Open access policy

Social Thought and Policy Review is a fully open-access, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing critical scholarship at the intersection of social theory, policy analysis, and public affairs. We believe that understanding complex social issues and developing effective policy solutions requires the rigorous examination of ideas and the immediate, unrestricted sharing of knowledge across the global academic, policy, and civic community.

Our Open Access Commitment:

  • Immediate and Permanent Free Access: All articles are published online and made freely available to readers immediately upon publication. No subscriptions, no paywalls, and no embargo periods apply. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. Every research article, critical essay, policy analysis, and theoretical contribution is accessible to scholars, policymakers, practitioners, educators, students, and the public worldwide without financial or institutional barriers.

  • Creative Commons License: Every article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) : https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. This license permits anyone to share, copy, and redistribute the material in any medium or format, provided that:

    • Attribution – Proper credit is given to the original authors and Social Thought and Policy Review.

    • NonCommercial – The material may not be used for commercial purposes without explicit permission from the copyright holder.

    • NoDerivatives – If users remix, transform, or build upon the material, they may not distribute the modified material.

  • Authors Retain Copyright: Authors hold full copyright to their scholarly work. Social Thought and Policy Review receives a non-exclusive license to publish and distribute the article under the open-access terms described above, ensuring authors retain control over their intellectual property while maximizing dissemination.

  • Informing Public Discourse: Authors are encouraged to deposit their published articles in institutional repositories, personal websites, and academic networks to ensure that critical analysis of social issues and policy alternatives reaches colleagues across disciplines and borders, fostering evidence-based policymaking and informed public discourse.

This policy ensures that scholarship in social thought and policy analysis achieves maximum visibility and impact while respecting the integrity and diverse perspectives of authors' work.