Global Discourse
An interdisciplinary journal of current affairs
Global Discourse is an interdisciplinary, problem-oriented journal of applied contemporary thought operating at the intersection of politics, international relations, sociology and social policy. The journal's scope is broad, encouraging interrogation of current affairs with regard to core questions of distributive justice, wellbeing, cultural diversity, autonomy, sovereignty, security and recognition. All issues are themed and aimed at addressing pressing issues as they emerge. Rejecting the notion that publication is the final stage in the research process, Global Discourse seeks to foster discussion and debate between often artificially isolated disciplines and paradigms, with responses to articles encouraged and conversations continued across issues. Read more about Global Discourse.
Impact Factor: 1.8 Frequency: February, May, September and November
Volume 15 (2025): Issue 1 (Feb 2025): Special Issue: Regional Integration in Latin America: Critical Perspectives in the Time of Populism: Part 2. Guest Edited by Juan Cáceres
Gender and Justice is open for submissions!
Be one of the first to publish in this new journal advancing critical feminist scholarship on justice.
Gender and Justice is open for submissions!
Be one of the first to publish in this new journal advancing critical feminist scholarship on justice.
Aims and scope
Journal metrics
Abstracting and indexing
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Testimonials
Contact us
Aims and scope
Global Discourse is an interdisciplinary, problem-oriented journal of applied contemporary thought operating at the intersection of politics, international relations, sociology and social policy. The journal's scope is broad, encouraging interrogation of current affairs with regard to core questions of distributive justice, wellbeing, cultural diversity, autonomy, sovereignty, security and recognition. All issues are themed and aimed at addressing pressing issues as they emerge. Rejecting the notion that publication is the final stage in the research process, Global Discourse seeks to foster discussion and debate between often artificially isolated disciplines and paradigms, with responses to articles encouraged and conversations continued across issues.
The journal features a mix of full-length articles, each accompanied by one or more replies, including those with a specific policy focus written by non-academic experts and organisations. With an international advisory editorial board consisting of experienced, highly cited academics, Global Discourse publishes themed issues on topics as they emerge. Authors are encouraged to explore the international dimensions and implications of their work.
All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and double-blind peer review. All submissions must be in response to a specific call for papers.
Journal metrics
2023 Impact Factor: 1.8
Rankings: 48/165 International Relations (Q2)
110/317 Political Science (Q2)
83/217 Sociology (Q2)
2023 Journal Citation Indicator (JCI): 1.34
Rankings: 29/165 International Relations (Q1)
62/317 Political Science (Q1)
42/217 Sociology (Q1)
2023 Scopus CiteScore: 4.1
Rankings: 91/706 Political Science and International Relations (87th percentile)
276/1,466 Sociology and Political Science (81st percentile)
Abstracting and Indexing
- Scopus
- Emerging Sources Citation Index (Web of Science)
- European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences (ERIH PLUS)
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion statement outlines the ways in which we seek to ensure that equity, diversity and inclusion are integral to all aspects of our publishing, and how we might encourage and drive positive change.
Testimonials
“In difficult and challenging times, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic and its many sociopolitical and economic consequences, the journal Global Discourse fulfils salient functions: to continuously reflect and explain social transformation and change from inter- and post-disciplinary perspectives, in systematic detail. Such critical reflection allows scholars and lay-persons alike to distance themselves from their daily emotional involvement, thus providing space for new future mid-term and long-term imaginaries.”
Ruth Wodak, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Discourse Studies, Lancaster University, UK
“There is little room for impartial skepticism in our hyper-partisan public policy environment. Global Discourse is a welcome publication for those who are averse to dogma and willing to unsettle 'consensus views'.”
Richard A. Shweder, Harold Higgins Swift Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago, USA
“In the future the most transformative research and scholarship is likely to occur at the nexus or intersection between traditional disciplines and professional boundaries. Global Discourse is arguably the world-leading journal for provoking debates, connecting scholars and redefining how critical social challenges are framed and understood. It is a journal that is shaping the future rather than being stuck in the past.”
