in collaboration with SPM leadership, and the selected applicant(s) will be contacted shortly thereafter.

We welcome applications from all interested parties. We encourage submitting teams to demonstrate they are drawing talent from all relevant areas of the discipline and its membership, especially as regards gender balance. Please feel free at any point in the process to contact Arthur Spirling (President of SPM) at arthur.spirling@princeton.edu or Molly Roberts (Vice President of SPM) at meroberts@ucsd.edu with any questions.