Vol. 1 (2027)

Call for Papers: Inaugural Issue

Journal of Science of Science and Practice (JSSP)

ISSN (Pending) | Open Access & Peer-Reviewed

Theme: Unpacking the Mechanics of Science: How Does Research Actually Work?

For decades, academic discourse surrounding science has been dominated by normative prescriptions: defining what constitutes "good science," outlining how theories ought to be tested, and dictating the methodological ideals researchers should follow.

The Journal of Science of Science and Practice (JSSP) officially opens its submissions with a paradigm-shifting mandate: JSSP is not a venue for speculative opinion pieces on "how to do good science." Instead, our foundational inquiry is driven by a singular, empirical question: “How does science actually work as a complex global system?”

We invite original research articles, methodological papers, and empirical data notes that treat the research ecosystem itself—its institutions, incentives, human actors, and technological infrastructures—as an empirical object of investigation.

Illustrative Areas of Inquiry

We particularly welcome empirical studies that investigate structural and behavioral realities, including but not limited to:

• Evaluation & Peer Review: Does paying peer reviewers improve review quality? How does AI-assisted peer review alter editorial decision-making?
• Incentives & Careers: How do institutional promotion criteria affect researchers' willingness to conduct replication studies? What happens to research practices when universities change their assessment frameworks?
• Research Systems & Funding: Do national funding systems genuinely influence interdisciplinary collaboration and breakthrough discovery?
• Scientific Practice & Culture: How does laboratory culture influence data-sharing behavior? What are the network dynamics of cross-disciplinary research workflows?
• Integrity & Reliability: What are the systemic drivers of reproducibility rates across different academic disciplines?
• AI & Research Transformation: How do Large Language Models and automated discovery tools reshape scholarly communication and human-AI research teams?

Submission Guidelines

• Article Types: Empirical Research Articles
• Methodological Papers, Short Data Notes, and Critical Reviews.
• Methodological Pluralism: We welcome robust quantitative approaches (scientometrics, randomized controlled trials in publishing, network analysis, econometric modeling) as well as rigorous qualitative and mixed methods (laboratory ethnography, institutional policy analysis, comparative organizational research).
• Open Science Commitment: JSSP strongly encourages preregistration, open data, and open code sharing to align with the highest standards of metascience.