An invitation to submit

We are honoured to serve as the Editors of European Societies, the flagship journal of the European Sociological Association (ESA), for 2021–2026. We thank the previous Editor Michalis Lianos for his outstanding work and his help in the smooth transition between editorships. During his tenure, Michalis made European Societies more inclusive and visible. He has also steered the journal through the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, ending his term as Editor with the massive special issue ‘European Societies in the Time of the Coronavirus Crisis’, which reflects the substantive, methodological, and geographic diversity of European sociology and its ability to adapt and respond rapidly to a once-in-a-lifetime shock. Our vision for European Societies for the years to come is twofold. First, European Societies is and will remain a general sociology journal with a focus on Europe and European sociology. We will be open to submissions from all substantive areas of sociology and from authors all over the world. Second, we will modernize the journal with a focus on open access and open science, and remove barriers for submissions to European Societies. We see our work as editors as servants to the sociological community. Our main task is to organize the peer review of manuscripts. This process takes place behind closed doors yet is of vital importance to not just the journal, but also to the wider community. Only a fraction of the manuscripts undergoing peer review at a competitive journal like European Societies ends up in the pages of the journal. Further, peer review is a collective good that relies on the contributions of many, and we aim to organize it as fairly, comprehensively, and quickly as possible. We enjoy supporting authors in their efforts to write the best possible manuscript, whether it ends up being published in European Societies or elsewhere.