The Journal of Peace Research (JPR) is an interdisciplinary and international peer-reviewed journal owned by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
JPR publishes annual special issues on topics of high relevance to the field of peace research and is now soliciting proposals for the 2027 Special Issue. We welcome issues on topics that significantly advance the research frontier of the field, with a focus on causes and consequences of violence, conflict prevention and resolution, and nonviolent action. See here for a list of past special issues.
We are interested in a wide range of topics such as, but not limited to:
- Great power dynamics and interstate war
- Rise of authoritarianism and implications for peace
- Foreign aid, diplomacy and conflict
The deadline for submitting proposals is 15 August 2025, and the decision will be made by the end of September.
Proposal requirements
The proposal should contain short bios of the prospective Guest Editors, an introduction of about one page situating the proposed issue within the literature and describing its contributions, and a minimum of 12 candidate article abstracts (200-300 words each) including names, affiliations and titles of all (co)-authors who have confirmed their commitment to submit to the special issue.
The submission deadline for the first submission of all candidate articles will be no later than 5 December 2025. A tentative schedule is provided below.
While the main criteria in the selection of special issue proposals are quality and relevance, we will also be reviewing the gender and geographical balance of the submitted proposals.
After acceptance of the special issue proposal, all candidate articles submitted for the special issue will be subject to a peer review process which, while accelerated, will nonetheless conform to the journal’s usual standards. In other words, at least two highly qualified referees will review all candidate articles, and those not meeting acceptable standards, will be issued a rejection letter as per the journal’s procedures.
We ask that proposals adhere to the following template:
- Title
- Guest editor(s)’ biographical sketch(es)
- Introduction/rationale
- Article abstracts and contributors
- Outreach/dissemination plan
- Note on gender, seniority, and geographical balance
- References
Inquiries and proposals should be sent by email to the JPR Editorial Office (jpr@prio.org) by 15 August 2025.
Tentative schedule for the 2027 Special Issue
| Date | Deadline |
|---|---|
| 15 December 2025 | Deadline for initial submission of all manuscripts. |
| 10 April 2026 | First round decisions due. Decisions sent out and papers back with authors for revisions. |
| 30 June 2026 | Resubmission deadline. |
| 1 September 2026 | Second round decisions due. Papers back with authors for further revisions. |
| 15 October 2026 | Resubmission deadline. |
| 1 December 2026 | Final decisions, requests for minor/technical revisions. |
| 15 January 2026 | Deadline for exporting articles to the publisher. Followed by typesetting/proofs. |
| March 2027 | Publication in Issue 2/2027. |
Please note: Articles that are ready sufficiently ahead of the schedule will be published OnlineFirst until the issue is released. The exact details of the timeline will be agreed upon with the Special Issue guest editors.
FAQs (Last updated 04 July 2025):
- Is there a maximum number of articles? - While there is no 'maximum' per se, previous Special Issues have been around 12-20 articles long. Please keep in mind that all submissions will undergo peer review and some may be rejected in that process.
- Is JPR open to a Special Issue proposal with a regional focus? - We are generally open to Special Issues with a regional focus, provided the topic falls within the broader scope of the journal.
- What article types can be included in a proposal? - Most Special Issues include regular research articles and Special Data Features. We are also open to including Research Notes and/or Review Articles if there is a good rationale for including them. Additionally, guest editor(s) will typically write an introduction to the Special Issue at a later stage closer to the actual publication date once most submissions have completed peer review. For reference, you can see an overview of our past Special Issues here.