Matthew Flinders, Professor of Politics, University of Sheffield, UK and Vice-President of the Political Studies Association, UK
“In the spirit of the critical Frankfurt school, Global Discourse takes seriously the necessity to discuss political themes beyond academic borders and rigidity and gives voice to scholars committed to research as an emancipatory project crossing disciplines and traditions.”
Thomas Lindemann, Professor of Political Science, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin, France
“Global Discourse is more global and more of a discourse than most other academic journals in its fields. Its innovative way to advance the global discourse and the relevance of its topics for a variety of different disciplines make it unique among its peers.”
Alexander Vuving, Professor, Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, USA
Contact us
Editorial enquiries:
Editor: Matthew Johnson, matthew7.johnson@northumbria.ac.uk
Open access, subscriptions and free trials:
Bristol University Press: bup-journals@bristol.ac.uk
Read our instructions for authors for guidance on how to prepare your submissions. The instructions include the following:
What are we looking for?
How to submit an article
Ethical guidelines
Copyright and permissions
Style
Alt-text
References
English language editing service
Open Access
Self-archiving and institutional repositories
How to maximise the impact of your article
Contact us
Visit our journal author toolkit for resources and advice to support you through the publication process and beyond.
What are we looking for?
Global Discourse publishes exclusively themed issues. All submissions must be in response to a specific call for papers. We are unable to publish material that does not relate to the content of the issues planned.
We are always keen to receive proposals for themed issues. Proposals should be submitted by email to the Journal Editor, Matthew Johnson.
- Research articles and replies: Global Discourse publishes a range of articles of up to 9,000 words in length (including any notes, references, tables, figures etc.) on key, pressing issues of the day. Given our discursive focus, we have a commitment to development of pieces that examine, in innovative ways, issues that matter, particularly at a global level. Each article is accompanied by a reply of up to 1,000 words produced by one of the paper’s external referees. Authors of replies are selected on the basis of their ability to advance interdisciplinary examination of the argument at hand. The outcome is journal issues that address problems from a range of perspectives, each rigorously interrogated. By submitting a research article to Global Discourse you confirm that you agree to the journal’s policies on research articles and replies.
- Submission guidelines for replies: Titles of replies should follow this format: 'A reply to [title of article] by [name of author]'. Replies do not have abstracts but should include up to five keywords. They should be no more than 1,000 words long, should not include primary research, and should have no more than six references, including one to the article to which the piece is responding
- Policy replies: Global Discourse sees policy making as a central feature of academic publishing within the social sciences and each issue includes policy replies written by policy makers in response to key articles. Policy replies are generally 1,000–3,000 words in length. These replies foster thoroughgoing engagement between academics and policy makers in specific fields. The intention is to achieve research impact by examining the scope of application for ideas advanced and to present cutting-edge policy positions that have transformative capacity. We actively solicit a diverse range of opinions and responses in order to overcome the ‘echo chamber’ effect that so often dominates discussions. Put simply, the Global Discourse Policy section is driven by intellectual need, not ideological dogma.
Contributions are solicited by the Editors from think tanks, local and national government, intergovernmental organisations, NGOs, charities, political parties, journalists and leading figures in business and industry. Please consult our submission guidelines for Policy section authors.
How to submit an article
All Research articles should initially be submitted by email to the Guest Editor(s) of the themed issue. They must be properly anonymised for double anonymous peer review (see instructions below).
Policy replies should be submitted via email to the relevant Guest Editor(s) of the themed issue. They do not need to be anonymised, as they are reviewed internally by members of the Editorial Advisory Board.
Authors of all articles, once they have been conditionally accepted, will be invited to make their final article submission via the Global Discourse Editorial Manager website.
Initial manuscript submission
Research article manuscripts must be in Word or Rich Text Format (not pdf) and must be fully anonymised prior to submission to the Guest Editor(s).
Preparing your anonymised Research article manuscript
Your initial submission must consist of the following separate files:
- A fully anonymised manuscript which does not include information that would identify the author(s) such as acknowledgements, funding details or conflicts of interest. References to the author's own work should be anonymised as follows: 'Author's own, [year]'. The file should not have any document properties or personal information that would identify the author(s) (see guidance on how to remove hidden data and personal information from a Microsoft Office file for further help). Please note that submissions that have not been sufficiently anonymised will be returned.
