Ethnography
Ethnography continues to offer a detailed and grounded empirical study of the myriad changes that are remaking the face of contemporary societies as a result of the sweeping restructuring of economy, society, culture and politics across the globe. As embedded and embodied social inquiry, the craft of ethnography is uniquely poised to fulfil this need and advance our in-depth understanding of these changes.
Ethnography is an international and interdisciplinary journal for the ethnographic study of social and cultural change. Bridging the chasm between sociology and anthropology, it is the leading network for dialogical exchanges between monadic ethnographers and those from all disciplines involved and interested in ethnography and society. It seeks to promote embedded research that fuses close-up observation, rigorous theory and social critique.
The journal publishes pieces in a variety of formats and styles (ranging from analytical articles, epistemological tracts and photographic essays to experimental narratives) and is keen to broadcast work "fresh from the field", including that conducted by younger practitioners of ethnography.
An interdisciplinary approach
Ethnography addresses ethnographic findings and methods in a broad interdisciplinary understanding of culture, domination and social structure. It fosters work that pays equal attention to the minutiae of experience, the cultural texture of social relations, and to the remote structural forces and power vectors that bear on them. The journal also re-engages field-based research with larger sociopolitical projects, including the identification and formulation of the different possibilities of 'social becoming' in an era of intense change.
Fusing theory and close-up observation
Ethnography operates as an international forum for the collective development of a theoretically informed methodology for ethnography. Offering an alternative to both naturalistic qualitative research and abstract social theory, it publishes articles that stress the need for an encompassing theoretical sensibility involved in how ethnography is actually practised and written.
Special features
Ethnography publishes papers in a wider variety of formats, genres, and styles than any comparable journal in order to give free rein and full bloom to the ethnographic imagination. In addition to standard research articles, it includes the following rubrics:
'Tales from the Field': experimental or narrative pieces that take the reader into a particular social world and convey the 'feel' of an event, relation, situation, place, or phenomenon through depictive techniques and textual devices that foreground lived experience and carnal presence
'Ethnography's Kitchen': a 'how-to' section featuring critical reflections on the practice of fieldwork designed to foster reflexivity in ethnography so as to clarify and bolster the standards of the craft
Thematic Issues: examining topics of wide scholarly as well as civic interest that bring together inquirers from several disciplines who do not normally engage each other. Recent special issues dealt with "Critical Ethnography and the Neoliberal City" (guest edited by Robert P. Fairbanks II and Richard Lloyd) and "Urban Ethnography" (guest edited by Elijah Anderson).”
Unrivalled international breadth and scope
Edited by leaders in the field, with a distinguished editorial board that includes active field workers from all over the world, and the entire spectrum of disciplines concerned with culture and society, Ethnography offers unrivalled international scope. It is essential reading for all those interested in ethnographic work, particularly practising ethnographers.
Ethnography is on SAGE Journals Online.
Ethnography is a peer reviewed, international and interdisciplinary journal for the ethnographic study of social and cultural change. Bridging the chasm between sociology and anthropology, it is the leading network for dialogical exchanges between monadic ethnographers and those from all disciplines involved and interested in ethnography and society. It seeks to promote embedded research that fuses close-up observation, rigorous theory and social critique.
The journal publishes pieces in a variety of formats and styles (ranging from analytical articles, epistemological tracts and photographic essays to experimental narratives) and is keen to broadcast work "fresh from the field", including that conducted by younger practitioners of ethnography.
An interdisciplinary approach
Ethnography addresses ethnographic findings and methods in a broad interdisciplinary understanding of culture, domination and social structure. It fosters work that pays equal attention to the minutiae of experience, the cultural texture of social relations, and to the remote structural forces and power vectors that bear on them. The journal also re-engages field-based research with larger sociopolitical projects, including the identification and formulation of the different possibilities of 'social becoming' in an era of intense change.
Fusing theory and close-up observation
Ethnography operates as an international forum for the collective development of a theoretically informed methodology for ethnography. Offering an alternative to both naturalistic qualitative research and abstract social theory, it publishes articles that stress the need for an encompassing theoretical sensibility involved in how ethnography is actually practised and written.
Special features
Ethnography publishes papers in a wider variety of formats, genres, and styles than any comparable journal in order to give free rein and full bloom to the ethnographic imagination. In addition to standard research articles, it includes the following rubrics:
'Tales from the Field': experimental or narrative pieces that take the reader into a particular social world and convey the 'feel' of an event, relation, situation, place, or phenomenon through depictive techniques and textual devices that foreground lived experience and carnal presence
'Ethnography's Kitchen': a 'how-to' section featuring critical reflections on the practice of fieldwork designed to foster reflexivity in ethnography so as to clarify and bolster the standards of the craft
Thematic Issues: examining topics of wide scholarly as well as civic interest that bring together inquirers from several disciplines who do not normally engage each other. Recent special issues dealt with "Critical Ethnography and the Neoliberal City" (guest edited by Robert P. Fairbanks II and Richard Lloyd) and "Urban Ethnography" (guest edited by Elijah Anderson).
