About the Journal

The Ask: Research and Methods journal has been published every year since 1995 by the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and since 2014 by Ohio State University in cooperation with the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The journal is devoted to psychometrics and methodology of various social sciences. Thus, it covers challenges related to phases of the research process: conceptualization and operationalization, techniques of obtaining the data (secondary vs. primary), field research, and, most importantly, statistical data analysis (quantitative and qualitative techniques). The journal also covers issues related to comparative analysis (including international comparisons), research ethics, statistical software, as well as methods of data management and archiving. All manuscripts published in Ask: Research and Methods are made freely and permanently available online immediately upon publication. The Ask: Research and Methods journal is indexed, among others, in the following databases and search engines: Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), The Central European Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanities (CEJSH), Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL), The Ohio State University Libraries as well as Google Scholar. Only original articles meeting the criterion of high scientific level are published in Ask: Research and Methods. The Ask Editorial Office respects the principles of publication ethics developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Publisher of the journal

Ask: Research and Methods journal is published by The Ohio State University Libraries in cooperation with the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Aims and Scope

ASK: Research and Methods is a peer-reviewed academic journal published in Diamond Open Access (no fees for authors or readers). The journal is committed to promoting innovative social, behavioral, psychological, pedagogical, economic, and computer science research. Our scope extends beyond traditional social sciences and embraces a more interdisciplinary perspective. We focus on the variety of methodologies pertinent to these fields, including (but not limited to) sampling, interviewing, observation, quantitative techniques, research ethics, data management and archiving, simulation studies, replication studies, instructional articles, research reports, measurement instruments development, adaptation and validation, methods of cross-national comparisons, qualitative techniques and mixed methods research.

Our journal invites diverse types of submissions:

Theoretical papers that explore new methodological research developments.
Papers that feature innovative applications of methodologies in social research, including experimental, correlational or simulation studies.
Research reports that briefly present the findings of research that could be of interest to social scientists.
Review articles, including, but not limited to, systematic reviews and meta-analyzes.
Papers presenting new or adapted measurement instruments, including validation and/or adaptation in different cultural contexts.
Introductions to new software packages or programs in existing packages, including evaluation and/or examples of the utility of new solutions for data analysis.
Papers that provide learning/education modules on novel methods and techniques.
Book and software reviews that examine the latest methods and techniques.
Commentaries on technical or substantive research issues, methodology, research practices and ethics considerations.

While our journal is inclusive in scope, we maintain a special interest in survey research, a methodological approach that offers unique insights into patterns of human behavior and societal trends. We encourage submissions that use this methodology in innovative ways to explore issues relevant to our fields of interest. Submissions featuring research on computer-based paradata (log data), machine learning, and artificial intelligence in social sciences are also of special interest.

Journal specification

The focus on various aspects of research methodology is unique and distinguishes Ask: Research and Methods from other social science journals. Our scope is broad and allows for publication of different studies from various disciplines.

Scoring

The journal is listed in the List of journals of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland (40 points).

Indexing in databases and search engines

The Ask: Research and Methods journal is indexed in the following databases and search engines:

Languages of publications

All texts in the Ask: Research and Methods journal are published in English.

Scholarly level

Only original articles, meeting the criterion of high scientific level may be published in the Ask: Research and Methods journal. The internationally recruited reviewers are selected from among outstanding specialists depending on the subject matter of the reviewed works. Even though the journal cooperates with the scientific institution based in Poland the share of international authors is particularly high, e.g., in years 2012-2022, it amounted to approximately 47%.

Ensuring a high level of scientific works published in Ask: Research and Methods is possible thanks to reliable review procedures practiced in the Editorial Office (see review procedures) and respecting the principles of publication ethics (see ethical principles) developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics - COPE.

Editorial board

Artur Pokropek, Editor in Chief

Michał Taracha, Lead Managing Editor

Jolanta Perek-Białas, Associate Editor

Maria Flakus, Consulting Editor: Psychology

Marek Muszyński, Consulting Editor: Sociology

Tomasz Żółtak, Consulting Editor: Statistics

Piotr Jabkowski, Consulting Editor: Statistics

Colin Odden, Digital Content and Publishing Adviser

Joshua K. Dubrow, Digital Content and Publishing Adviser

Magdalena Ducka, Language Editor

John Fells, Language Editor

The international Scientific Board is the advisory and controlling body. See the editorial team for further details.

Publication frequency

Ask: Research and Methods is published annually.

Original version

Until 2023 the printed version of Ask: Research and Methods was the original one. The printed version of the periodical can be ordered in the online bookstore of the Publishing House of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences: https://ifispan.pl/ksiegarnia-internetowa-ifis-pan/. Since 2023 Ask: Research and Methods has been published uniquely in the electronic form.

Identifiers

p-ISSN: 1234-9224 (printed version), e-ISSN: 2544-0799 (online version).

All manuscripts published in Ask: Research and Methods are assigned with individual, unique DOI identifiers (10.18061/ask) assigned by The Ohio State University Libraries.

Copyright policy

All authors of the accepted manuscripts are asked to grant the non-exclusive right to reproduce, translate, display, or distribute the Submission to The Ohio State University (on behalf of its University Libraries’ Knowledge Bank). In line with the CC BY-NC-ND license, others can download publicly available manuscripts published in the Ask: Research and Methods journal. It is also possible to share the manuscripts with others as long as the author is given appropriate credit. Nevertheless, manuscripts cannot be changed in any way or used commercially.

Open access policy and free licences

The Ask: Research and Methods journal operates on the principles of open access (which is free of charge). All publications on the journal's website are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND).

The magazine's content is available to both the user and his/her institution free of charge. Users may read, download, copy, print, search, use the full text of articles, as well as use them for any purposes permitted by law without having to seek the consent of the publisher or author. Creation of derivative works is not permitted (the work can be re-distributed but not changed). Ask: Research and Methods adheres to the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) and defines its Open Access policy according to the BOAI definition.

History of the journal

The Ask: Research and Methods journal has been published since 1995 by the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Since 2014 Ask: Research and Methods has been published by The Ohio State University Libraries in cooperation with the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Since 2017 all manuscripts have been published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND). Since 2023 Ask: Research and Methods has been published uniquely in the electronic form.