Call for Papers

Over the course of the past two decades, interventions to end conflicts, prevent conflict recurrence and foster peace have been launched across the world. These have involved transitional administrations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Timor-Leste as well as efforts aimed at countering insurgencies and gang violence in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Chechnya, Mexico and elsewhere. Research, policymaking and programming in this area has been on the rise. It has brought together militaries, multilateral institutions, national aid agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), international financial Overall Objective institutions, regional development banks, charities, the private sector and others. While initially viewed as a form of international intervention in developing countries, many have come to recognise that stabilisation has long applied to national authorities attempting to combat organised crime and extend their authority in weakly-governed parts of their cities and countries, including in developed nations. This recognition has helped demonstrate the need for anthropologists, sociologists, criminologists, legal professionals and psychologists to enter into discourses such as stabilisation along with their colleagues in political science, international relations, economics and development studies.

This fusion of academic fields and the linking of international and national policymaking provide a tremendous opportunity for genuinely interdisciplinary research which directly applies to communities of policy and practice. Until this point, research into stabilisation and the nexus of security and development, broadly defined, has been fragmented across several journals and has often been published according to timelines that do not reflect the needs of policymakers and practitioners. Scholarly journals looking at these issues have published excellent research, though ensure a timeline publication process has not necessarily been prioritised. Evidence gathered in mid-2011 may not make its way into print until the end of 2012 or, likely, later. It would take longer still for this research to makes its way into policy and practitioner discourses. Stability overcomes these limitations by: Including a rigorous but expedited peer-review process; Publishing articles online and without delay in the spirit of open-access; Foregoing fees for users to access research (or for authors to publish); Actively disseminating research into policy and practice communities; and Accepting articles from experienced practitioners and policymakers alongside academics. Unlike a number of open-access journals focused upon security studies and international development, Stability has not been established to feature the research of any particular institution, military, donor agency or company. It is supported by a wide range of institutions and is genuinely independent. The editors and peer reviews evaluate submissions strictly according to the quality of the research and the relevance of the findings to interventions in conflict-affected contexts.

To foster an accessible and rigorous evidence base, clearly communicated and widely disseminated, to guide future thinking, policymaking and practice concerning communities and states experiencing widespread violence and conflict.

Scope of The Journal

Stability welcomes articles from a range of disciplines, including political science, development studies, international relations, sociology, criminology, anthropology, psychology and the law, among others. The journal will focus upon stabilisation through international missions as well as by governments within their own territories. This may include crime prevention efforts or counter-narcotics strategies insofar as they include a range of means and tactics (e.g., coercive

force, diplomacy, communications, humanitarian or development assistance, etc.). However, for demonstration purposes, the following topics would likely appear relatively regularly: Civil-military interaction Conflict prevention/risk reduction Constitutional and legislative affairs Correlates of conflict Corruption and illicit networks Counterinsurgency tactics Crime reduction Demographics and human geography Disarmament, demobilisation & reintegration Economic growth and livelihoods Governance and political legitimacy International cooperation/organization Judicial/justice sector reform Law and legal regimes Organised crime and gang violence Peacekeeping or peace support operations Security sector reform Stability operations State- and nation-building Urban studies and challenges Whole of government or whole of system approaches

Many other topics will be considered for publication. If you are uncertain as to whether your research would match this journals criteria, please contact the editors (info@stabilityjournal.org).

Article Types
Stability will primarily publish research articles but will also feature shorter practice notes and commentaries insofar as they are well informed, critical and contribute to knowledge and thinking in a useful manner. Research articles must be between 5,000 and 8,000 words, including all notes but not including the reference list/bibliography. Under special circumstances, articles up to 10,000 words may be accepted for publication. Research articles should present original findings based upon rigorous empirical or theoretical research. Practice notes must be between 2,000 and 5,000 words, including all notes but not including the reference list/bibliography. These should provide an account of a programme related to stabilisation which appears to be particularly effective, ineffective, innovative or otherwise notable. These should NOT comprise glowing case studies of projects implemented by the author or his/her organisation and must contribute useful analysis. Commentaries should be between 1,000 and 2,000 words and should reflect upon or critique a "happening" such as a policy shift, release of a major study or other notable occurrence related to stabilisation. Commentaries are particularly welcome from distinguished specialists. Authors interested in submitting a commentary piece should discuss the content with the editors before submitting a manuscript. In order to ensure a smooth and quick peer-review, editing and publishing process, authors must adhere to all basic rules of grammar and to Stabilitys style guide. The full style guide is available online at www.stabilityjournal.org, though key elements are also included in an appendix to this call for papers.

