In January 2016 the running of the Review passed to a new editorial team. Ruth Blakeley (University of Kent) is the lead editor, and Scarlett Cornelissen (Stellenbosch University), Sophie Harman (Queen Mary, University of London), Jonathan Joseph (University of Sheffield), and Craig Murphy (Wellesley College/University of Massachusetts, Boston) are the co-editors. Rubrick Biegon (University of Kent) is the editorial manager.
The international composition of the team reflects our vision for the journal, which is shaped by our commitment to ensuring the publication of high quality articles and the examination of a broad set of research questions. We aim to reach beyond the traditional grounding of the discipline so that the Review reflects the changing nature of global politics, new political challenges and contemporary understandings. For us, the Review should be a place where meaningful discussion of pressing global issues can take place, and where the voices in that debate are drawn from a truly international community. Building on the sterling work of the outgoing team, under the leadership of Kimberly Hutchings, with co-editors Mathias Albert, George Lawson, and Jennifer Sterling-Folker, we want to ensure that the Review continues to publish work that is theoretically informed, empirically rich, and methodologically rigorous, but which also pushes the boundaries of the discipline through theoretical, conceptual and methodological innovation. The Review should continue to be the place where a range of perspectives can flourish and where truly outstanding work in the discipline is showcased and debated.
We are extremely grateful to the outgoing team, and to David Mainwaring and his colleagues at CUP, for their support in managing the transition so smoothly. We would also like to thank BISA for awarding the editorship. Our thanks also goes to the outgoing editorial advisory board who have played an incredibly important role in overseeing selection processes for the special issues and the award of the Review’s best article prize each year, as well as actively promoting and supporting the journal. We warmly welcome the new editorial advisory board who we know share our vision for the Review, and who are extremely well placed to support us in enhancing the journal’s reputation among a truly global audience, and attracting the very best work in the field. We very much look forward to working with them.
In terms of innovations, as part of our vision to ensure that the reputation of the Review is further enhanced, we have developed a strategy for promoting the articles we publish. This will involve very active and smart use of social media, as well as enhanced support for authors in promoting their articles immediately after acceptance, as well as thereafter. To this end, we are publishing our social media guidelines for authors on the CUP website, and hope this will be of benefit to all our readers. In addition to the newly designed cover, over the coming months we will also be rolling out a new, more contemporary internal layout which lends itself well to print and digital reading.
The contents of this and the next few issues of the journal will comprise articles accepted by the outgoing team. Building on their excellent practice, we will continue to run an annual competitive process for the selection and production of Special Issues. Special Issues will be co-edited by members of the editorial team and a guest editor. For our inaugural Special Issue, we are inviting proposals that will tackle the theme of ‘Worlds of Inequality’. This follows on from the conference theme of the 2015 40th Anniversary BISA Conference. As with the conference call, we understand global inequality in the broadest sense, and will be looking for submissions that focus on the global inequalities of power, wealth or security. The Special Issue will push debate forward on some of the most pressing international challenges and address some of the crucial issues of global politics and global political economy. Readers interested in putting together a Special Issue and acting as guest editor(s) with a member of the RIS editorial team, should submit proposals by 1 April 2016 to:reviewofinternationalstudies@kent.ac.uk.
Proposals relating to any area of the discipline are welcome so long as they fit with the broader theme of ‘The Worlds of Inequality’. The proposal should comprise the following:
1.Name, affiliation and contact details of the proposed guest editor;
2.Names of contributors;
3.Background and rationale for the proposal;
4.Detailed abstracts of all papers.
The successful proposal will be selected by the new editorial team and members of the editorial advisory board. The Special Issue will be published in July 2017. Please note that articles submitted to Special Issues will be peer reviewed as closely as those under regular submission to the journal. We very much look forward to reading your proposals.
