Rural Realities is an information/policy series that seeks to showcase innovative applied research being conducted by RSS members and other rural social scientists that give attention to critical and timely rural issues. It is designed to:

Build on high quality social sciences-based studies

Communicate insights in a clear and concise manner on rural people and places

Provide policy strategies/options for consideration by policy actors and policy analysts

Contribute valuable information to the policy community on emerging issues/challenges in rural areas of the U.S. and the world

Rural Realities is a peer-reviewed, web-based series that will be published 4 times a year. Each issue will be devoted to a single topic.

Articles submitted by an author should be 6-8 double spaced pages in length, should effectively incorporate tables, graphs, and/or charts that are clear and understandable to non-academic audiences, and be written in a style that effectively communicates to the policy community.

An important note to potential authors is that the series editor, coupled with the series’ communication specialist, are available to work hand in hand with the authors in the manuscript development, preparation, review, and revision processes.

If you are interested in submitting a proposal that addresses the priority topics noted above, or would like to propose another topic that you view as potentially relevant to this series, please submit a one-page abstract electronically to the Rural Realities Editor:

Timothy Collins, Ph.D.,
Assistant Director Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs
Western Illinois University
1 University Circle, Stipes 520
Macomb, IL 61455

Deborah Tootle, Co-Editor
Community and Economic Development
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
2301 South University Ave.
Little Rock AR 72204
501-671-2228