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Criteria for Preparing Symposia
Criteria for Preparing Symposia for International Theory

International Theory welcomes proposals for fora or symposia, although, owing to space constraints, invitations to submit complete fora or symposia will be issued very selectively upon receipt of proposals. To propose a forum or symposium, download the interactive PDF and email the completed form to InternationalTheory@cambridge.org. The form is available here.

Please bear in mind the following guidelines:

  • A forum is typically 15,000 words long and will have 3–5 contributors. A forum has no separate introduction, but the first contribution will frame the collection as a whole. A forum is treated as a single co-authored piece: it has a single abstract and a single DOI, but separately identifiable contributions.
  • A symposium is typically 30,000–40,000 words long and will normally have 3–5 papers and a separate Introduction. Individual papers will usually be under 8,000 words in length. Organizers of symposia may divide up the space as they see fit, provided they stay within the overall word limit. The symposium as a whole will have an abstract; each individual contribution will also have an abstract; and each individual contribution will have its own unique DOI.
  • Whether forum or symposium, the topic must be of interest to a broad spectrum of our readership, ideally cutting across at least two of our three target audiences—IR theory, international legal theory, and international political theory (IPT). We are open to proposals that focus on a single theoretical approach (e.g., critical theory, constructivism, rationalism) as well as proposals that cut across theoretical approaches. In either case, however, articles should be written to be of interest to (and accessible by) the broadest possible readership across theoretical communities.
  • As is the case with regular research articles, fora and symposia must offer an original contribution to international theory, significantly contribute to the development of existing international theory, and/or significantly contribute to our understanding of the development of International Relations as a field.
  • Proposals can be organized around themes or books, but, if the latter, the book(s) in question must have already had a demonstrable impact on the field as indicated, for example, by major awards or unusually high rates of citation. Book symposia will ordinarily be no longer than 30,000 words.
  • Individual contributions should speak to each other in some significant way, such that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Explicit cross-references among contributions are encouraged.
  • Symposium organizers should take care to include a diversity of voices and perspectives.
  • All contributions will be peer reviewed, usually as a package, although papers will be judged individually as well (i.e., the Editors reserve the right to accept only a subset of the submitted papers). Symposium organizers should submit a set of properly anonymized papers to enable blind review. For example, if the papers reference each other, those references should be done by some formula such as ‘Paper B, this symposium’ rather than by using the author’s name.

Prospective organizers should feel free to discuss their proposals in advance with the Editors, but in any case must submit a proposal form that will undergo preliminary review for suitability.

(last revised August 2021)