Mission:

Our Mission

The Journal of Social Structure (JoSS) is an electronic journal of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA). It is designed to facilitate timely dissemination of state-of-the-art results in the interdisciplinary research area of social structure. It publishes empirical, theoretical and methodological articles. Articles are accepted only after peer review. Comments, rejoinders and extensions on already published articles will be peer-reviewed and if accepted will be attached via a hyperlink to the previously published piece. All published articles and comments (including embedded data, graphics, algorithms and simulations) are permanently archived by the library at Carnegie Mellon University.

JoSS publishes manuscripts that are focused on social structure-on the patterning of social linkages among actors. These actors could be comprised of different types or levels or analysis, such as animals, humans, artificial agents, groups or organizations. INSNA was founded on the premise that the behavior and lives of social entities are affected by their position in the overall social structure. By examining the etiology and consequences of structural forms overall, of the location of entities within these structures, and of the formation and dynamics of ties that make up these structures, INSNA hopes to learn about the parts of behavior that are uniquely social.

Because it is a paperless journal, JoSS enables and encourages full use of electronic media in the analysis and presentation of research results. Authors are encouraged to use multiple formats to convey important relationships, concepts, theories, models and results. Such formats include but are not limited to the generation of images that use color, motion, three dimensional representation, and user-interactive features, all embedded within the article.