# Publishing in Contemporary Security Policy — Myriam Dunn Cavelty & Nicole Jenne

An episode of [The IR thinker](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1716817337), 19 May 2026, 1 h 06 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/655776911a7d7e0012cbc914/e/6a0c1de3a9d7442983c8d229/media.mp3

Today, it is a real pleasure to speak with the editorial team of Contemporary Security Policy, one of the most influential journals in the field of international security studies. Previously, known as Arms Control (1980 - 1993). Since its founding in 1980, the journal has played a central role in shaping discussions on armed conflict, intervention, strategic change, and global security governance. Impact Factor: 5.0 / 5-Year Impact Factor: 4.6 Indexed: Scopus / Web of Science First Decision: 5 days Acceptance Rate: 11% Major fields of concern include: - War and armed conflict - Peacekeeping - Conflict resolution - Arms control and disarmament - Defense policy - Strategic culture - International institutions The journal is currently led by three co-editors: - Myriam Dunn Cavelty - Nicole Jenne - Yf Rejkers Two of them are with us today: Professor Myriam Dunn Cavelty is a leading scholar of cyber security, risk politics, and the governance of emerging technologies, based at ETH Zürich. Associate Professor Nicole Jenne is an expert on Latin American security, civil–military relations, and regional responses to transnational threats at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, also a visiting scholar at David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:52 The Journal’s Mission: Change and Continuity 04:24 The Intellectual DNA of CSP 06:22 Managing Breadth: Coherence Across Security Studies 09:49 Evaluating Innovative and Experimental Submissions 11:56 What Counts as ‘Policy’ in Contemporary Security Policy? 14:23 Borderline Cases: When Policy Relevance Is Unclear 19:54 Methodological Pluralism and Editorial Tensions 22:46 Qualitative or Quantitative? CSP’s Methodological Orientation 25:02 Major Intellectual Trends in Recent Submissions 26:41 Desired Growth Areas: Topics the Journal Wants More Of 28:20 Attracting Strong Manuscripts: Editorial Strategies and Outreach 33:03 The Role of AI in Academic Submissions 42:49 The Most Common Mistakes in Manuscript Submission 44:10 Fairness, Bias, and Delay: The Realities of Peer Review 47:49 Should Authors Recommend Potential Reviewers? 49:41 Supporting Junior Scholars and Academics Facing Structural Disadvantage 53:24 The Bernard Brodie Prize 56:54 Publication Strategy: Controlling Volume and Maintaining Quality 58:47 What an Editorial Board Actually Does 01:02:11 Editorial Priorities and a Final Message to Scholars Follow & Further Resources Substack: https://theirthinker.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theirthinker/ X: https://x.com/theirthinker Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirthinker/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theirthinker.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theirthinker/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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