International Relations
International Relations (General)
International Relations is explicitly pluralist in outlook. Editorial policy favours variety in both subject-matter and method, at a time when so many academic journals are increasingly specialised in scope, and sectarian in approach. We welcome articles or proposals from all perspectives and on all subjects pertaining to international relations: law, economics, ethics, strategy, philosophy, culture, environment, and so on, in addition to more mainstream conceptual work and policy analysis. We believe that such pluralism is in great demand by the academic and policy communities and the interested public.
Each volume will normally contain peer-reviewed research articles, and a mixture of review essays, interviews, debates and forums. Special issues will be published, and we welcome ideas.
"International Relations is one of the few outstanding journals in our field." Robert Gilpin, Eisenhower Professor of Public and International Affairs, Emeritus, Princeton University
"International Relations is emerging as one of the front-ranking journals in the field - at the cutting edge of existing debates and helping to set future research agendas." Richard Little, Professor of International Politics, University of Bristol
"International Relations is a terrific journal: full of interesting, innovative and insightful pieces. Congratulations: at last, something in the discipline that one looks forward to reading." Peter Vale, Nelson Mandela Chair of Politics, Rhodes University, South Africa.
"International Relations has established itself as one of the top journals in the field. It features debates on both the classic questions and the most contentious contemporary issues. It should be read not only by scholars, but by everyone with a serious interest in international affairs." Ole R. Holsti, George V Allen Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, Duke University
"An indispensable resource - International Relations has hosted many of the best debates in international theory and comprehensively presented some of the globe's most significant policy challenges" Michael Doyle, Harold Brown Professor of U.S. Foreign and Security Policy, Columbia University
All issues of International Relations are available to browse online.
International Relations is explicitly pluralist in outlook. Editorial policy favours variety in both subject-matter and method, at a time when so many academic journals are increasingly specialised in scope, and sectarian in approach. We welcome articles or proposals from all perspectives and on all subjects pertaining to international relations: law, economics, ethics, strategy, philosophy, culture, environment, and so on, in addition to more mainstream conceptual work and policy analysis. We believe that such pluralism is in great demand by the academic and policy communities and the interested public.
We welcome articles or proposals on all topics of interest to students of world politics. Each volume will normally contain peer-reviewed research articles, and a mixture of review essays, interviews, debates and forums. Special issues will be published, and we welcome ideas.
| Charalampos Efstathopoulos | Aberystwyth University, UK |
| Ken Booth | Aberystwyth University, UK |
| Hannah Hughes | Aberystwyth University, UK |
| Andrew Davenport | Aberystwyth University, UK |
| Jittipat Poonkham | Thammasat University, Thailand |
| Amaya Querejazu | Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia |
| Ali Bilgic | Loughborough University, UK |
| Alex Bellamy | University of Queensland, Australia |
| Pinar Bilgin | Bilkent University, Turkey |
| Chris Brown | London School of Economics, UK |
| Walter Carlsnaes | Uppsala University, Sweden |
| Scarlett Cornelisson | Stellenbosch University, South Africa |
| Michael Cox | London School of Economics, UK |
| Neta Crawford | University of Oxford, UK |
| Marieke de Goede | University of Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Dan Deudney | Johns Hopkins University, USA |
| Michael Doyle | Columbia University, USA |
| Toni Erskine | Australian National University, Australia |
| Martha Finnemore | George Washington University, USA |
| Rosemary Foot | University of Oxford, UK |
| Stefano Guzzini | European University Institute, Italy |
| Ian Hall | Griffith University, Australia |
| Christopher Hill | University of Cambridge, UK |
| Andrew Hurrell | University of Oxford, UK |
| John Ikenberry | Georgetown University, USA |
| Patrick Thaddeus Jackson | American University, USA |
| Beate Jahn | University of Sussex, United Kingdom |
| Richard Ned Lebow | King's College London, UK |
| Daniel Levine | University of Alabama, USA |
| Richard Little | University of Bristol, UK |
| Cecelia Lynch | University of California Irvine, USA |
| John Mearsheimer | University of Chicago, USA |
| Iver B. Neumann | Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway |
| Heikki Patomaki | University of Helsinki, Finland |
| William Scheuerman | University of Indiana, USA |
| Laura Shepherd | University of New South Wales, Australia |
| Georg Sorensen | University of Aarhus, Denmark |
| Jack Spence | King's College London, UK |
| Jennifer Sterling-Folker | University of Connecticut, USA |
| Hidemi Suganami | Aberystwyth University, UK |
| Shiping Tang | Fudan University, China |
| Arlene Tickner | Universidad del Rosario, Colombia |
| Peter Vale | University of Pretoria, South Africa |
| Stephen Walt | Harvard University, USA |
| Colin Wight | University of Sydney, Australia |
| Ayse Zarakol | University of Cambridge, UK |
| Rachel Vaughan | Aberystwyth University, UK |
Manuscript Submission Guidelines: International Relations
Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/int-relations to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of International Relations will be reviewed.
