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Undergraduate Journals

A number of institutions host student-run journals geared toward publishing undergraduate research in political science, international affairs, or the social sciences in general.  Swarthmore students looking to burnish their CVs, especially those potentially interested in graduate school, may want to to submit one of their best research papers – usually after some revision and advice from a faculty member – to one of these journals.  A few options are listed below.
 
  • The Brown University Journal of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (JPPE) is a peer reviewed academic journal for undergraduate and graduate students that is sponsored by the Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Brown University.

Carleton Undergraduate Journal of Humanistic Studies

  • Students from any undergraduate academic institution, including those who have graduated within the past year, may submit papers.
  • Students must choose only ONE paper they would like to submit for the upcoming issue. While there is no page limit, there is a maximum suggested length of 30 pages

Chicago Journal of Foreign Policy

  • Articles and papers may be submitted either for our seasonal publication or for our continuously published online publication. All submissions should be emailed to chicagojournalfp@gmail.com.
  • Content pertaining to the period from 1945 to the present is preferred. Content that reflects on historical, economic, political, etc. developments within nations other than the United States that bear relevance to policy issues, explores relationships between the United States and other nation(s),  analyzes American foreign policy concerns, or analyzes developments in international organizations and structures, is preferred.​​​​​​
  • Print journal submissions should run at an approximate maximum of 15 double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman, regular margin pages (not including bibliography), though this limit is flexible and dependent on the volume of pieces received for any particular journal.

Columbia University Journal of Politics and Society

  • The Journal provides a forum for young scholars to contribute to the global dialogue on a diverse range of issues, including problems of politics, economics, public policy, social phenomena, international relations, and law.
  • Using standard margins and font size, the suggested length is 20–50 double-spaced pages. Shorter works are rarely publishable, though all submissions will be considered. A shorter paper must have a particularly well-focused and more narrowly defined thesis. Longer works are also welcome, but should include clearly delineated sections. If you wish to submit a chapter or chapters of a longer paper, please submit the entire paper and indicate which sections could stand alone.

Columbia Undergraduate Research Journal

Cornell International Affairs Review (CIAR) 

  • Manuscripts must pertain to an aspect of contemporary international affairs and international relations (defined as events, trends, and issues occurring, emerging, and/or concluding within the last 40 years to date), but may not substantially address current events (defined as topics related to discrete events that are either ongoing or began within the last two years to date)
  • Manuscripts must be original research papers between 8,000 to 15,000 words in length and written in English. This word count excludes the abstract, as well as all references, diagrams, and appendices.
  • Spring 2024 final submission deadline is February 22, 2024.

Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs

  • The Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs is a student-run journal that publishes integrative work from undergraduates once a year in the Spring towards the end of the academic year.

Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs

  • The Journal welcomes original social science research papers written on issues relevant to politics, security, economy, culture, and society of contemporary Asia, including Pakistan and Afghanistan. 
  • The journal welcomes policy viewpoints (1,000-3,000 words) as well as peer-reviewed research articles (5,000-7,000 words) written by both young and experienced scholars from around the world. 

Georgetown University: Democracy & Society

  • Democracy and Society is a student-led journal and blog that covers world affairs and themes from the democracy and governance field.

Gettysburg College Headquarters

  • The Gettysburg College Headquarters is an open access, peer-reviewed, undergraduate research journal that publishes pieces from specific fields in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Visual Arts.
  • For all submissions, regardless of discipline, we ask that the author’s paper follow traditional academic standards of their field. For papers from the Social Sciences and Natural Sciences, we ask that your paper be clearly structured. Please use subheadings that clearly indicate the introduction, methods, discussion, conclusion, and references. Authors are asked to submit a 150 - 250 word abstract with their articles, regardless of discipline. Research articles must be between 5,000 to 10,000 words in length.

Illinois State University: Critique: A Worldwide Journal of Student Politics

  • The journal provides a forum for graduate and undergraduate students of political science to express and exchange diverse ideas and to imagine new possibilities for democracy and justice. 
  • Welcome submissions year round from graduate as well as undergraduate students. All submissions will be considered for publication, and will be refereed by the editors prior to publication.  Submissions received over the summer break will be reviewed during the following fall semester and authors will be notified of their status then.
  • Submissions should not be longer than 10,000 words in length

Inquiries Journal

  • Inquiries Journal is an open-access academic journal focused on publishing high-quality original work across a range of disciplines. In particular, our focus falls on the social sciences, arts, and humanities but we also consider pieces with broad cross-disciplinary appeal.
  • Submissions to Inquiries Journal are accepted on a rolling basis.
  • There are no formal length requirements, however it is unlikely that we will accept submissions below 1,500 words. Most submissions are between 2,500 and 7,000 words. Longer submissions are considered although we may request revisions to abbreviate particularly long papers.

International Affairs Forum

  • The Center for International Relations (CIR) welcomes submissions for its online journal as well as its associated biannual publication, International Affairs Forum.
  • Editorials should be approximately 700 to 1000 words. Longer essays should be no longer than approximately 3000 words in length. 

