Submission Preflight (cps-submission)
The last gate before SAGE Track. CPS desk-screens on fit and basics, so a clean, correctly anonymized,
within-limit package avoids an avoidable bounce. Run this checklist against the live SAGE author
instructions before you click submit — volatile specifics change.
When to trigger
- Assembling the final files for SAGE Track (ScholarOne) submission
- Final anonymization and word-count pass
- Writing the data availability statement and confirming ORCID
- A submission was returned for a formatting or anonymity problem
Submission components
| Component |
Requirement (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准) |
| Portal |
SAGE Track (ScholarOne) — reuse an existing account if you have reviewed/authored within the past year |
| Anonymized manuscript |
Identifying info removed from the main file (sent to reviewers) |
| Title page (separate) |
Authors, affiliations, contact, acknowledgments — kept off the review file |
| Word count |
Article max 11,000 words; references, tables, figures excluded |
| Abstract |
Unstructured, ~150 words between title and body |
| References |
APA-style author-date (SAGE house); in-text and list agree |
| ORCID |
Required for the submitting author; co-authors encouraged to link before acceptance |
| Data availability statement |
Required — available where / why not shared |
| Replication materials |
Quantitative papers: staged for the CPS Dataverse (gates final acceptance) |
| Pre-analysis plan |
Optional, anonymized, as supplementary material |
| Supplementary / online appendix |
Robustness grids and secondary material |
Anonymization preflight (CPS is anonymous-reviewed)
- Remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and grant numbers from the main file → title page.
- Neutralize obvious self-references ("in our prior work" → "prior work [Author, year]").
- Strip identifying metadata from the document and from any embedded files/figures.
- Anonymize any linked materials (OSF/pre-analysis plan) used during review.
Comparative-leverage last check
Before the formatting checklist, ask whether the review file still reads like a CPS paper after
anonymization:
| Gate |
Pass condition |
Bounce risk |
| Comparative claim |
The abstract and introduction state what travels across cases, regions, regimes, or time |
A single-country result is submitted with only a broad comparative promise |
| Rival explanation |
The design names the strongest comparative rival and shows how the evidence adjudicates it |
Robustness appears as generic controls, not a debate-specific test |
| Scope condition |
The manuscript says where the argument should and should not generalize |
The contribution is framed as universal without leverage |
| Evidence-package fit |
Supplemental files and replication materials support the comparative claim |
Appendices contain unreferenced analyses or non-anonymized materials |
If any gate fails, route back before submission. A perfectly formatted paper can still be returned or
desk-rejected if the comparative contribution is invisible.
Final checklist
Anti-patterns
- Submitting to the wrong portal or an outdated URL — CPS uses SAGE Track (ScholarOne)
- Identifying info left in the main file or in document/figure metadata
- Over the word limit, or miscounting (forgetting refs/tables/figures are excluded)
- Missing ORCID for the submitting author, or missing the data availability statement
- Structured abstract or wrong citation style (CPS is APA-style author-date)
- Promising replication materials but not staging them — quant final acceptance is gated on the deposit
Output format
【Portal】SAGE Track (ScholarOne) — account ready? [Y/N]
【Anonymized】main file clean + separate title page? [Y/N]
【Length】words / 11,000 (refs/tables/figures excluded)
【Abstract】unstructured ~150 words? [Y/N]
【Comparative leverage visible?】claim + rival + scope condition stated? [Y/N]
【References】APA author-date, in-text=list? [Y/N]
【ORCID】submitting author linked? [Y/N]
【Data availability statement】present? [Y/N]
【Dataverse package】staged (quant)? [Y/N/NA]
【Next】cps-rebuttal (after a decision)
Templates
templates/checklist.md — copy-paste submission preflight checklist
Supplementary resources
