Editorial: A New Chapter for Sage Open

Abstract

Introduction

The launch of Sage Open in 2011 marked a seminal moment in open-access publishing, emerging as one of the first titles dedicated exclusively to the social and behavioral sciences and humanities. Over the past 15 years, the journal has evolved into a truly global platform for scholarship, with authors from well over 100 countries having their work accepted for publication, and more than 75 countries – and growing – represented by members of our Editorial Board. In addition to this global representation, Sage Open has also seen, in recent years, a steady improvement in the journal’s metrics, as well as a strong overall contribution to advancing interdisciplinary scholarship across the social and behavioral sciences and humanities. These achievements reflect the dedication and commitment of our editorial staff, reviewers, authors, readers, and Editorial Board who have helped shape our success.

It is against this backdrop that I am honored to introduce myself as Sage Open’s new Editor-in-Chief, having begun in post a few months ago. Having joined Sage Open from academia, I am acutely aware of the challenges that social and behavioral sciences and humanities scholars must navigate in an increasingly complex publishing landscape across the world. These experiences, alongside my experiences as an author, will inform my approach as Editor-in-Chief as I implement a long-term strategy for Sage Open. With this in mind, I am delighted to share in this Editorial some developments that will help to lead us into the next phase of the journal’s growth.

First, I am excited to announce an expansion of our existing 12 sections. Indeed, reflecting both the interdisciplinary nature of Sage Open, and broadening our engagement with both traditional and emerging areas of scholarship, we are introducing the following new sections:

Anthropology

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Research Methods and Methodologies

Social Work

Sport and Physical Activity

Tourism and Hospitality

These sections are integral to the social and behavioral sciences and humanities scope of Sage Open, and support a diversification of the journal’s focus. Submission to these new sections is already open, and our Section Index will also be updated in due course to provide a description of all 18 sections of Sage Open. We will also be looking to launch a range of Special Collections to coincide with the introduction of these new sections. Naturally, we welcome and encourage submissions to these new sections, and look forward to watching them grow in the coming months and years. We are also actively recruiting for the Editorial Review Board of these new sections, and welcome applications from interested scholars.

A small number of existing sections of Sage Open have been renamed: Communication has become Communication and Media; Environmental Studies has become Environment and Society; and Sociology of Health and Illness has become Public Health. The focus of these sections remains unchanged. Overall, Sage Open’s revised sections are:

Anthropology

Artificial Intelligence

Business and Management

Communication and Media

Criminology and Criminal Justice

Economics

Education

Environment and Society

Humanities

Information Science

Political Science

Psychology

Public Health

Research Methods and Methodologies

Social Work

Sociology

Sport and Physical Activity

Tourism and Hospitality

Later in 2026, Sage Open will also be expanding its Article Types, with more information to follow in due course. We are also implementing several changes to our editorial structure.

Changes to Our Editorial Board

The progress of any academic journal is dependent on an effective editorial team, and we are very fortunate on Sage Open to have an active Editorial Board comprising nearly 1,000 members from around the world.

First, however, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to a number of outgoing Section Editors, and we thank them for their service to the journal over a number of years: Kingsley U. Ejiogu (University of Maryland Eastern Shore), Rahat Hossain (CQ University), Ran Ju (Mount Royal University), Thanh Le (University of Wollongong), Qian Liu (University of Otago), Arindam Mandal (Siena College), Christine Shea (University of Iowa), Valérie Bruchon Scott (Indiana University Southeast), Pearl Subban (Monash University), Vu Trinh (Newcastle University), Vicar S. Valencia (Indiana University South Bend), Robert M. Yawson (Quinnipiac University).

We are also using this Editorial to announce several changes to Sage Open’s editorial structure. Most notably, this includes:

The appointment of a small number of Deputy Editors-in-Chief.

The appointment of more than 100 Associate Editors to Sage Open.

The conversion of our existing Editorial Board to an Editorial Review Board.

Our new Deputy Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors will play a central role in the next phase of Sage Open’s development. These changes will also support our continued growth, enhance our efficiency, and help to better serve our editors, authors, and reviewers. We continue to recruit to our Editorial Review Board, and welcome applications from interested scholars.

Sage Open’s other priorities remain unchanged, and we remain committed to rigorous peer review, the highest standards of ethical research, and the publication of high-quality, impactful, and international scholarship.

Introducing Our Deputy Editors-in-Chief

We are pleased to announce the appointment of four Deputy Editors-in-Chief, effective from July 2026. These Deputy Editors-in-Chief will oversee some of Sage Open’s sections, and will work on manuscripts, help to grow our new sections – where necessary – and represent Sage Open within the wider academic community. These appointees will join Professor Andy Gao (University of New South Wales) and Dr. Peter Ji (Adler University), our existing Section Editors, whose roles will also transition to Deputy Editors-in-Chief.