Submitting Your Article

Authors should submit manuscripts by registering at www.stabilityjournal.org and clicking on New Submission. Your submission must include an abstract (150-250 words), a brief biography for each author (not to exceed 100 words each) and complete contact details for the (one) corresponding author. Manuscripts should be completely anonymous so that the author cannot be identified during the peer-review process.

HTTP://WWW.STABILITYJOURNAL.ORG OR INFO@STABILITYJOURNAL.ORG

Appendix: Style Guidelines for Authors

Authors are requested to adhere to the guidelines below when preparing their manuscripts for submission to Stability. Compared to many other journals, Stability allows relatively lax guidelines. You are welcome to use American or British English or grammatical rules. The most important thing is for language and grammar to be used consistently throughout the article. To ensure rapid publication of article submissions, the staff of Stability cannot undertake non-routine editing of articles. Hence, authors should ensure that language is clear, citations are comprehensive and that any diagrams, figures or images are included in a high quality within the appropriate location within the article.

Length

Research articles must be between 5,000 and 8,000 words, including all notes but not including the reference list/bibliography. Under special circumstances, articles up to 10,000 words may be accepted for publication. Authors are encouraged to keep notes to an absolute minimum, such as in cases where crucial clarifying information needs to be conveyed. Practice notes must be between 2,000 and 4,000 words, including all notes but not including the reference list/bibliography. As with articles, please keep notes to the bare minimum. Commentaries should be between 1,000 and 2,000 words. In most circumstances, notes and reference lists/bibliographies should not be included. Please note that commentaries are welcome from distinguished specialists and that readers interested in submitting a commentary piece should discuss the content with the editors before submitting a manuscript.

Citations

Authors are strongly encouraged to use parenthetical citations according to the Chicago style (i.e., without a comma between the authors last name and the year of publication). For publications authored and published by organisations, use the short form of the organisations name or its acronym in lieu of the full name. For instance, do NOT do the following (International Committee of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 2000); instead, you should write (ICRC 2000). Also, please do not include URLs (web addresses) in parenthetical citations. Stability will accept submissions which use other forms of citations (footnotes, end-notes, etc.). However, the citation format must be applied consistently and must enable the reader to easily identify sources. Hyperlinked text, however, should NOT be used as a citation format.

Notes

Please use end-notes rather than footnotes. All notes should be kept to the bare minimum and only where crucial clarifying information needs to be conveyed. Articles must be submitted in English. Authors are welcome to use American or British spellings and grammar as long as they are used consistently. Some of the key differences between English and American English include the following: Programme (UK) vs. Program (US) Labour (UK) vs. Labor (US) Centre (UK) vs. Center (US) Demobilise (UK) vs. Demobilize (US) 13 January 2011 (UK) vs. January 13, 2011 (US)

Language

For a discussion of other differences, click here. Please note that when referring to a proper noun, you should always use the official, original spelling. For instance, the US Department of Defense would never be spelled as Department of Defence (British spelling).

Grammar

As with language, American or English spelling and grammar rules may be used as long as they are used consistently. For instance, you may use a serial comma (red, white, and blue) or not (red, white and blue). The only exception applies to quotation marks. Double quotation marks ( ) should be used for all direct quotations, and single quotations ( ) should be used when referring to jargon or to identify a quote within a quote. With abbreviations, the crucial goal is to ensure that the reader particularly one who may not be fully familiar with the topic or context being addressed is able to follow along. Spell out almost all acronyms on first use, indicating the acronym in parentheses immediately thereafter. Use the acronym for all subsequent references. You do not need to spell out abbreviations for US, UK, EU, UN and DC, as in Washington, DC. Unless it provides key information related to your submission, do not include photographs/pictures. Such images may ultimately be removed from your piece at the editors discretion. Figures, including graphs and diagrams, are, however, acceptable if they are professionally and clearly presented. If a figure is not easy to understand or does not appear to be of a suitable quality, you will be asked to re-render or omit it. Please ensure that any figures, charts or diagrams which you include would be clear and comprehensible in either colour or black and white. Note: Place your images, figures and tables (see below) exactly where you would like them to appear in the article. Do not place tables and graphs at the end of the article or in a separate document.

Acronyms & Abbreviations

Images & Figures

Tables

The same principles which apply to figures apply to tables. They should be necessary and should not repeat significant pieces of information already included in the text. There are two guiding principles when drafting your reference list: make sure that it is consistent (e.g., the same format is used throughout the list) and that it is as easy as possible for a reader to find the source material. Keeping those principles in mind, authors are free to use any bibliographic style they prefer. However, you must include the name of the author, the full title, the publication/publisher and the year of publication. For content which is web-based only, such as a news article which didnt appear in print, include the full URL (web address) in the citation if possible. However, if a document such as a PDF report from CSIS or an article from The Economist is also likely published in print, do not include a URL.

Bibliography/ Reference List