1---2name: cps-submission3description: Use when preparing the final Comparative Political Studies (CPS) submission package for SAGE Track (ScholarOne) — anonymization, word count, abstract, ORCID, title page, and data availability statement. Runs the submission preflight; it does not draft the manuscript.4---56# Submission Preflight (cps-submission)78The last gate before SAGE Track. CPS desk-screens on fit and basics, so a clean, correctly anonymized,9within-limit package avoids an avoidable bounce. Run this checklist against the live SAGE author10instructions before you click submit — volatile specifics change.1112## When to trigger1314- Assembling the final files for SAGE Track (ScholarOne) submission15- Final anonymization and word-count pass16- Writing the data availability statement and confirming ORCID17- A submission was returned for a formatting or anonymity problem1819## Submission components2021| Component | Requirement (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准) |22|-----------|------|23| Portal | **SAGE Track (ScholarOne)** — reuse an existing account if you have reviewed/authored within the past year |24| Anonymized manuscript | Identifying info removed from the main file (sent to reviewers) |25| Title page (separate) | Authors, affiliations, contact, acknowledgments — kept off the review file |26| Word count | Article **max 11,000 words**; references, tables, figures **excluded** |27| Abstract | **Unstructured, ~150 words** between title and body |28| References | **APA-style author-date** (SAGE house); in-text and list agree |29| ORCID | **Required for the submitting author**; co-authors encouraged to link before acceptance |30| Data availability statement | Required — available where / why not shared |31| Replication materials | Quantitative papers: staged for the **CPS Dataverse** (gates final acceptance) |32| Pre-analysis plan | Optional, anonymized, as supplementary material |33| Supplementary / online appendix | Robustness grids and secondary material |3435## Anonymization preflight (CPS is anonymous-reviewed)3637- Remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and grant numbers from the main file → title page.38- Neutralize obvious self-references ("in our prior work" → "prior work [Author, year]").39- Strip identifying metadata from the document and from any embedded files/figures.40- Anonymize any linked materials (OSF/pre-analysis plan) used during review.4142## Comparative-leverage last check4344Before the formatting checklist, ask whether the review file still reads like a CPS paper after45anonymization:4647| Gate | Pass condition | Bounce risk |48|------|----------------|-------------|49| Comparative claim | The abstract and introduction state what travels across cases, regions, regimes, or time | A single-country result is submitted with only a broad comparative promise |50| Rival explanation | The design names the strongest comparative rival and shows how the evidence adjudicates it | Robustness appears as generic controls, not a debate-specific test |51| Scope condition | The manuscript says where the argument should and should not generalize | The contribution is framed as universal without leverage |52| Evidence-package fit | Supplemental files and replication materials support the comparative claim | Appendices contain unreferenced analyses or non-anonymized materials |5354If any gate fails, route back before submission. A perfectly formatted paper can still be returned or55desk-rejected if the comparative contribution is invisible.5657## Final checklist5859- [ ] Anonymized manuscript + separate title page prepared60- [ ] Word count ≤ 11,000 (references/tables/figures excluded); count reported as required61- [ ] Unstructured ~150-word abstract present62- [ ] APA-style author-date references; every in-text cite has a list entry63- [ ] ORCID for the submitting author linked in SAGE Track64- [ ] Data availability statement included65- [ ] Replication package staged for the CPS Dataverse (quantitative papers)66- [ ] Figures meet SAGE specs (grayscale-safe, vector/high-res); exhibit numbers consistent67- [ ] All claims verified against the live SAGE author-instructions page6869## Anti-patterns7071- Submitting to the wrong portal or an outdated URL — CPS uses SAGE Track (ScholarOne)72- Identifying info left in the main file or in document/figure metadata73- Over the word limit, or miscounting (forgetting refs/tables/figures are excluded)74- Missing ORCID for the submitting author, or missing the data availability statement75- Structured abstract or wrong citation style (CPS is APA-style author-date)76- Promising replication materials but not staging them — quant final acceptance is gated on the deposit7778## Output format7980```81【Portal】SAGE Track (ScholarOne) — account ready? [Y/N]82【Anonymized】main file clean + separate title page? [Y/N]83【Length】words / 11,000 (refs/tables/figures excluded)84【Abstract】unstructured ~150 words? [Y/N]85【Comparative leverage visible?】claim + rival + scope condition stated? [Y/N]86【References】APA author-date, in-text=list? [Y/N]87【ORCID】submitting author linked? [Y/N]88【Data availability statement】present? [Y/N]89【Dataverse package】staged (quant)? [Y/N/NA]90【Next】cps-rebuttal (after a decision)91```9293## Templates9495- [`templates/checklist.md`](templates/checklist.md) — copy-paste submission preflight checklist9697## Supplementary resources9899- [`../../resources/official-source-map.md`](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — SAGE Track, length, abstract, ORCID, and data-policy facts100- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — reference managers and anonymization tooling
brycewang-stanford