First, we welcome Nicola Desmond, Professor of Anthropology and Global Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), who will oversee our new Anthropology section. Professor Desmond also holds an NIHR Global Health Research Professorship on the anthropology of frontline diagnostics; her work focuses on the social and ethical dimensions of health technologies using qualitative and mixed-methods approaches across chronic, infectious, and outbreak disease contexts and spanning diagnostic innovation, disease prevention, and the design and evaluation of complex health system and community-based interventions. Of her appointment, Professor Desmond commented:

I am delighted to be joining as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the new Sage Open Anthropology section, and look forward to creating opportunities for researchers across all fields of anthropology to share their work with global audiences through high-quality, open-access publication.

Next, we welcome Jason Tham, Associate Professor of English with a specialization in technical communication and rhetoric at Texas Tech University. Dr. Tham, who will oversee the Communication and Media, Humanities, and Information Science sections of Sage Open, is an interdisciplinary scholar who investigates human-information interaction via emerging technologies. Speaking of his appointment, Dr. Tham said:

I am elated to join the esteemed community of inquiry at Sage Open and provide service to support the scholarship shared by global researchers. I look forward to mentoring emergent and seasoned scholars alike via the publishing process. I am motivated by the prospect of advancing humanity through critical, creative, and scientific works.

We also welcome Cristina Crocamo, Assistant Professor of Advanced Technology and Methodology at the University of Milano-Bicocca, who will oversee the Environment and Society, Public Health, and new Artificial Intelligence sections of Sage Open. Dr. Crocamo’s research lies at the intersection of biostatistics, epidemiology, and artificial intelligence, with a focus on predictive modeling, machine learning, computational methods, longitudinal trajectories, and the analysis of real-world data. Her work aims to promote methodologically rigorous and interdisciplinary research that supports public health and evidence-informed decision-making. Dr. Crocamo said:

I am delighted to join Sage Open as Deputy Editor-in-Chief. I look forward to supporting innovative contributions that are methodologically rigorous, intellectually open, and capable of generating meaningful impact in artificial intelligence, public health, environmental research, and society.

Finally, we also welcome Ingo Rohlfing, Professor of Methods of Empirical Social Research at the University of Passau, to Sage Open. Professor Rohlfing, whose main research interests are case studies and process tracing, mixed methods, QCA, and meta-science, will oversee the Political Science, Sociology, and new Research Methods and Methodologies sections of the journal. Of his appointment, Professor Rohlfing commented:

I am very much looking forward to starting my position as a Deputy EiC for Sage Open. Together with my fellow editors, I will work on seeing relevant and rigorous articles published in Sage Open.

We welcome and congratulate each of our Deputy Editors-in-Chief to Sage Open, and wish them every success in their role.

Introducing Our New Associate Editors

We are also delighted to announce the appointment of the following list of Associate Editors to Sage Open, effective from July 2026. Like our Deputy Editors-in-Chief, our Associate Editors will perform a central and crucial role by advising on editorial decision-making on manuscripts within their section of Sage Open.

Abimbola Omatayo Adesoji (Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria)

Adem Ekmekci (Rice University, USA)

Ahmet Yavuz Karafil (Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Türkiye)

Aleš Trunk (International School for Social and Business Studies, Slovenia)

Angela M. Lee (University of Indianapolis, USA)

Arabella Kyprianides (University College London, UK)

Avanish Bhai Patel (Amity University Noida, India)

Babak Baban (Augusta University, USA)

Brendon Hyndman (Charles Sturt University, Australia)

Byomakesh Debata (BITS Pilani, India)

Byung Il Park (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea)

Camilla Jensen (Roskilde University, Denmark)

Chamindi Malalgoda (University of Huddersfield, UK)

Chandra Jyoti Sonowal (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India)

Charles Andoh (University of Ghana Business School, Ghana)

Charles K.S. Wu (University of South Alabama, USA)

Cheryl Ann Boodram (University of the West Indies, Caribbean)

Chris Larimer (University of Northern Iowa, USA)

Chuang Wang (University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA)

Claudia Stoian (Polytechnic University of Timisoara, Romania)

Colleen Thoma (Virginia Commonwealth University, USA)

Cristiano Felaco (University of Naples, Italy)

Danijela Spasic (University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies Belgrade, Serbia)

Dechun Zhang (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

Dipak K. Midya (Vidyasagar University, India)

Dirk Pesch (University College Cork, Ireland)

Domenico De Beradis (ASL Teramo, Italy)

Don Belcher (Tennessee State University, USA)

Don Shin (Texas Tech University, USA)

Eliot Winer (Iowa State University, USA)

Emily Lowthian (Swansea University, UK)

Esther Kaufmann (University of Konstanz, Germany)

Etayankara Muralidharan (MacEwan University, Triffo School of Business, Canada)

Ewelina Cichoń (DSW Ideis University, Poland)

Fabio Serpilli (Marche Polytechnic University, Italy)

Fatemeh Torabi (University of Cambridge, UK)

Federico Abate Daga (University of Turin, Italy)

Florian Steger (Ulm University, Germany)

Genevieve Breau (University of Greenwich, UK)

