Call for Editors: International Affairs

Chatham House invites applications from qualified candidates for the position of Editor(s) of International Affairs (IA). We seek a Lead Editor with a small editorial team, or a Lead Editor with whom we can work to build a small editorial team. Editor(s) should have the expertise, vision and enthusiasm required to lead the journal.

In addition to the typical editorial responsibilities, the Editor(s) should be leaders who can think creatively to develop the journal and increase IA ’s scholarly impact. The journal’s business objectives include maintaining IA’s reputation for academic excellence, continuing to engage policy practitioners and ensuring financial sustainability. The journal should be open to all contributors, including those who have been historically underrepresented in its pages.

We would therefore welcome innovative proposals to develop how the journal operates and what it provides to the worlds of academia and policymaking. We particularly welcome applications from groups traditionally under-represented in academic publishing in International Relations (IR), including but not limited to women, black and minority ethnic candidates, and those with disabilities. We are also keen for the new editorial team to represent a spread of geographical regions.

More about Chatham House

IA was founded at Chatham House , the Royal Institute of International Affairs, in London in 1922. Chatham House is a world-leading research institute with a mission to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous and just world.

More about the journal

IA is a leading anonymously peer-reviewed journal publishing academically rigorous, policy relevant articles covering the entire field of IR. It is published by Oxford University Press (OUP).The journal celebrated its centenary in 2022, when it was also ranked as the top IR journal by Impact Factor. In recent years, IA has significantly expanded both the volume and diversity of the articles it publishes. The journal covers new and emerging topics in the field and engages a broad range of readers and contributors. Since 2020, IA has achieved gender parity of authors for published articles.

In 2023, IA received more than 6oo article submissions and published 113 across six issues. Each issue of the journal includes:

• Up to 20 anonymously peer-reviewed research articles of 7–9,000 words. Some of these articles usually form part of a guest-edited special section.
• Shorter policy papers, which serve to bring new insights to policy debates, rapidly publish new empirical results and develop potential solutions to international problems.
• A significant book reviews section, which continues to lead the field. This is managed by the Book Reviews Editor. Up to 40 books are reviewed in each issue of the journal.

For more information on the journal, including the journal metrics, please visit: .

Editorial support

The new Editor(s) will be supported by a small team based in the Communications and Publishing Department at Chatham House. Support is also provided by the Editorial Board, including prominent figures in the field of IR, as well as through the International Advisory Board.

Timeline

The new Lead Editor/editorial team will be responsible for articles appearing in Volume 101, 2025 onwards, with a period of transition and induction beginning in late summer 2024. The new editorial team will be in position for a five-year term (September 2024 – October 2029), which can be extended by mutual agreement.

Applicant criteria

The Lead Editor should hold an academic position in a relevant university department, ideally based in the UK to facilitate in-person meetings with the IA team at Chatham House in London. If proposing an editorial team, the other editors should be drawn from more than one university and represent a geographical spread across different regions. The application should provide evidence that the Lead Editor has the full support of their host university department, including any workload relief allocated to editors.

Teams can include members at all career stages, but evidence should be provided that some members of the team have prior experience of journal editing. Where more junior colleagues are proposed members of the team, applications should outline how they will be supported by more experienced members. Clear thought should be given to the diversity of the team, in line with IA ’s EDI commitments as outlined in the journal’s centenary plan .

Editorial roles will be given financial recognition in the form of a stipend to cover administrative support for submission management and funds to support travel by editors to promote the journal.

Position description

The overarching charge to the Editor(s) is to develop IA as a leading journal of IR research, maintaining the highest standards for the articles it publishes. Additionally, the new Editor(s) will be expected to further develop the journal’s second century goals, ensuring that IA is a truly global and inclusive journal.

The five key aims for the journal’s second century are:

1. IA will remain focused on engaging with both academics and practitioners;

2. IA will continue to be one of the leading journals in the field, with a notable book reviews section and a growing digital presence;

3. IA will continue to cover the entirety of international relations and will not limit itself to particular areas, themes or approaches;

4. IA will not hold an opinion. Rather, it will focus on scholarship conducted with academic rigour and of the highest quality; and

5. IA will be open to all contributors, while the editorial team will pay particular attention to the voices that have been historically underrepresented in its pages.

In addition, the Editor(s) are expected to:

• Ensure that IA is open to, and includes submissions from, all areas of IR;
• Manage and oversee the review process and adjudicate publication decisions in a discerning, fair, timely, equitable, and accountable manner;
• Liaise on the operational aspects with the Managing Editor at Chatham House;
• Meet with the journal’s Editorial Board at least biannually to collaborate as a team on journal objectives, growth, and development;
• Meet with the journal’s International Advisory Board at least annually to collaborate on journal objectives, growth and development;
• Commission and publish special sections and issues on timely and topical subjects, working in collaboration with guest editors as needed;
• Display a strong commitment to ethics in research and publishing;
• Work with the journal’s Managing Editor and the publisher on plans to improve the quality and positioning of the journal within the IR field;
• Deal with all correspondence in Editor’s email box; and
• Maintain overall responsibility for the IA ScholarOne system.

If you are a Lead Editor applying individually, you will be required to work with Chatham House to recruit a small editorial team whose members bring the breadth and depth of experience and expertise required for a high-quality review process.

Search committee

The search for the Editor(s) will be led by Chatham House, with support from a search committee comprising representatives from OUP and the IA Editorial Board, as well as Chatham House. The search committee will assess initial applications and provide feedback. Successful applicants will be invited to submit a revised application ahead of interview, and to present their vision for the journal as part of the interview process.

Applications

To apply for the editorship of IA , please complete the application form.

The closing date is Tuesday 7 May 2024.

Should you have any questions, the current Managing Editor, Krisztina Csortea, is happy to be contacted by email: