---
name: soctheory-submission
description: Use when running the final pre-submission preflight for a Sociological Theory (ST) manuscript — Manuscript Central portal, ASA format and length cap, abstract, masking for double-anonymous review, ASA-style references, fee, ethics/originality, and required files. Theory-only journal; there is no data-availability or replication step.
---

# Pre-Submission Preflight (soctheory-submission)

> ST is theory-focused. There is no dataset, code, or replication package to deposit. The
> preflight centers on the *theory paper's* format, masking, ASA style, and ethics — not on
> empirical materials. Data, if present at all, is illustrative.

## Journal facts (verified; volatile items flagged)

- **Publisher / owner**: SAGE for the American Sociological Association (ASA); ST is the ASA's dedicated theory journal. Founded **1983**; published **quarterly (March / June / September / December)**.
- **Review**: **double-anonymous** (author and reviewer identities masked). ASA requires masking and treats simultaneous submission elsewhere as unethical.
- **Acceptance rate** and **number of reviewers per manuscript** are **not published** in the official sources — do not state a figure; treat as 待核实 if asked.
- **Processing fee**: **$25 non-refundable**, waived for ASA student members (Source 1; re-verify before paying). The official sources confirm only that ASA *student membership* triggers the waiver; they do not state any ASA-membership requirement to submit — treat a general "must I be an ASA member?" question as 待核实.

## When to trigger

- "I'm about to submit to Sociological Theory"
- Final check before clicking submit in Manuscript Central
- Unsure which files the portal expects for a theory paper

## Pre-submission checklist

### Scope & fit
- [ ] The paper makes a **conceptual contribution** (new theory / re-read tradition / metatheory / formal construction / synthesis), not an empirical study
- [ ] It intervenes in a specific theoretical conversation and makes an explicit move
- [ ] There is **no hypothesis test, no estimation, no results section**; any data is illustrative
- [ ] Fit confirmed against the current ST aims & scope (verify on the official page)

### Format (verify exact current requirements on the SAGE/ST author page)
- [ ] Standard 12-pt font, double-spaced, generous margins (ST describes ~1.5-inch margins, ~40 manuscript pages — verify)
- [ ] **Within the length cap: max ~14,500 words inclusive of footnotes, references, tables, figures, and appendices** (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准)
- [ ] Title page separate from the anonymized manuscript body
- [ ] Abstract present and within the journal's word limit (verify current limit)
- [ ] Figures are conceptual (mechanism diagrams / typologies / process models), never data plots; meet SAGE resolution/format specs
- [ ] Propositions numbered consistently and matched to any figure

### Masking for double-anonymous review
- [ ] No author-identifying content in the manuscript body
  - Self-citations phrased neutrally ("a prior study (Author 2020)"), not "in our earlier paper"
  - Acknowledgments removed from the body (added after acceptance)
  - Funding/grant identifiers kept out of the body
- [ ] Document file properties scrubbed of author name/affiliation
- [ ] File names contain no author or institution name

### References & citations
- [ ] **ASA Style Guide** author–date in-text citations; full reference list (7th edition, June 2022 — verify current)
- [ ] Every in-text citation appears in the reference list and vice versa
- [ ] The recent, live conversation in the target tradition is cited, not only the classics
- [ ] Every attributed paper's venue is verified (no ST/ASR/AJS misattribution — see exemplars library)
- [ ] All references are real and accurately represented (no fabricated or mis-cited sources)

### Ethics & originality (ASA Code of Ethics)
- [ ] Manuscript is original, unpublished, and **not under review at another journal** (the ASA treats simultaneous submission as unethical)
- [ ] Authorship reflects genuine intellectual contribution; order agreed by all authors
- [ ] Any prior conference/working-paper version disclosed as required
- [ ] Similarity check run; self-overlap disclosed
- [ ] ORCID iD provided for the corresponding author if the system requires it

### Portal files (Manuscript Central / SAGE Track)
- [ ] Anonymized main manuscript (body + figures + references), required format
- [ ] Separate title page with author info and corresponding author
- [ ] Abstract entered in the system
- [ ] **Manuscript processing fee** paid: ST charges a **$25 non-refundable processing fee, waived for ASA student members**, via SAGE Track (Source 1; re-verify the exact amount/waiver terms on the live author page before paying)
- [ ] Any author-agreement / conflict-of-interest forms the system requires

## Desk-reject triggers to preempt

1. **It's an empirical study** (tests a hypothesis, reports estimates) — route to ASR/AJS.
2. **A literature review** with no original theoretical move — route to ARS.
3. **An application** that does not change the theory it applies.
4. **Conceptual relabeling** presented as new theory.
5. **No engaged tradition** — freestanding speculation.
6. **Out of scope / masking / length / format failures.**

## Manuscript Central operation notes

- ST submits through **`mc.manuscriptcentral.com/soct`** (SAGE's web-based system; confirm the
  current URL on the ST author page).
- Enter author metadata only in the system, never in the anonymized manuscript.
- Choose the correct article type (theory article).
- Pay the processing fee at submission (waived for ASA student members — verify current policy/amount).
- Keep within the file-size and file-type limits the portal states.

## Anti-patterns

- Submitting a paper that is really an empirical study or a literature review
- Author identity leaking through "our prior study," acknowledgments, or file properties
- Reference list missing the recent conversation reviewers belong to
- A sibling-journal paper cited as if it were ST (canon error)
- Figures that are data plots (impossible at ST) or undefined boxes-and-arrows
- Submitting while the paper is under review elsewhere (ASA: unethical)

## Output format

```
【Scope】conceptual contribution, no test: yes / fix
【Format】length ≤ ~14,500 incl. all / abstract within limit / figures conceptual: pass / fix
【Masking】body + properties + filenames clean: yes / fix
【References】ASA style; recent conversation cited; venues verified; all real: yes / fix
【Ethics】original, not under review elsewhere, authorship correct, ORCID: yes / fix
【Portal】anonymized MS + title page + abstract + fee paid + forms: complete / missing [...]
【Next step】await decision → soctheory-review-process; R&R → soctheory-rebuttal
```

## Related resources

- [`templates/checklist.md`](templates/checklist.md) — 8-section pre-submission self-check (scope / format / masking / abstract / theory / figures / references / ethics & portal)
- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — Theory-building tools (citation mapping, reference managers, conceptual-diagram software, argument-logic aids)