- If you have any figures and tables these can be included in the manuscript on first submission but must be uploaded as separate files at the end of the manuscript when submitting the final version. Please indicate where these should be placed in the text by inserting: ‘Figure X here’ and provide numbers, titles and sources where appropriate. The files should not have any properties or personal information that would identify the author(s) (see guidance on how to remove hidden data and personal information from a Microsoft Office file for further help).
- In order to improve our accessibility for people with visual impairments, we are now required to ask authors to provide a brief description known as alt text to describe any visual content such as photos, illustrations or figures. It will not be visible in the article but is embedded into the images so a PDF reader can read out the descriptions. Guidance on how to write this is available here: Bristol University Press | Alt-text guidance for authors.
- Additional information: please provide funding information (if applicable), a conflict of interest statement and acknowledgements in a separate file from your anonymised manuscript, to ensure that no information that could identify you as the author is sent to peer reviewers. Information about declaring conflicts of interest can be found in the Bristol University Press/ Policy Press ethical guidelines.
Once a submission has been conditionally accepted, you will be invited to submit a final, non-anonymised version via Editorial Manager.
Editorial Manager
Manuscripts must be in Word or Rich Text Format (not pdf). New users should first create an account, specify their areas of interest and provide full contact details.
For help submitting an article via Editorial Manager, please view our online tutorial.
Please also see our Journals Editorial Policies.
Checklist: what to include in your final non-anonymised manuscript:
The main manuscript including
- The non-anonymised text of your article: please ensure this does not exceed the maximum word count for your article type.
- Key messages: Each research article must include 3–4 ‘key messages’ summarising the main messages from the paper in up to four bullet points. The contribution made by the paper to the field should be clear from these key messages. Each bullet point must be less than 100 characters. These points may be used by the editorial board to promote your article on Twitter.
- Funding details: list any funding including the grant numbers you have received for the research covered in your article as follows: ‘This work was supported by the [Funding Agency] under Grant [number xxxx].’
- Conflict of interest statement: please declare any possible conflicts of interest, or state ‘The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’ if there are none.
- Acknowledgements: acknowledge people who have provided you with any substantial assistance or advice with collecting the data, developing your ideas, editing or any other comments to develop your argument or text.
- Research ethics statement: Please provide a brief discussion of the ethical issues relevant to your paper and advise if any clearance was granted by your institution or an external ethics committee. We recognise that not all institutions provide or require formal ethics approval processes – please specify whether this applies in your case.
- Figures and tables: should be submitted as separate files. Figures should ideally be in an Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) file format. Please indicate where figures and tables should be placed in the text by inserting: ‘Figure/Table X here’ and provide numbers, titles and sources (where appropriate).
- In order to improve our accessibility for people with visual impairments, we are now required to ask authors to provide a brief description known as alt text to describe any visual content such as photos, illustrations or figures. It will not be visible in the article but is embedded into the images so a PDF reader can read out the descriptions. Guidance on how to write this is available here: Bristol University Press | Alt-text guidance for authors.
- Supplementary data: We recommend that any supplemental data is hosted in a data repository (such as figshare) for maximum exposure, and is cited as a reference in the article.
- Journal Contributor Publishing Agreement: please upload a scanned copy of the completed and signed agreement with your final non-anonymised manuscript. The Journal Contributor Publishing Agreement can be downloaded here.
Editorial review process
All submissions are first desk-reviewed by the editor(s) who will assess whether the manuscript fits the aims and scope as well as the quality standards of the journal. Research articles that are selected to be sent out for review will be evaluated through double anonymous peer review by at least two referees. Global Discourse aims to return the reviews along with an initial decision within two months of submission. Policy articles and book reviews are reviewed by members of the editorial board and do not therefore go through double anonymous peer review.
Please note, that due to the journal’s policy of soliciting replies to published articles from reviewers, the identities of the author of an article and any reviewer producing a reply for publication will be revealed to one another once an article is accepted for publication.
