Canadian Journal of Political Science now calls Concordia home
When Csaba Nikolenyi saw that the Canadian Journal of Political Science was seeking a new home base last fall, he knew that it was time to step up.
The CJPS falls under the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA) and moves to a different institution every three years. The 40-year-old quarterly is published by Cambridge University Press, and enjoys that institution’s distribution network.
“I’d been talking about getting the journal here for many years,” Nikolenyi said. “Given the number of hirings and publications we’ve had lately, it seemed like the next step.”
Nikolenyi, whose research focuses on comparative politics, recruited his colleagues André Lecours, who works in the same sub-field, and Julian Schofield, whose expertise is in international relations.
The three of them worked on the proposal knowing that there had been increasing complaints that those sub-fields had been under-represented in recent years.
They also approached Arts & Science Dean David Graham, who immediately pledged $10,000 per year to the project. The CPSA was impressed that the bid had the support of the faculty and accepted it, agreeing to match the funding with $10,000 of its own.
That money covers the support work of two graduate students who handle correspondence to and from contributors and reviewers, postage and other expenses. The department furnishes space for the project, and telephone and computer equipment and support.
This month marks the first Concordia-edited edition of the CJPS, even though we officially took over in June. Until now, the content for the journals had been inherited from the previous editors at Simon Fraser University.
English editorial tasks are now covered by Nikolenyi, Lecours and Schofield (with the titles editor, assistant editor and book review editor respectively). Two professors at the University of Ottawa handle French material (the journal usually publishes one French paper per issue).
As an omnibus journal, CJPS is expected to cover a broad range of material from contributors. Each paper is assessed by the editors and then sent to experts in the field who have agreed to review the work.
Nikolenyi said that generally five or six reviewers are approached from their bank of potentials around the world. Of those five, it is hoped that two or three will agree to read the work in a reasonable time frame.
“We need two reviewers to agree to either publish, reject or ask for revisions,” Nikolenyi said. That process is dependent on the reviewers, who may take anywhere from a few weeks to several months to complete their tasks.
Nikolenyi is encouraged that submissions have not dropped off with the change of location, something that can happen during a transitional period. He said 40 new manuscripts have arrived since June.
He hopes that manuscripts will come from far afield so that the journal will not focus solely on Canadian politics or perspectives but simply be Canada’s contribution to national and international discussions on political trends and theories.