Frequently Asked Questions (How do I ...?)

Frequently Asked Questions (How do I ...?)

Get an NCSS publication?

  • Become a member to receive journals and get access to a huge online collection of back issues (PDFs, going back to 1993), which you'll find at www.socialstudies.org/publications/periodicals. Nonmembers can search on topics and see article titles, but most article PDFs will open for members only.
  • Visit the online store  (U.S. and Canada only).
  • Email bookstore@ncss.org, call 1-800-683-0812 or fax 301-779-8596. PURCHASE ORDERS accepted.
  • International customers can email bookstore@ncss.org. call 301-779-0604, or fax 770-280-4092.
  • Fill out and send the ORDER FORM in the NCSS Publications Catalog, which is a PDF at www.socialstudies.org/publications/catalog. Purchase Orders are accepted.

    Send Mail Orders and Purchase Orders to
    NCSS Publications
    3570 Bladensburg Road
    Brentwood, MD 20722  
  • To get  individual print copies of journals ($6.00 member; $7.95 nonmember), call 770-280-4196 (available while supplies last).
  • Institutions like universities that seek a subscription should go to www.socialstudies.org/membership/institutions.
  • Current NCSS members can access back issues online. Non-members can purchase single articles through IngentaConnect (PDF, $14.95 for nonmembers) www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ncss from a collection that begins with the Social Education issue of Jan/Feb 2009. 

Get help with my purchase? (I need assistance purchasing, receiving, or returning one or more books.)

Please email bookstore@ncss.org or call 1-800-683-0812. For any persistent problem that isn't getting resolved, you may call the editors at 1-800-296-7840, press 4, then press 2. We'll help you get what you are seeking.

Get help discovering why my journal did not arrive in the U.S. Mail as I expected?

Please email membership@ncss.org and provide your membership #, or call 1-800-296-7840 ext. 111 for further assistance on this, or for any question about your membership (or institutional subscription).

Get a desk copy of a book I am using to teach my university class?

Desk copies are provided to college professors and instructors whose 10 or 20 college students might then each buy the book as a course requirement.  The online form will ask you for this information:

  • Course number and title
  • Instructor's (Your) Name
  • Title of publication requested
  • Estimated number of students enrolled
  • Instructor's address at the college (street, bldg, room, for successful delivery)
  • E-mail address of instructor

Request Desk Copy

Submit an Article?

Social Education and Middle Level Learning

Social Education a peer-reviewed journal, invites author submissions of the following kinds:

  • Substantive articles in anthropology, archaeology, civics, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, sociology, and other related humanities and social sciences;
  • Viewpoints, analyses, and criticism of current issues related to social studies;
  • Ideas and techniques for strengthening social studies education at all levels: elementary, middle, high school, and university;
  • Significant research findings, interpretations, or theories in social studies education;
  • Articles that relate work in other academic disciplines (such as the natural sciences, mathematics, literature, and the arts) to the social studies.

Middle Level Learning, which is published 3 times a year, has the very same submission procedures as Social Education. 

Author Guidelines for Social Education

Social Studies and the Young Learner

The goal of Social Studies and the Young Learner is to a) capture and enthuse elementary teachers across the country; and b) provide relevant and useful information about the teaching of social studies to elementary students. The editor especially encourages submission of manuscripts authored by K-5 classroom teachers themselves, or co-authored by professors and classroom teachers.

SSYL Guidelines

Advertise in NCSS Publications?

National Council for the Social Studies, the premier association for social studies educators, offers a range of opportunities to reach educators and decision makers at all levels.

With more than 24,000 members and subscribers, NCSS represents the spectrum of the profession involved with social studies education at all levels. NCSS brings together educators from all social science disciplines, including history, economics, political science, geography, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and law-related education.

Options and rates

Get Permission to Reproduce or Republish NCSS Materials?

Classroom, One-Time Use

  • Teachers and professors do not need to pay to photocopy materials for small-scale, educational, non-profit purposes. Examples: classroom handouts to public school students; small-group handouts for teachers at a conference seminar or professional development workday; one copy of an article for a colleague.

Course Packets

  • There is a charge for material used in course packets sold in college bookstores or sold by the educator. Professors who want to copy materials for course packets should contact the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), Academic Permissions Service, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923; 978-750-8400 (phone) or 978-750-4470 (fax).

  • All text at the Curriculum Standards webpages (all links through www.socialstudies.org/standards/) may be used and published freely. (A fee is required for excerpting from the book National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: A Framework for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment beyond what is available online. Please contact NCSS Publications Department as listed below.)

  • NCSS Position Statements may be copied and republished at no charge.

Authors

  • Authors of articles published with NCSS retain the right to republish material from their articles in another publication. Authors do not need to receive NCSS permission in writing to do so.

Online Subscriptions

  • Institutions (e.g., colleges, universities) can subscribe to NCSS journals. Visit https://www.socialstudies.org/membership/institutions. NCSS has joined the SERU Registry -- the Shared Electronic Resource Understanding of the National Information Standards Organization. Institutional subscribers (and their patrons) get access to NCSS journal collections fast, because there is no license to negotiate (and no passwords for patrons to enter). SERU outlines best practices that users and publishers agree to follow. Read about institutional subscriptions at https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/subscriptions.

Other Uses of NCSS Materials

  • These are general policies. To request clarification of the above, or to submit queries about all other uses of NCSS materials, please contact the Publications Department as listed below.

E-mail: publications@ncss.org

NCSS Publications Department
8555 16th Street, Suite 500
Silver Spring, MD 20910 USA

Phone: 1-800-296-7840, press 4, then press 2. Fax: 301-588-2049