The Academic Department of IAPSS constitutes the academic pillar of the Association. It is designed to offer a number of unique opportunities for students of political science and related disciplines to develop their skills in academic research, writing, and presentation at conferences and other events.
The work of the Academic Department offers multifold ways for students to get involved and further develop academic experiences such as publishing in different formats and other important skills. We operate two journals (Politikon and Encuentro Latinoamericano), one blog (A Different View), Student Research Committees, and Delegations. For each branch, one IAPSS Board member (a Coordinator or an Editor-in-Chief) is responsible, together with the Head of the Department.
The two IAPSS journals (the flagship journal Politikon with a general focus and Encuentro Latinoamericano, which focuses on Latin American Studies) run a double-blind peer review process, as any professional journal. This, together with the expertise of the Editorial Boards, the Advisory Committee members, and the Paper Submission Guidelines ensures that each issue includes a number of high-quality articles, written predominantly by students and junior researchers.
Those who are interested in contributing with shorter reflection pieces can apply to join the Authorial Board of our blog ‘A Different View’ or submit a guest contribution to it. Each year, a competitive Call for Applications is launched to select a small group of graduate or postgraduate students or more experienced junior researchers who will work together on a prescribed general theme, helped by the Academic Coordinator. The Student Research Committees offer another range of opportunities to IAPSS members. After a successful application process, students and junior researchers can become members of an IAPSS SRC focused on a particular subfield in political science and related disciplines. Within the SRC, they interact with other individuals with similar interests, work together with the other members on papers and other forms of research outputs, and form panels for the IAPSS conferences as well as conferences held by IAPSS’ partner organizations.
Last but not least, IAPSS Delegations are a prime outcome of the partnership of IAPSS with renowned academic and professional associations, such as IPSA (International Political Science Association), ECPR (European Consortium for Political Research), ISA (International Studies Association), or UACES (Academic Association for Contemporary European Studies). IAPSS panels at the conferences of these organizations feature selected work of the Academic Department affiliates and if capacity allows, separate Calls for Applications are launched for applicants who wish to submit abstracts for these panels.
For general inquiries please feel free to contact the Head of the Academic Department Team at academic@iapss.org