Hilman Latief (Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

Ieda Damian (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)

Irem Kavasoglu (Çukurova Üniversitesi, Türkiye)

James Annesi (California State University, USA)

Jessica Bytautas (University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada)

Jo Cullinane (Massey University, New Zealand)

João Leitão (University of Beira Interior, Portugal)

Jorge Membrillo-Hernández (Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico)

Jose Balmori-de-la-Miyar (Universidad Anahuac, Mexico)

José Joaquín Muros (University of Granada, Spain)

Juan Manuel Fernández Cárdenas (Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico)

Kaitano Dube (University of South Africa, South Africa)

Karel K. Himawan (Universitas Pelita Harapan/RELASI Research Lab, Indonesia)

Kasturi Dewi Varathan (Universiti Malaya, Malaysia)

Kelmara Mendes Vieira (Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil)

Lee A. Smales (University of Western Australia, Australia)

Leonardo Veliz (University of New England, Australia)

Magdalena Vaverková (Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland)

Marco Tosi (University of Padua, Italy)

Marcos Esper (Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brazil)

Maria Manuela Ferreira Mendes (ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal)

Marie Chollier (University of Chester, UK)

Marta García-Barba (University of Zaragoza, Spain)

Marta Zerkowska-Balas (SWPS University, Poland)

Matan Aharoni (Ariel University, Israel)

Melanie Shaw (Northcentral University, USA)

Mian Wang (University of California, USA)

Miao Feng (NORC at the University of Chicago, USA)

Michael Lynn (Cornell University, USA)

Michał Suchanek (University of Gdansk, Poland)

Miguel Ángel López-Sáez (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain)

Mikko Rajanen (University of Oulu, Finland)

Min Yong (University of Bradford, UK)

Misheck Julian Nkhata (Teesside University, UK)

Monica Violeta Achim (Babes-Bolyai University, Romania)

Morena Tartari (Northumbria University, UK)

Narayanage Jayantha Dewasiri (Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka)

Nguyen Ngoc Thach (Ho Chi Minh University of Banking, Vietnam)

Norbert Sipos (University of Pécs, Hungary)

Norma Torres Hernández (University of Jaén, Spain)

Norman B. Mendoza (Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

Nsemba Edward Lenshie (Taraba State University, Nigeria)

Nurcan Hamzaoğlu (Istanbul Yeni Yuzyil University, Türkiye)

Nyle Davies (University of South Wales, UK)

Oluyinka Ojedokun (Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria)

Oluyomi Osobajo (Robert Gordon University, UK)

Omar Dib (Wenzhou-Kean University, China)

Oscar A. Martínez-Martínez (Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico)

Panagiotis Balatsoukas (Loughborough University, UK)

Paul Gavin (University of the West of England, UK)

Pierpaolo Magliocca (University of Foggia, Italy)

Ping Yang (Western Sydney University, Australia)

Priti Bakhshi (SP Jain School of Global Management, India)

Qazi Subhan (Bahria University, Pakistan)

Ridho Bramulya Ikhsan (Bina Nusantara University, Indonesia)

Rubal Kanozia (Central University of Punjab, India)

Safi Mahmoud Mahfouz (University of Jordan, Jordan)

Şakir Dinçşahin (Hasan Kalyoncu University, Türkiye)

Sandrine Boudana (Tel Aviv University, Israel)

Sanjay Gupta (Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management, India)

Sarah Gong (University College London, UK)

Scott H. Yamamoto (University of Oregon, USA)

Seema Mehta (IIHMR University, India)

Senanu Kwasi Kutor (University of Waterloo, Canada)

Silvia Morales-Chaine (National Autonomous University of Mexico)

Stephanie Smith (Virginia Tech University, USA)

Supran Kumar Sharma (Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, India)

Tomáš Sadílek (Prague University of Economics and Business, Czechia)

Vasundharaa S. Nair (Jindal Institute of Behavioral Sciences)

Veljko Turanjanin (University of Kragujevac, Serbia)

Venus Medina-Maldonado (Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador)

Wasim Ahmad (NIEPID, India)

Wendy Rodgers (Virginia Commonwealth University, USA)

Wing Hong Chui (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong)

Woosuk Seo (Yale University, USA)

Yanxiang Yang (Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China)

Yohanes Krismantyo Susanta (Institut Agama Kristen Negeri Toraja, Indonesia)

Yot Domínguez (Universidad de Sevilla, Spain)

Zheng Chris Cao (Aston University, UK)

Zhenxing (Eddie) Mao (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, USA)

We would like to welcome and congratulate everyone on the list, which was accurate as of 23^rd June, 2026.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge and thank Sage Open’s internal staff whose commitment and expertise are central to the journal’s operations. M365 Copilot was used to enhance the language clarity of this Editorial.

ORCID iD

Rory Magrath

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The author, Rory Magrath, is an employee of Sage Publications Ltd and is the Editor-in-Chief of Sage Open. The author did not participate in the peer review or decision-making process for this Editorial and has no further conflicts to declare.