State & Society

Aims and Scope

Państwo i Społeczeństwo / State and Society is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by AFM Publishing House of Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University. Established in 2001, the journal provides an interdisciplinary forum for scholarly research on the relationships between public institutions, health systems, social structures, governance, education, management, communication, spatial development, and quality of life.

The journal aims to publish methodologically rigorous, intellectually relevant, and socially meaningful research that contributes to a better understanding of contemporary societies and the institutions that shape them. Its profile reflects the growing interdependence of health, public policy, organisational performance, education, psychology, communication, and the built environment.

Scope of the Journal

The journal welcomes original, review, comparative, theoretical, empirical, and interdisciplinary contributions in the following fields:

• Health Sciences, including public health, healthcare systems, health policy, healthcare organisation, quality of care, patient safety, health promotion, and system performance;
• Social Sciences, including social change, social policy, social structures, social inequalities, civic participation, institutional trust, and the functioning of contemporary societies;
• Political Science and Public Administration, including governance, public institutions, public policy, local and regional administration, public services, and institutional accountability;
• Management and Quality Sciences, including organisational management, quality management, institutional development, leadership, innovation, strategic management, and performance improvement in public, private, and non-profit organisations;
• Pedagogy and Education, including educational systems, teaching and learning processes, educational policy, lifelong learning, inclusion, and the social role of education;
• Psychology, including psychological aspects of social, educational, organisational, health-related, and institutional functioning;
• Communication and Media Studies, including public communication, media systems, digital communication, social discourse, information practices, and communication in institutional contexts;
• Architecture and Urban Planning, including spatial development, urban policy, social aspects of architecture, sustainable urban environments, and the relationship between built space and quality of life.

Research Profile

Państwo i Społeczeństwo / State and Society particularly encourages manuscripts that combine conceptual clarity with methodological rigour and broader scholarly or practical relevance. The journal welcomes quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, comparative, case-based, policy-oriented, and interdisciplinary research.

A substantial part of the journal’s profile is devoted to health sciences, public health, healthcare organisation, quality improvement, and healthcare system performance. At the same time, the journal remains open to broader social, institutional, educational, psychological, managerial, communicative, and spatial perspectives on the development of contemporary societies.

Types of Contributions

The journal publishes:

• Original Research Articles;
• Review Articles;
• Case Studies;
• Editorials and Commentaries.

Submissions should offer a clear contribution to scholarly knowledge, professional practice, public policy, institutional development, or interdisciplinary understanding. The journal particularly values manuscripts that provide theoretical, methodological, empirical, comparative, or policy-relevant insight.

Manuscripts Outside the Journal’s Scope

The journal does not normally consider manuscripts that are purely descriptive, lack a clearly defined research problem, are not grounded in relevant scholarly literature, or do not provide broader analytical, theoretical, practical, or policy implications. Local or institutional case descriptions may be considered only if they offer conclusions of wider relevance to the journal’s readership.

Manuscripts that do not comply with the journal’s ethical, methodological, formal, or editorial standards may be rejected at the initial editorial screening stage.