Definition of the concept and profile of the new journal

Task leader: WSI
Other involved partners: TLU, DIHR
Duration: Months 1-18

Activities

The partners will define the concept and profile of the new journal. The journal will reach out to the human rights academic research community, human rights activists and the civil society in the whole East European area, inviting contributors globally. The search for the most suitable concept and profile means that the partners will critically assess and discuss the available publications, research activities and human resources in the area. The profile should be wide, i.e. the journal should focus both on the human rights situation in the East European countries and on worldwide problems and developments in the area of human rights. The concept will have to be clearly defined, especially the sections of the journal as well as the establishment of an efficient peer review and publication process. Other decisions to be taken concern the publishing house and the (financial) conditions offered as well as the open access policy. All these decisions are crucial to guarantee the sustainability of the new journal.

In order to achieve this, two colleagues from TLU will be invited to Kiel for the period of 2 weeks (2 travels, each one lasting 1 week) for the purpose of getting introduced to the concept,the profile, the website, and the peer review process of the GYIL. WSI will conduct 2 internal workshops in Tallinn: the first one with the goal of defining the concept and profile of the journal; the second one for finalizing the preparations of the launch of the yearbook: website, guidelines for authors, board of editors, call for submissions, peer-review process. Each of the workshops in Tallinn will last for 5 days. Then the call for papers will be announced and the publishing process will start.

 

Role of partners

The WSI publishes the “German Yearbook of International Law” (GYIL), a highly-regarded international forum for innovative scholarship in international law. It is the only peer reviewed journal of international law in Germany. Therefore, the role of the WSI will be to lead the task of defining the concept and profile for the journal, relying on its experience with the GYIL. The “team” of the WSI will consist of the two experts (who are the editors of the GYIL), the two assistant editors as well as of the student assistants involved in the publishing process of the GYIL. TLU will be involved in the identification and assessment of the human rights research actors and their role in the region. DIHR will provide comments on continuing basis on the integration of the Yearbook into newly established structure.