Ethical guidelines
At Policy Press we are committed to upholding the highest standards of review and publication ethics in our journals. Policy Press is a member of and subscribes to the principles of the Committee of Publication Ethics (COPE), and will take appropriate action in cases of possible misconduct in line with COPE guidance.
Find out more about our ethical guidelines.
Copyright and permissions
Global Discourse is published by Bristol University Press. Articles are considered for publication on the understanding that on acceptance the author(s) grant(s) Bristol University Press the exclusive right and licence to publish the article. Copyright remains with the author(s) or other original copyright owners and we will acknowledge this in the copyright line that appears on the published article.
Authors will be asked to sign a journal contributor agreement to this effect, which should be submitted online along with the final manuscript. All authors should agree to the agreement. For jointly authored articles the corresponding author may sign on behalf of co-authors provided that they have obtained the co-authors' consent. The journal contributor agreement can be downloaded here.
Where copyright is not owned by the author(s), the corresponding author is responsible for obtaining the consent of the copyright holder. This includes figures, tables and excerpts. Evidence of this permission should be provided to Bristol University Press. General information on rights and permissions can be found here.
To request permission to reproduce any part of articles published in Global Discourse, please email: bup-permissions@bristol.ac.uk.
For information on what is permissible use for different versions of your article, please see our policy on self archiving and institutional repositories.
Style
- British English spelling and punctuation is preferred.
- Non-discriminatory language is mandatory. See our guidelines to sensitive language (appendix C of document).
- Explanatory notes should be kept to a minimum. If it is necessary to use them, they must be numbered consecutively in the text and listed at the end of the article. Please do not embed notes in the text.
- Please do not embed bibliographic references in the text, footnotes, live links or macros; the final submitted file should be clear of track changes and ready for print.
- Tables and charts should be separated from the text and submitted in a Word or Excel file, with their placement in the text clearly indicated by inserting: ‘Table X here’. Please provide numbers, titles and sources (where appropriate).
- Figures, diagrams and maps should be separated from the text and, ideally, submitted in an Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) file. Figures created in Word or Excel are acceptable in those file formats. If the figures, diagrams and maps are in other formats (i.e. have been pasted into a Word file rather than created in it) please contact bup-journalsproduction@bristol.ac.uk for advice. Please indicate where figures should be placed in the text, by inserting: ‘Figure X here’ and provide numbers, titles and sources (where appropriate).
Alt-text
In order to improve our accessibility for people with visual impairments, we are now required to ask authors to provide a brief description known as alt text to describe any visual content such as photos, illustrations or figures. It will not be visible in the article but is embedded into the images so a PDF reader can read out the descriptions. See our guidance on writing alt-text.
References
To ensure your bibliography is complete before submitting your final article, we recommend using a reference manager such as Zotero when writing your article. If you cannot find the style under the specific Bristol University Press journal name, the closest format is Zotero "Consumption and Society".
Policy Press uses a custom version of the Harvard system of referencing:
- In-text citations: give the author’s surname followed by year of publication in brackets;
- If there is more than one reference to the same author and year, this should be distinguished by a, b, c, d and so on being added to the year.
- In lists of references given within the text, place in chronological order, from old to new. For example (Smith, 1989; Jones, 1990; Amler, 2002; Brown, 2007).
- List all references in full at the end of the article and remove any references not cited in the text;
- Names should be listed in the references as cited, for example, surnames containing de, De, de la, Le, van, von, Van, Von should be listed under ‘D’, ‘L’ and ‘V’ respectively. If in doubt, check the author ORCID or a recognised database such as Scopus or Web of Science to verify their most known surname.
- For works with multiple authors, list all names up to six. For works with more than six authors, list the first six names followed by ‘et al’.
- Book and journal titles should be in italics;
- Website details should be placed at the end of the reference;
- Ibid/op cit: please do not use; we would prefer that you repeated the information.
- Immediately before submitting your final version, check that all references cited in the text are in the bibliography and that references in the bibliography are cited correctly in the text.
Examples
Book:
Bengtson, V.L. and Lowenstein, A. (2003) Global Aging and its Challenge to Families, Transaction Publishers.
Darling, D. (2010) Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists, Policy Press.