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that the journal may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy.
If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.
- What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper - Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
2.6 Research data - Publishing policies
3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving - Preparing your manuscript
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplemental material
4.4 Reference style
4.5 English language editing services - Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions - On acceptance and publication
6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article - Further information
Before submitting your manuscript to International Relations, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.
International Relations welcomes articles from all perspectives and on all subjects pertaining to international relations, including law, economics, ethics, strategy, philosophy, culture, and the environment, in addition to more mainstream conceptual work and policy analysis.
Main articles should be 8–12,000 words, including endnotes, abstract, keywords, and author bibliographies. Lengths for replies to articles, forum contributions, etc. are by negotiation. As a guide, replies, forum and debating contributions should be 1,500-2,000 words.
Review Essays, addressing 2-4 books, should be 6,000-8,000 words, including endnotes, abstract, keywords, and author bibliographies. The purpose of a review essay is meant to be more than just rehearsing the contents of the books being reviewed. Rather, the books reviewed should be used as a foil to make a bigger statement about a particular issue or sub-field or research trends in a particular area. Therefore, the essay provides authors the opportunity to review the books and to make a statement of their own.
The journal publishes one special issue each year. Proposals are typically considered as part of an annual call, which will be announced on the journal website and Twitter account. Guest editors are welcome to approach the editorial teams to discuss special issue ideas.
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online
International Relations operates a strictly double-anonymize peer review process in which the reviewer's name is withheld from the author and the author's name from the reviewer.
Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.
The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:
- Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,
- Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
- Approved the version to be published,
- Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.
Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.
Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.
Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.
Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.
2.3.1 Third party submissions
Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:
- Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
- Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
- Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.
Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.
International Relations requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
It is the policy of International Relations to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.
Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’. For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations here.
The journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.
Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:
- share your research data in a relevant public data repository
- include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, we encourage you to consider using the statement to explain why it cannot be shared.
- cite this data in your research
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.
3.1.1 Plagiarism
International Relations and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
3.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway.
3.3 Open access and author archiving
International Relations offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.
Gold Open Access
If you or your funder wish your article to be freely available online to non-subscribers immediately upon publication (gold open access), you can opt for it to be included in Sage Choice, subject to payment of a publication fee. The manuscript submission and peer review procedure is unchanged. On acceptance of your article, you will be asked to let Sage know directly if you are choosing Sage Choice. The cost of publishing an article Sage Choice in International Relations is £1600/$3000. Funding or discounted fees may be available through your institution or library and so we encourage you to check with your librarian or university contact.
Green Open Access (self-archiving)
You can make your article Open Access by archiving it at no charge (the Green route). You can do this by depositing the version of the article accepted for publication (version 2) in your own institution’s repository immediately on acceptance. As a Sage author, your rights in relation to your article if it is not published with payment of an APC are:
- You retain copyright in your work.
- You may do whatever you wish with the version of the article you submitted to the journal - version 1.
- Once the article has been accepted for publication, you may post the accepted version (version 2) of the article on your own personal website, your department’s website or the repository of your institution without any restrictions.
- You may not post the accepted version (version 2) of the article in any repository other than those listed above (i.e. you may not deposit in the repository of another institution or a subject repository) until 12 months after first publication of the article in the journal.
- You may use the published article (version 3) for your own teaching needs or to supply on an individual basis to research colleagues, provided that such supply is not for commercial purposes.
- You may use the article (version 3) in a book you write or edit any time after publication in the journal.
- You may not post the published article (version 3) on any website or in any repository without permission from Sage.
- When posting or re-using the article please provide a link to the appropriate DOI for the published version of the article on Sage Journals (http://online.sagepub.com).
For more information on open access options and compliance at Sage, visit Sage Publishing Policies on our Journal Author Gateway.
4. Preparing your manuscript for submission
Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you carefully read and adhere to all the guidelines provided in the International Relations House Style Guide and below.
The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s.
Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.
This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files.
International Relations uses endnotes as a referencing system listing authors as they name themselves. For example, use 'David Davies' if that is the name appearing as the author, not 'D. Davies' or 'Davies, D'.
Please refer to the International Relations House Style Guide.
4.5 English language editing services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
International Relations is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/int-relations to login and submit your article online.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.
The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.
If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.
6. On acceptance and publication
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.
6.3 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the International Relations editorial office as follows:
International Relations Office
Department of International Politics
Aberystwyth University
Penglais, Aberystwyth
SY23 3FE
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1970 622387
Fax: +44 (0) 1970 622709
Email: IR@aber.ac.uk.
Please note: authors should continue to submit manuscripts via the journal’s submission site [https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/int-relations]. The journal does not accept submissions by email.