| Sarah Bracke | University of Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Francio Guadeloupe | University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands |
| Loïc Wacquant | University of California, Berkeley, USA |
| Peter Geschiere | University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands |
| Jan Willem Duyvendak | University of Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Paul Willis | Beijing Normal University, China |
| Mats Trondman | Linnaeus University, Sweden |
| Dastan Abdali | University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands |
| Anna Esther Younes |
| Michel Agier | Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris, France |
| Elijah Anderson | Yale University, USA |
| Arjun Appadurai | New York University, USA |
| Javier Auyero | State University of New York, USA |
| Huw Beynon | Cardiff University, UK |
| Jan Blommaert | Tilburg University, Netherlands |
| Philippe Bourgois | University of California, Los Angeles, USA |
| Matthew Brannan | Keele University, UK |
| Phil Carspecken | Indiana University, USA |
| Nick Crossley | University of Manchester, UK |
| Veena Das | Johns Hopkins University, USA |
| Mitch Duneier | Princeton University, USA |
| Bob Emerson | University of California at Los Angeles, USA |
| Willem Frijhoff | Free University, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Marie Gillespie | The Open University, UK |
| Arlie Hochschild | University of California, Berkeley, USA |
| Bob Hollands | University of Newcastle, UK |
| John Hughson | University of Central Lancashire, UK |
| Jack Katz | University of California, Los Angeles, USA |
| Arthur Kleinman | Harvard University, USA |
| Ching Kwan Lee | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA |
| Minhua Ling | Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong |
| Mohammed Maarouf | University of El Jadida, Morroco, Morocco |
| Sherry B. Ortner | University of California, Los Angeles, USA |
| Ben Rampton | King's College, London, UK |
| Nancy Scheper-Hughes | University of California, USA |
| Rachel Sherman | New School University, New York, USA |
| Abdou Maliq Simone | Goldsmith College, London, UK |
| Stephen Smith | European University Institute, Florence, Italy |
| Carol Stack | University of California, Berkeley, USA |
| Florence Weber | Ecole normale supérieure, Paris, France |
| Terry Williams | New School for Social Research, New York, USA |
Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Ethnography
Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/eth to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Ethnography will be reviewed.
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.
- What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper - Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
2.6 Research Data - Publishing policies
3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving - Preparing your manuscript
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplementary material
4.4 Reference style
4.5 English language editing services - Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions - On acceptance and publication
6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article - Further information
Before submitting your manuscript to Ethnography, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.
Ethnography publishes original research papers and review essays. The journal regularly includes thematic issues, review essays (in which several books are addressed), debates, interviews, and Ethnography’s Kitchen (a ‘how to’ section designed to foster reflexivity in the craft of ethnography).
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online
Ethnography operates a double-anonymize peer review policy
Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.
The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:
- Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,
- Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
- Approved the version to be published,
- Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.
Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.
Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.
Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.
Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.
2.3.1 Third party submissions
Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:
• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.
Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.
Ethnography requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
Ethnography encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway
At Sage we are committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research. Where relevant, we encourage authors to share their research data in a suitable public repository subject to ethical considerations and where data is included, to add a data accessibility statement in their manuscript file. Authors should also follow data citation principles. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway, which includes information about Sage’s partnership with the data repository Figshare.
In Ethnography we have an ongoing debate on the implications of these expectations for ethnographers, the problems such expectations generate, and the standard practice of building relations of trust with interlocutors. We refer potential authors interested in this issue to that debate.
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway
3.1.1 Plagiarism
Ethnography and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
3.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway
3.3 Open access and author archiving
Ethnography offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.
4. Preparing your manuscript for submission
The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines
Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.
This journal does not currently accept supplementary materials.
Ethnography adheres to the Sage Harvard reference style. View the Sage Harvard guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.
Please note that the Editors set great store on proper and generous citational conduct, notably in regard to colleagues who have direct links to the researched group.
If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the Sage Harvard EndNote output file.
4.5 English language editing services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
Ethnography is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/eth to login and submit your article online.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
Format of mss: Each manuscript should contain:
(i) title page with full title and subtitle (if any). For the purposes of anonymize refereeing, full name of each author with current affiliation and full address/phone/fax/email details plus short biographical note should be supplied on a separate sheet. Owing to the broad range of subject matter, authors are asked to specify two or more subfields or areas of inquiry to which their paper pertains and are encouraged to include the names three potential referees.
(ii) abstract of 100-150 words
(iii) up to 10 key words
(iv) main text and word count - manuscripts should be no longer than 9000 words including notes and bibliography. Text to be clearly organized, with a clear hierarchy of headings and subheadings and quotations exceeding 40 words displayed, indented, in the text. Texts of a length greatly exceeding this will be considered as interest warrants and space permits.
(v) end notes, if necessary, should be signalled by superscript numbers in the main text and listed at the end of the text before the references
(vi) anonymity - please anonymize all self-citations.
Style: use a clear readable style, avoiding jargon. If technical terms or acronyms must be included, define them when first used. Use non-racist, non-sexist language and plurals rather than he/she.
Spellings: UK or US spelling may be used with ‘-ize’ spellings given as in the Oxford English Dictionary (e.g. organize, recognize).
Proofs and pdfs: authors will receive proofs of their articles. They will receive an email giving them access to pdfs of their article.
Ethnography publishes review essays, in which several books and other significant contributions to the field are reviewed. Review essays (that address multiple books) can be sent to Dastan Abdali at Ethnography@uva.nl.
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 persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher 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 recognised.
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 to 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.
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway
6. On acceptance and publication
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.
6.3 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Ethnography editorial office as follows: