Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

The JCER | Journal of Contemporary European Research aims to become the leading multi-disciplinary, open-access, online academic journal in the field of European Studies.

The JCER is devoted to promoting original research and insightful debate in European Studies by publishing academic articles, research comments, policy analysis and book reviews across a number of disciplines within European Studies, including Public Policy, International Relations, Law, Economics, Sociology and the History of Integration.

The JCER welcomes contributions on all of these aspects of European Studies from academics and practitioners. In addition, the JCER is also committed to providing a forum for emerging scholars of European Studies by allowing them to present their ideas alongside those of more established scholars. Contributions from Ph.D. students in the advanced phase of their doctoral research, post-doctoral fellows and young academics in the early stages of their careers are particularly encouraged.

For further details please contact the JCER | Editor.

The JCER | Journal of Contemporary European Research is a registered journal (ISSN 1815-347X) and archived with the British Library.

 

Section Policies

Editorial

Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed

Guest Articles

From time to time, the JCER will invite established and renowned scholars to publish a guest article. These articles will be reviewed by the inhouse editorial team and when necessary will be sent for external review.

Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Research Articles

The JCER publishes original manuscripts across all disciplines of European Studies, including Politics (International Relations and Public Policy); Law; Economics; Sociology and History. All Research Articles will be subject to a double-blind external peer-review process.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Commentary

A commentary is a short article of between 3000 and 5000 words which expresses an opinion on a particular issue or topic. Commentary pieces will be peer-reviewed to reflect the high standards of argument expected by the JCER. Please note that commentary pieces do not reflect the official opinion of the JCER or those who work for the JCER.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Research Notes

Research Notes take the form of a series of short news-style articles (1000 words) over the course of two or three issues which detail new research projects in terms of aims, objectives, methods and outcomes.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed

Book Reviews

The JCER regularly publishes book reviews. Each book will be reviewed by two or more reviewers.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed
 

Peer Review Process

Although the JCER | Journal of Contemporary European Research is an online journal, it aspires to become the leading open-access journal in its field and, as such, adheres to the highest academic standards.

All submitted articles and commentaries (with the exception of invited guest articles or commentaries, which will be reviewed by the inhouse editorial team), undergo a double-blind, peer-reviewing process. The decision of the reviewers will be acknowledged by the JCER | Editor in accordance with eligibility for publication. Authors will be informed of the review decision and all relevant comments will be forwarded to authors.

The refereeing process with the JCER takes between 6-8 weeks. The JCER will aim to inform authors of a decision no later than 12 weeks after the date that they first submitted their article to the JCER. Should there be a delay in this process, then the author will be kept informed.

 

Publication Frequency

From 2008 the JCER | Journal of Contemporary European Research will be published quarterly (March, June, September and December).

Each edition will be a mix of articles and book reviews.

Submissions are accepted all year round with no deadline. Authors should be aware that the review and publication process can taken upwards of three months.

The JCER currently has an open call for articles for its March 2008 Issue. Further details, including the recommended submission timeframe, can be found HERE.

 

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

FREE registration is required to access all sections of the journal.

 

Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...

 

Special Issues & Special Focus Sections

The JCER | Journal of Contemporary European Research is keen to establish itself as a working partner with specialist study groups, research networks, workshops and conferences and as such it is open to approaches from such groups about collaboration on the publication of themed Special Issues or Special Focus Sections.

Special Issues: consist of 6-7 peer-reviewed articles, 1 guest article and 3-4 book reviews on a single topic. The JCER aims to publish two such issues per year.

Special Focus Sections: consist of 3-4 peer-reviewed articles on a single theme which will be published in a bloc section of a general issue. This option, for example, would be useful for conference panels that would like to publish their research papers.

For further details on this please contact the JCER | Editor.

 

Book Reviews

The JCER regularly publishes book reviews. The review process is unique in that each book is reviewed by two or three reviewers. It is intended that this process will give readers a broader understanding of the published book.

If you would like to become a book reviewer, you should email the JCER | Book Reviews Editor with your details, including name, institutional affiliation, email address and three areas of expertise.

If you would like to recommend a book for review please contact the JCER | Book Reviews Editor.

 


Journal of Contemporary European Research [ISSN 1815-347X]