New Publishing—and Reading—Opportunity for Public Opinion Researchers

By Christopher Wlezien and Justin Fisher  

The Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties (JEPOP) is a new journal of interest to public opinion scholars and practitioners. It is published under the auspices of the Elections, Public Opinion & Parties (EPOP) specialist group of the Political Studies Association, the British equivalent of the American Political Science Association. The EPOP group counts among its members the leading pollsters, scholars, and political analysts in the United Kingdom.

The journal began life as the British Elections & Parties Review, which produced fourteen annual volumes focused mainly on the United Kingdom. In 2004, it was decided to broaden the journal coverage, particularly its geographic reach, and with that came a relaunch in 2005 with a change of title and a new editorial team—Justin Fisher of Brunel University in the United Kingdom and Christopher Wlezien of Temple University in the United States. The editorial board is truly international, including thirty-two scholars from nine countries, and the contents of the first four issues of the journal reflect the global mix. The journal is now published three times annually, in February, July, and October.

JEPOP aims to publish research of the highest quality on public opinion, elections, and voting behavior and political parties. It welcomes submissions based on either comparative or single-nation studies and has no methodological bias other than demonstrable excellence. All submissions are subject to peer and editorial review.

The journal now is in its second full year and has been successful in getting new and topical material published very quickly. For example, the first issue, published at the beginning of 2005, featured an analysis of the 2004 U.S. presidential election, as well as forecasts for the 2005 election in Britain. Equally, the first issue of 2006 was dedicated to sophisticated analyses of the 2005 election, including an article by the British Election Study team. Other articles published to date include ones on attitudes towards ethnicity and political choices, the role of political information in voting on European Union referenda, campaign effects in Spanish elections as well as a methodological piece on response scales.

All in all, JEPOP appeals to a broad range of readers, and particularly those interested in public opinion and elections.

Christopher Wlezien is a professor of political science at Temple University. Justin Fisher is senior lecturer in political science and head of the Politics and History Department at Brunel University.