Book with editor:
Bengtson, V.L. and Lowenstein, A. (eds) (2003) Global Aging and its Challenge to Families, 5th edn, Transaction Publishers.
Chapter in book or in multi-authored publication:
Bengtson, V.L. and Lowenstein, A. (2003) Citizenship in action: the lived experiences of citizens with dementia who campaign for social change, in R. Smith, R. Means and K. Keegan (eds) Global Aging and its Challenge to Families, Transaction Publishers, pp 305–26.
Journal reference:
Williamson, E. and Abrahams, H. A. (2014) A review of the provision of intervention programmes for female victims and survivors of domestic abuse in the UK, Journal of Women and Social Work, 29(1): 178-191. doi: doi.org/10.1177/0886109913516452
Jeffrey, C., Williams, E., de Araujo, P., Fortin-Rochberg, R., O'Malley, T., Hill, A-M., et al (2009) The challenge of politics, Policy & Politics, 36(4): 545–57. doi: doi.org/10.1177/0886108913516454
Website reference:
Womensaid (2016) What is domestic abuse?, https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/.
Editorial Management Board
Matthew Johnson, Editor, Northumbria University, UK
Shannon Brincat, Deputy Editor, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia
Debra L. DeLaet, North American Consultative Editor, Drake University, USA
Sabah Alnasseri, York University, Canada
Kevin B. Anderson, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Benjamin Arditi, National University of Mexico, Mexico
David Beck, University of Salford, UK
Pinar Bilgin, Bilkent University, Turkey
Alastair Bonnett, Newcastle University, UK
Ken Booth, Aberystwyth University, UK
Paul Bowman, Cardiff University, UK
Terrell Carver, University of Bristol, UK
Simon Choat, Kingston University London, UK
Martin Coward, University of Manchester, UK
Renee Cramer, Dickinson College, USA
Bruce Cumings, University of Chicago, USA
George DeMartino, University of Denver, USA
Mark Devenney, University of Brighton, UK
André C. Drainville, Université Laval, Canada
Simon Duffy, Citizen Network, UK
Matthew Festenstein, University of York, UK
Mark Garnett, Lancaster University, UK
Daryl Glaser, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Richard Hayton, University of Leeds, UK
John M. Hobson, University of Sheffield, UK
Martin E. Jay, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Peter Jones, Newcastle University, UK
Kristian Lasslett, Ulster University, UK
John Lazarus, Newcastle University, UK
Thomas Lindemann, Université d’Artois (CERAPS Lille 2), France
Malé Luján Escalante, University of the Arts London, UK
Simon Mabon, Lancaster University, UK
Matt Matravers, University of York, UK
Susan Mendus, University of York, UK
Jeremy Morris, Aarhus University, Denmark
Christine Mortimer, Lancaster University, UK; Beijing Jiaotong University, China
Ronaldo Munck, Dublin City University, Ireland
Karen Murray, York University, Canada
Shane O’Neill, University of Dundee, UK
Ziya Önis, Koç University, Istanbul
Heikki Patomäki, University of Helsinki, Finland
James Pattison, University of Manchester, UK
Andrew Roe-Crines, University of Liverpool, UK
Mark Sandle, The King’s University, Canada
Richard A. Shweder, University of Chicago, USA
Stuart Sim, Northumbria University, UK
Murray E. G. Smith, Brock University, Canada
Karen Smith, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Wang Qiubin, Jilin University, China
Martin Weber, University of Queensland, Australia
Lawrence Wilde, Nottingham Trent University, UK
Bronwyn Winter, University of Sydney, Australia
Xu Changfu, Sun Yat-Sen University, China
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2023 Impact Factor 1.8 (2 yr)
Rankings:
- 48/165 in International Relations (Q2)
- 110/317 in Political Science (Q2)
- 83/217 in Sociology (Q2)
2023 Journal Citation Indicator: 1.34
Rankings:
- 29/165 in International Relations (Q1)
- 62/317 in Political Science (Q1)
- 42/217 in Sociology (Q1)
2023 Scopus CiteScore: 4.1
Rankings:
- 91/706 in Political Science and International Relations (87th percentile)
- 276/1,466 in Sociology and Political Science (81st percentile)
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