AIMS AND SCOPE

Aims and Scope

Global Frontier: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Politics is a peer-reviewed, open-access academic journal committed to the rigorous, critical, and interdisciplinary study of politics in its broadest contemporary dimensions. Published quarterly, the journal provides a platform for original scholarship that advances understanding of political life across diverse geographical, theoretical, and disciplinary contexts.

The journal proceeds from the conviction that the study of politics today demands engagement across boundaries — between disciplines, between traditions of inquiry, between established paradigms and emergent frameworks, and between scholarly analysis and the urgent demands of contemporary political reality. Global Frontier seeks to be a meeting point for scholars across the social sciences and humanities whose work engages seriously and rigorously with political questions.

The journal adheres to the highest standards of academic integrity and ethical publishing, operating a double-blind peer review process in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India.

Aims

The primary aims of Global Frontier: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Politics are:

1. To publish original, high-quality political scholarship The journal provides a rigorous and credible platform for original research that makes a substantive contribution to the academic study of politics, governance, and public affairs. It publishes work that is analytically coherent, theoretically grounded, and empirically or argumentatively compelling — work that advances knowledge rather than merely reporting it.

2. To foster genuinely interdisciplinary inquiry Political phenomena are shaped by and shape forces that extend far beyond the formal institutions and processes of government. Global Frontier actively encourages scholarship that engages with political questions through the lens of law, sociology, economics, history, philosophy, cultural studies, and related disciplines. It seeks to build productive intellectual exchange across disciplinary boundaries, recognising that the most significant advances in political understanding often come from the margins between fields.

3. To engage with both enduring questions and contemporary challenges The journal is equally committed to foundational debates in political theory and philosophy and to the analysis of urgent contemporary issues. It encourages scholarship that speaks to the political conditions of the present — including democratic instability, geopolitical realignment, the governance of technology, environmental politics, and social transformation — while remaining anchored in theoretically and methodologically rigorous scholarly practice.

4. To promote global and comparative perspectives Global Frontier is committed to scholarship that transcends the parochialism of any single national or regional tradition. It actively seeks contributions that adopt comparative, transnational, or global perspectives, and that engage with political contexts beyond the Euro-American mainstream. The journal is particularly attentive to scholarship from and about the Global South, and to research that brings diverse intellectual traditions into productive dialogue.

5. To support scholars at all career stages The journal is committed to being an inclusive and accessible platform for academic exchange. It welcomes rigorous contributions from doctoral researchers, early-career academics, established scholars, and policy practitioners alike. The standard of evaluation is the quality and significance of the scholarship, not the seniority or institutional affiliation of the author.

6. To uphold rigorous standards of ethical and transparent publishing Global Frontier is committed to the highest standards of publication ethics, peer review integrity, and editorial transparency, in full accordance with the guidelines of COPE, UGC Regulations 2018, and accepted international norms of scholarly publishing.

Scope

Global Frontier publishes original research across a wide range of thematic and disciplinary areas within and connected to political science and international relations. The following areas define the journal’s primary scope, though submissions are not required to fit neatly within any single category, and methodologically innovative or cross-cutting work is particularly encouraged.

1. Political Theory and Philosophy Normative and analytical political theory; the history of political thought from ancient to contemporary; foundational concepts of justice, freedom, equality, authority, sovereignty, and legitimacy; classical and contemporary debates across liberal, republican, communitarian, Marxist, postcolonial, feminist, critical, and deliberative traditions; the relationship between political philosophy and political practice.

2. Comparative Politics Comparative analyses of political institutions, electoral systems, party politics, state formation, and regime dynamics; the comparative study of democracy and authoritarianism; governance capacity and institutional performance; subnational and cross-regional comparison; processes of democratic consolidation, backsliding, and political transition.

3. International Relations and Global Affairs Theoretical approaches to international relations; foreign policy analysis and decision-making; international security and strategic studies; diplomacy, negotiation, and conflict resolution; multilateralism, international organisations, and global governance; geopolitical competition and the shifting structure of the international order; peace, war, and the politics of humanitarian intervention.

4. Law, Governance, and Public Policy The relationship between law and political power; constitutional politics and judicial review; administrative governance and regulatory frameworks; public policy processes, implementation, and evaluation; accountability mechanisms and anti-corruption governance; the politics of legal reform and institutional change at domestic and supranational levels.

