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