American Academy of Political and Social Science
The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science is a long-running journal in political and social science. The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) was founded in 1889 by Edmund J. James with members from the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College, and Bryn Mawr College. Its goal is to connect serious scientific thinking with real-world social problems and to encourage questions across disciplines about important social issues.
Today, the AAPSS is based at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. It aims to offer interdisciplinary views on social issues through its main channels: the bimonthly journal The Annals, annual meetings, symposia, and special publications. The organization has tackled challenging topics, including race relations; the 1901 annual meeting even featured a paper by Booker T. Washington.
The Academy began as a membership group. It was open to educated professionals, and from the start women could join. Its members have included scholars and notable public servants such as Herbert Hoover and Frances Perkins. It is not part of the American Council of Learned Societies. In 2000, the Academy began selecting Fellows to honor outstanding contributions to the field. Since 2008, it has given the annual Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize to public officials or scholars who use social science to advance the public good. The Annals continues to publish, and the Academy hosts congressional briefings, special conferences, and board meetings. The organization has gradually moved away from a strict membership model while continuing its scholarly publishing and public活动.
The Annals first appeared in July 1890. It started as a quarterly journal and switched to a bi-monthly schedule in 1891. Over time, volume numbering changed, and the journal issued some pamphlet supplements in its early years. Notable writers and editors have included Henry Louis Gates Jr., Richard A. Clarke, Joseph S. Nye Jr., and William Julius Wilson. Sage Publications has published The Annals since 1981. In 2003 the journal adopted a new cover design featuring photographs. Its topics have ranged widely, from “The World’s Food” (1917) to “The Global Refugee Problem” (1982), and from “Women in the Modern World” (1929) to discussions of urban renewal and nuclear threats.
According to Journal Citation Reports, The Annals had a 2017 impact factor of 2.401, ranking 33rd out of 169 political science journals and 11th out of 94 interdisciplinary social science journals. The Academy launched a blog in 2006, and today its website is the main source for news about the Academy, newly published Annals volumes, and information on Fellows and the Moynihan Prize.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 18:17 (CET).