London School of Economics: Undergraduate Political Review

  • The LSE Undergraduate Political Review (LSEUPR) is an online platform that aims to encourage and facilitate an engagement in high level political research by undergraduate students from universities around the world. The LSEUPR invites the application to politics of a range of disciplinary perspectives, both within and without the social sciences, both empirical and theoretical. 
  • Research articles must describe the outcomes and application of unpublished original research. These should make a substantial contribution to knowledge and understanding in the subject matter and should be supported by relevant figures and tabulated data. Research articles should be no more than 8,000 words in length.

Northwestern Undergraduate Law Journal

  • The Northwestern Undergraduate Law Journal aims to promote intellectual discourse on a variety of subjects pertaining to the legal field. We publish undergraduate works that demonstrate the critical application of legal concepts to a diverse set of multifaceted issues.
  • Submissions for the NULJ Forum should be double-spaced in a Microsoft Word Documents, 12-point font and in Helvetica. Word limits for Essays are 1800 words, excluding references. Longer papers should be shortened to fit this word limit before submission. Papers should utilize Chicago citation style and include a bibliography and endnotes.
  • Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis.

NYU Journal of Politics & International Affairs

  • Pitch to the Journal your original essay or thesis: Works that are published by the print Journal tend to be longer than 5,000 words or 20 pages, double-spaced. Submissions are vetted based on their originality, academic strength, and syntax. Works that are chosen are then polished by several staff editors. The Journal is published every December and May. Submissions from NYU students of any school are welcome. 

  • Pitch to JPIA's digital op-ed forum: Short blogs are often around 500 words and feature unique, and creative insights into political issues, current events, and international affairs. We also welcome long-form pieces. These are typically 1,000-2,000 words, allowing writers to explore more complex topics with heavier research or original reportage component than the blogs. When pitching please keep your idea to a general abstract, and offer us an example of your written work.  

Occidental College: Critical Theory & Social Justice Journal of Undergraduate Research (CTSJ) 

  • A peer-reviewed journal that is seeking undergraduate articles and other work that offer interventions and reinventions in the field of critical theory with a special—though not exclusive—interest in work that brings critical theory to bear in a way that pursues liberation and social justice. 

Ohio State University's Journal of Politics & International Affairs

  • Seeks to publish high-quality papers that address current events and relevant subjects in the area of politics and international affairs.
  • Submissions can include:
    • Full academic papers with original research based on new primary data or literature review with strong argumentative input (no more than 6000 words not including bibliography, abstract, or appendices)
    • Policy analysis or evaluation (no more than 2000 words not including bibliography, abstract, or appendices)

Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics 

  • The Journal welcomes submissions from undergraduates of any class or major; submissions from Pi Sigma Alpha members are especially encouraged. The Editorial Board routinely receives honors theses, senior seminar projects, capstone projects, and research methods papers. We strive to publish manuscripts of the highest quality in all areas of political science. 

  • Submissions deadlines are September 15, for the Fall issue and February 15, for the Spring issue

  • Submitted manuscripts must include a short abstract (roughly 150 words), and citations and references should follow the APSA Style Manual for Political Science. The maximum page length for submitted manuscripts is 35 double-spaced pages. This page length includes everything – main body text, references, tables, figures, charts, and appendices.

Sigma Iota Rho Journal of International Relations 

  • Submissions must come from current students; must be original and previously unpublished; may include research in topics relevant to international relations such as economics, political science, history, and area studies; must be between 2,000 and 6,000 words in length; must use citations according to the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition; must be submitted in .docx format; and must include a cover page with the author's first and last name, telephone number (cell number preferred), physical address (to mail a copy of the journal), email address (functioning at least one year after publication), and bibliography, the article's title, and a 200-word abstract. Please send all submissions to journal@sigmaiotarho.org

Southern California International Review

  • Submissions: The topic must pertain to international relations. We accept a wide range of subjects including security studies, foreign trade relations, global economics, and foreign policy. 

  • Must be between 3,000-10,000 words.

Tufts Hemispheres Journal of International Affairs

  • Hemispheres: Tufts University Journal of International Affairs is excited to announce its 46th edition, 2023 issue: Old Questions, New Answers- The international system pivots on certain recurring questions. For this issue of Hemispheres, students will identify and assess answers surfacing in global affairs. We welcome and encourage a broad interpretation of the theme. Potential research topics include but are not limited to the following:

    • New alliances and strategic/geopolitical partnerships, the resurgence of far-right politics, revivalism, proxy wars, cyber warfare and technology, Asia in the international system, international versus regional institutions, capitalism, democracy, sovereignty, government transitions or obstinacy, historical memory, religion and the state

West Point Undergraduate Journal of Social Sciences 

Yale Review of International Studies

  • YRIS seeks interesting, diverse and compelling scholarship on international questions broadly understood: the relations between countries, trends or challenges of transnational or global scope, and the interaction of people and ideas from different countries.
  • Submissions should be papers under 40 pages double-spaced; for longer pieces, can suggest portions to excerpt.