Instructions to authors

The first issue of JoGSS was released in January 2016 and has been published quarterly thereafter by Oxford University Press.  Authors wishing to publish in JoGSS should review the guidance provided below. Manuscripts may then be submitted via the online submission system, ScholarOne.

• Submission Guidelines
• Formatting and Style
• Data Presentation
• Review Process
• Forums and Special Issues
• JoGSS Pre-Submission Exchange
• Important Policies
• Open Access

Submission Guidelines

Submitted manuscripts should follow the Chicago Manual of Style 16th edition. 

The Journal of Global Security Studies publishes four categories of peer-reviewed manuscripts: Research Articles, Review Essays, Forums, and Research Innovations. The Journal also publishes Correspondence and Special Issues at the discretion of the editorial team.

Due to the volume of submissions we receive, articles that do not make clear how their research links with debates in security studies, or global security issues, will not be considered.

Research Articles

Research articles are long-form submissions that set out first-rate, well-researched and fully-developed theoretical arguments on an issue related to global security. Research articles should be 8,000- 10,000 words, with the total calculated by excluding online-only supplementary information, but including footnotes, endnotes, bibliography, and tables.

Review Essays

Review Essays are article-length reviews of new scholarship in global security that make a novel empirical or theoretical point. Review essays range from 8,000-10,000 words (excluding references and online-only supplementary material) and typically review two or more books as well as related research, with the bulk of the article dedicated to the reviewer’s analysis.

Forums

Forums are a compilation shorter essays arranged around a theoretical or empirical question or theme related to global security. Forum contributions range from 3,000-4,000 words (each essay, and excluding references and online supplementary material).

Research Innovations

Research Innovations are short essays that make a novel but focused empirical or theoretical point relevant to global security. Research innovations typically range from 3,000-5,000 words (excluding references and online supplementary material).

In all manuscripts, authors should use a clear, accessible, and engaging writing style.  This means favoring short sentences, avoiding unnecessary jargon, and using acronyms sparingly. Abstracts and introductions should include a clear statement of the manuscript’s scope, central argument(s), findings, and wider significance.

Correspondence

Letters to the Editors: should discuss only articles published in final format in this journal, and be submitted within six months of the article’s final publication.  Letters must be no more than 1000 words in length and must not cite unpublished work or data. No figures or tables are allowed. Letters will be published at the discretion of the Editors. The title of the letter should follow the format of “Letter to the Editors: [Title of Original Article being Discussed].” Should your title not follow this format, it will be standardized by the publisher. 

In Reply: Authors whose work is discussed in a Letter to the Editors will typically be invited to provide a response, which should be of no greater length than the original letter. No figures or tables are allowed. The title of the letter should follow the format of “In Reply: [Title of Original Article being Discussed].” Should your title not follow this format, it will be standardized by the publisher. 

Formatting and Style

We require accepted articles to conform to the common "International Studies Association Formatting Policies" and the principles of style and presentation discussed there. This includes the following:

• The entire document, including footnotes but excluding figures and tables, should be double-spaced.
• All notes must be footnotes, not endnotes.
• Figures and tables should be placed in-line and as close as possible to the first reference made in the text. Tables must be formatted for legibility and comprehensibility; see, for example, these guidelines.
• Indicate clearly to reviewers when to consult "supplementary files" uploaded to ScholarOne. Do not refer to these files as "online appendixes." ScholarOne does not identify them as such.
• Limit the number of citations to the author’s own work. Instead of omitting self-citations or using placeholders such as “author,” authors should write citations to their own work in the third person.
• Ensure that supplementary files lack identifying properties.
• JOGSS uses The Chicago Manual of Style (18th Edition) with in-text citations (Author-Date). We do not require using this reference style during the review process; however, you must use a consistent citation style that allows editors and reviewers to easily identify  the work you are referencing. Manuscripts must have a  references section at the end. 
• Even when attached to paraphrased material, citations should usually include references to specific pages or locations in a text.
• Following the Chicago Manual of Style, please opt for the traditional American spelling of words that have both European and U.S. spellings (liter/litre, analyze/anaylse, etc.).

Authors should submit manuscripts via the online submission system, ScholarOne.

Data Presentation

Authors should present quantitative data and elucidate statistical models in forms that are accessible to a general audience. All tables, graphs, figures etc. should be on separate pages in the manuscript and be numbered consecutively, accompanied by a title and footnotes where necessary.

Please be aware that the requirements for online submission and for reproduction in the journal are different: (i) for online submission and peer review, please upload your figures either embedded in the word processing file or separately as low-resolution images (.jpg, .tif, .gif or. eps); (ii) for reproduction in the journal, you will be required after acceptance to supply high-resolution .tif files. Learn more about figure requirements.

Supporting material that is not essential for inclusion in the full text of the manuscript, but would nevertheless benefit the reader, may be made available by Oxford University Press as online-only content, linked to the online manuscript. Such supplementary data might include more detailed methods, extended data sets/data analysis, video, pictures, or additional figures.

Figure accessibility and alt text

Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.  

Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs. 

Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article. 

Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text. 

Review Process

The Journal of Global Security Studies employs double-blind peer review for most of its editorial decisions. Manuscripts will normally receive at least two independent reviews, with reviewers selected by a shepherding and a shadowing editor from the editorial team so as to generate reviewers representing perspectives in the larger field of security studies. The editorial team will view mixed reviews as opportunities to ask the author(s) to engage with critiques, and the editorial team will make final judgment on how well the author has accomplished his or her task.

Iterations of the peer-review process should generally take no longer than 2.5 months. All final decisions are reviewed by multiple senior editors and the editor-in-chief.

Forums and Special Issues

Forums are a compilation shorter essays arranged around a theoretical or empirical question or theme related to global security. Special Issues normally include a number of linked research articles, although the editors will entertain alternative formats. They may constitute part of, or the whole of, an issue.

The process for publishing forums and special issues differs somewhat from that of stand-alone articles. It begins by submitting a proposal of not more than 4,000 words to [email protected]​. The proposal must be in the form of a PDF and contain inter alia:

• A description of the scope and contents of the forum or special issue;
• A clear justification for why the forum or special issue is of sufficient importance and quality to justify inclusion in JoGSS;
• Short summaries of the specific articles proposed for inclusion; and
• Brief information about the authors, including the point of contact for the JoGSS editorial team.

JoGSS Pre-Submission Exchange

Despite the journal’s mission to attract top international security studies scholarship, the majority of submissions thus far have come from scholars trained and/or based in the global North. To both acknowledge institutional and global dynamics that might disadvantage some scholars and encourage those from under-represented parts of the world to contribute to the security conversation, JoGSS is launching a “pre-submission exchange.” Members of the editorial team will offer two rounds of limited feedback to authors based or trained in institutions typically underrepresented in mainstream international relations journals. While this will typically be the global South, we will consider other locations or conditions for pre-review that fulfill the overall objective of making the journal more representative, inclusive, and sensitive to global power structures. The pre-submission exchange will involve one pre-submission team member (drawn from the JoGSS editorial board) offering comments and suggestions aimed toward readying a manuscript for the review process. The feedback will not be in the form of copy edits but will instead offer advice on theoretical framing, citations, and structure. The pre-submission exchange does not guarantee that a manuscript will be successful and manuscripts that go through the pre-submission exchange will undergo an identical review process to other submissions. We will do our best to pair manuscripts with a pre-submission team member who has the most appropriate expertise. Please contact [email protected] with “Pre-Submission Exchange” in the subject line to take part in this new process.

Important Policies

JoGSS requires that all submissions constitute original work. The editors will not consider manuscripts either concurrently under review or already published elsewhere.

A portion of all submitted manuscripts will be sent to iThenticate for an originality report. Before submitting a manuscript authors should ensure that it conforms to the highest standards of proper attribution. We strongly recommend that authors check their references to ensure inclusion of authors from across all author groups, including those from underrepresented communities. JoGSS is committed to ensuring that scholars receive appropriate intellectual acknowledgement regardless of race, gender, class, professional standing, or other categorical attributes. As such, we have modified our word count requirements to allow space for more citations from underrepresented groups. 

Copyright in articles published in JoGSS rests with the publisher, Oxford University Press. Authors are required to secure permission to reproduce any figure, table or extract text from any other source. This applies to direct derivative reproductions.

Crossref Funding Data Registry

In order to meet your funding requirements authors are required to name their funding sources, or state if there are none, during the submission process. For further information on this process or to find out more about CHORUS, visit the CHORUS initiative.

Open Access

Journal of Global Security Studies offers the option of publishing under either a standard licence or an open access licence. Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please do clarify any such requirements with your funder or institution.

Should you wish to publish your article open access, you should select your choice of open access licence in our online system after your article has been accepted for publication. You will need to pay an open access charge to publish under an open access licence.

Details of the open access licences and open access charges. 

OUP has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions and consortia which provide funding for open access publishing. This means authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution is participating.

Third-Party Content in Open Access Papers

If you will be publishing your paper under an Open Access licence but it contains material for which you do not have Open Access re-use permissions, please state this clearly by supplying the following credit line alongside the material:

Title of content

Author, Original publication, year of original publication, by permission of [rights holder]

This image/content is not covered by the terms of the Creative Commons licence of this publication. For permission to reuse, please contact the rights holder.