5. Politics, Society, and Culture The politics of identity, including ethnicity, caste, religion, gender, and class; social movements, civil society, and contentious politics; populism, nationalism, and multiculturalism; political communication, media systems, and public discourse; the politics of representation, recognition, and inclusion; the sociology of political behaviour and political culture.

6. Politics and Emerging Technologies The political dimensions of digital transformation and artificial intelligence; cybersecurity, surveillance, and data governance; the impact of social media and algorithmic systems on democratic processes and public opinion; e-government and digital public administration; the governance of platform economies; the political economy of technological innovation.

7. Environmental Politics and Sustainability The politics of climate change and environmental governance at domestic and international levels; international environmental agreements and multilateral climate cooperation; green political theory and ecological movements; environmental justice and the politics of sustainability; the relationship between environmental change and political stability, displacement, and conflict.

8. Political Economy and Development The political foundations of economic organisation; comparative capitalism and varieties of political economy; the politics of development, inequality, and poverty; international political economy; trade, finance, and the governance of global economic institutions; the political consequences of economic crisis, austerity, and structural transformation.

9. Area Studies and Regional Politics Focused and theoretically engaged scholarly work on specific regions or countries, including South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and post-Soviet states. Area-studies contributions should situate regional political developments within broader comparative or theoretical frameworks and speak to debates beyond the specific regional context.

10. Methodological Contributions Global Frontier welcomes methodologically diverse submissions. The journal does not privilege any single methodological tradition. It publishes work based on qualitative methods, quantitative analysis, formal and mathematical modelling, ethnographic and field-based research, discourse and narrative analysis, comparative-historical methods, archival research, and mixed-method designs. Contributions that reflect critically and innovatively on the methodology of political inquiry are also welcome.

Types of Contributions Accepted

Global Frontier publishes the following types of scholarly contributions:

• Original Research Articles — Full-length empirical or theoretical studies presenting original findings or arguments (up to 8,000 words, including references and notes)
• Review Articles — Comprehensive, critical, and analytically original reviews of the existing literature on a defined theme or scholarly debate
• Conceptual and Theoretical Papers — Papers that develop, extend, critique, or synthesise theoretical frameworks within political science and related disciplines
• Case Studies — Theoretically grounded and analytically rigorous in-depth analyses of specific political events, institutions, actors, or policy processes

All submissions, regardless of type, are subject to the same double-blind peer review process and are evaluated against the same standards of originality, analytical rigour, and scholarly contribution.

Language of Publication

Global Frontier publishes exclusively in English. All submitted manuscripts — including the title, abstract, keywords, main text, footnotes, references, and all supporting materials — must be provided in English. Authors whose first language is not English are strongly encouraged to ensure that their manuscript has been reviewed for language and style by a fluent English speaker before submission.

Peer Review

All manuscripts submitted to Global Frontier undergo a rigorous double-blind peer review process. The identities of authors and reviewers are kept confidential throughout. Manuscripts are evaluated on the basis of originality, theoretical and methodological rigour, clarity of argument, contribution to the field, and adherence to the journal’s ethical standards. The journal is committed to providing timely, fair, and constructive feedback to all authors. All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism prior to review in accordance with UGC Regulations 2018.

Who Should Submit

Global Frontier welcomes original submissions from:

• Academic researchers, faculty members, and scholars working in political science, international relations, and related disciplines
• Doctoral and postdoctoral researchers engaged in original political inquiry
• Policy analysts and practitioners whose work engages with questions of demonstrable academic significance
• Researchers from interdisciplinary fields — including law, sociology, history, economics, philosophy, and cultural studies — whose work intersects meaningfully with political inquiry
• Scholars from all geographical and institutional contexts, at all career stages

Global Frontier: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Politics is a newly established academic platform, launched with a clear and sustained commitment to rigorous, interdisciplinary, and critically engaged political scholarship. The journal warmly invites original submissions from scholars across disciplines and geographical contexts as it prepares to publish its inaugural issue. Authors who contribute at this founding stage become part of shaping the intellectual identity and direction of the journal from its very beginning.