About the Journal
SCOPE
Configurações: Revista de Sociologia was launched in 2005 as part of the Sociology Studies Centre (Núcleo de Estudos em Sociologia - NES), based at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Minho. The new journal, heir to the Sociology Series of the Journal Cadernos do Noroeste, entitled Sociedade e Cultura, marked a new stage for the NES, which, two years later, would become the Centre of Research in Social Sciences (Centro de Investigação em Ciências Sociais - CICS). In 2015, and as a result of the merger with other national research centres, CICS became a Branch of the recently created Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences (Centro Interdisciplinar de Ciências Sociais - CICS.NOVA.UMinho) while retaining ownership and management of the journal.
From issue 25 (2020) onwards, and in order to reflect a greater adjustment both to its actual contents, which have rarely been limited to the disciplinary field of Sociology, as well as a change in its editorial policy to promote dialogue with other Social Sciences, the journal was renamed Configurações: Revista de Ciências Sociais (Configurations: Journal of Social Sciences).
As so, Configurações: Revista de Ciências Sociais is an open-access scientific journal in the field of the Social Sciences. It welcomes contributions that advance theoretical understanding and empirical research on social phenomena across diverse historical, cultural, and geographical contexts, valuing a range of approaches, topics, perspectives, and academic traditions.
The journal publishes, under a continuous publication model, two thematic volumes per year (in June and December) comprising original contributions - articles and reviews - in the areas of Sociology, Anthropology, Geography, History, Communication, Political Science, and related disciplines.
Its primary audience includes the national and international academic and scientific communities, particularly researchers, university faculty, and postgraduate students.
EDITORIAL POLICY
Configurações: Revista de Ciências Sociais is an open-access scholarly journal that adheres to the standards of a double-blind peer review system. All submissions undergo a rigorous double-anonymized evaluation process conducted by at least two external reviewers who are independent of the editorial board. It publishes unpublished academic works in the form of articles and book reviews, which contribute to enriching scientific knowledge regarding national and international social reality.
Configurações: Revista de Ciências Sociais invites proposals of original and unpublished academic manuscripts (including those previously available in preprints repositories) on topics related to the calls for papers (if applicable) and the journal's aims and scope, in the form of (a) articles, (b) reviews of authored or edited works, and (c) interviews.
The aim is to balance the publication of high quality original work by senior and young researchers.
Manuscripts may be published in Portuguese, Spanish, French and English, and are always published in their original language.
Two calls for papers for thematic issues are published each year, under a continuous publication model, with two thematic volumes published annually (June and December). Authors can also submit manuscripts for publication that are not related to thematic calls under the Ongoing Call.
Each author may publish a maximum of one article per year, with a mandatory 12-month waiting period between publications by the same author. This restriction aims to ensure the rotation and diversity of contributions, the broad circulation of knowledge and equity in its dissemination. Additional submissions by the same author within this period will only be considered in the next editorial cycle.
SCIENTIFIC REVIEW PROCESS AND PUBLICATION DECISION
1. All manuscripts submitted for publication in Configurações: Revista de Ciências Sociais must comply with the rules laid down (see Rules for submitting articles). It is the responsibility of the editorial assistants to check this beforehand and, if necessary, inform the author of any aspect that needs to be corrected.
2. The manuscript is then analysed by the Editorial Board, which is responsible for determining whether it meets the conditions to be submitted for peer review, considering in particular the following requirements:
- Conformity to the journal’s editorial line;
- Offering an original theoretical and/or empirical contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the field of social sciences;
- Compliance with the requirements of academic writing, including the safeguarding of ethical and deontological principles.
3. In the event of non-compliance with the above requirements, the Editorial Board reserves the right not to publish the work and this decision will be communicated in writing to the authors.
4. Manuscripts that meet the above requirements, duly anonymised, are submitted for independent review by two experts on a double-blind peer review basis. Reviewers are responsible for providing a reasoned written opinion on their quality. This review will result in a recommendation for publication (with or without changes) or rejection.
5. Acceptance of the manuscript for publication is conditional on a positive opinion from both experts and, in the relevant cases, after due notification of the authors, on compliance with the recommendations set out within the deadline indicated by the Editorial Board, specified according to the necessary changes.
6. If the manuscript is the subject of conflicting opinions, the Editorial Board will make the final decision taking into account its content. An exception to this rule is any situation that conflicts with the principles set out in the Statement of Ethics and Best Practices, in which case a third-party expert opinion is requested.
- Where a manuscript is submitted for publication in a compilation or thematic issue, the competences described above are assigned to the respective organisers.
7. The decision will be communicated in writing to the author, accompanied by the respective reviews.
8. All manuscripts accepted for publication will be subject to linguistic revision of which the author will be informed.
9. Where there are thematic issues or compilations, it is up to the respective organisers to undertake the tasks listed in points 2 to 6, assisted by the Editorial Board.
10. No fees are charged for submitting and handling works.
- Average time between submission and publication | ≈ 9 1/2 months
- Average rate of rejection of submitted works | 29%
OPEN ACCESS POLICY
Configurações: Revista de Ciências Sociais provides open access to its content, meaning that all articles are freely and immediately available without cost to users or their institutions.
In line with the principle of democratizing peer-reviewed scientific knowledge, users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, as well as to use them for any other lawful purpose, without prior permission from the author(s) or the publisher.
The journal is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
No submission, peer review, or article processing charges are levied.
DATA SHARING POLICY
The journal encourages authors to make the data supporting their research findings available. Exceptions may be granted to data that might, under any circumstance, compromise the protection, privacy or safety of those involved in the research or any other legal or ethical issue. The deposit must precede or be made at the time of submission.
Deposit in a data repository with a plan for long-term preservation of the files and registration of persistent identifiers is recommended. Should you have doubts about the most suitable repository, you can, for instance, refer to the re3data.org portal to choose one that suits your needs, or you can use a generalist repository, such as Zenodo The University of Minho has a data repository, Data RepositóriUM, where data related to manuscripts published in this journal can also be deposited.
Authors are encouraged to follow the best practices on citation and datasets. When applicable, information should be provided on where the data related to the article is located and on what conditions it can be accessed. The DOI, other persistent identifier or URL should also be provided when applicable.
Example: The data supporting the research findings in this article are available in open access on the Data RepositoriUM at https://doi.org/10.34622/datarepositorium/QUV6OP.
However, this information should not be included in the manuscript to ensure double-blind peer review. You can add the information in the comments section to the editor during the submission process.
DIGITAL PRESERVATION POLICY
Configurações: Revista de Ciências Sociais issues are digitally preserved and fully deposited in open access in the Institutional Repository of the University of Minho (RepositoriUM), a member of the Rede de Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto em Portugal (Network of Open Access Scientific Repositories in Portugal - RCAAP), as well as in OpenEdition Journals. The journal is also digitally preserved through the service of the Public Knowledge Project (PKP).
PUBLICATION
Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences - University of Minho Hub
Institute of Social Sciences
University of Minho
Gualtar Campus
4710-057 Braga
Portugal
Telephone: +351 253 601 752
As far as the hosting service is concerned, this is with the support of:
Documentation Services
Gualtar Campus
4710 - 057 Braga
Portugal
Telephone: +351 253 604 982
FUNDING
Configurações: Revista de Ciências Sociais is financed by national funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project «UID/04647/2025» of CICS.NOVA – Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences of Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
