JOURNAL & IR

Hizkia Yosie Polimpung Center for Global Civil Society Studies (PACIVIS) Universitas Indonesia

STRUCTURE
IR and journals Journal mapping Indonesian journal culture Philosophy Prelims Beginning writing Tips & hints

IR AND JOURNALS
The so-called Great Debates happen mostly on journals like WP, ISQ, IO, Millennium, RIS (else, on ISA Papers and books) Journal as camp for like-minded scholars

What has changed from 1988 to 2008? Id say mostly the field of International Relations. IR has been transformed: there is no real mainstream any longer, margins are disappearing, and no topic is forbidden to it. The field accommodates everything in a devolved and still evolving camp structure. Our numerous camps have their own heroes, prized texts, dedicated followers, and, increasingly, their own journals. (Christine Sylvester, 2008, emphasis
added)

MENU FOR THOUGHT

Generic (International Studies Quarterly, International Organization, Foreign Policy Analysis, International Interactions, International Studies Review, International Studies Perspective, International Affairs,World Politics, Foreign Affairs, Daedalus, Survival, Global Governance, etc.) Security / Strategic Studies (International Security, Security Studies, Contemporary Strategy, Journal of Strategic Studies, Cooperation & Conflict, Security Dialogue) IPE (Review of International Political Economy, World Economy, Journal of European Public Policy, Journal of Common Market Studies, New Political Economy)

Asia-Pacific Studies (International Relations of AsiaPasific, Pacific Review, Asian Survey, Contemporary Southeast Asia) Critical voices (Millennium: Journal of International Studies, International Relations, Global Society, International Theory, Review of International Studies, European Journal of International Relations, Third World Quarterly, International Studies Review, International Political Sociology, Journal of IR & Development, Alternatives: Global, Local, Political) Some other worth reading (Theory, Culture & Society, Theory & Event, Rethinking Marxism, New Left Review, The South Atlantic Quarterly) International Studies Association (ISA) proceeding archives (accessible through http://www.isanet.org/pubs/paper-archive.html )

FACTS

Journals are more concise and straight-forward than books Journals require a more rigid (i.e. the so-called scientific) style of writing than books do Journals are intended to scholarly community; while books, for a wider general audience Journals are often served as place for people to plant embryos/fragments of their upcoming works/books-inprogress In some Western universities, writing on leading journals is obligatory to obtain a tenure (beside publishing books through prominent publishers) Journals are ranked by its citation level (by e.g. ISI Journal Citation Report, Thomson Reuters, etc.)

WHAT ARE JOURNALS FOR?

EXCHANGE

OF IDEAS

Debate Introduce new idea --> (cf. Thomas Kuhns scientific community) Contestation of ideas Sharing ideas/research findings

INDONESIAN JOURNAL CULTURE

Lack of serious debate, not to mention there is any Almost no IR journal is accredited Journal merely for cum

There is an urgent need to animate our journal culture. Otherwise, orthodoxy will forever haunt our discipline!

PRELIMINARIES

READ as many as possible! Reading for writing

Make use of the abstract feature to sort out readings Focused reading

Demanding readinga useful short detour

Aiming only at clarifying:

Questions the title sparks and Why, according to the author(s), does the questions worth discussing

Aiming only at what are currently needed (data, theory, concept, line of argument, or even, a quote) Ex. Can Asian Theorize? Reflections on the Debate over the Place of Theory in Asian IR (See Seng Tan, 2006) Democracy Promotion: Offensive Liberalism versus the Rest (of IR Theory) (Benjamin Miller, 2010)

WRITING STRUCTURE
Title Abstract Background Raise a concern or a question Argument/hypothesis Aims of the article Plan/structure of discussion Discussion Conclusion

TITLE

Make an exhaustive title covering:

The argument/thesis The subject/topic discussed The method employed To attract reader
Kant or Cant: The Myth of the Democratic Peace (Christopher Layne, 1994) Globalization: Whats new? Whats not? (And So What?) (R.O.Keohane & J.S.Nye Jr., 2000) Trauma and the Politics of Emotion: Constituting Identity, Security and Community after the Bali Bombing (Emma Hutchison, 2010) Writing Sacral IR: An Excavation Involving Kung, Eliade, and Illiterate Buddhism (Stephen Chan, 2000) Political Theology, Anthropomorphism, and Person-hood of the State: The Religion of IR (Mika Luoma-Aho, 2009)

Try to make a catchy or striking one

Some nice titles:

ABSTRACT
MUST reflects the whole article Consists of short and simple version of:

Problem Question raised Aims Theory/method employed Argument

The purpose is so that readers may decide whether it fits their need or not without having to read the entire article

BACKGROUND
Expose

an anomaly(ies) (ideal vs reality) Present a phenomenal event worth discussing Spark a contention Start a polemic :: Problem(s)

CONCERN AND/OR QUESTION

Art of raising question. Asking a question is one thing, but asking a research question is another thing.

Worth discussing Arisen out of problematics Has implication(s) (be it practical or theoretical) What is at stake if we are not to take this into account? What are the potentials it entails once the problem addressed? Etc.

The why? and so what?

ARGUMENT/HYPOTHESIS BUILDING
Tentative answer for the question/concern raised Follow a deductive logic (from general to specific) Should be the identity of your writing Make use, or combine, some theories; or work out our own. Tips: follow a via negativa logic:

Review existing argument/theory on the problem we raised, and deconstruct, show that it fails to adequately answer/address our problem! Present the opposite(s) argument, and critique!

AIMS
Shall be the back bone of your writing Shall be the track for you to follow Consist of steps of how you will address / solve the question raised. Help readers to map out your writing

FOOTNOTES/REFERENCING Acknowledgement Express humility Resposibility to a claim

NO SHORTCUT, BUT SOME TIPS MIGHT HELP:

Draw an outline/mind-map before writing Prepare review cards and data cards* Write down your fragments of idea as soon as it strikes your mind Do not read when your are writing Do debate or discussion as often as possiblemight do well to improve your argumentative skill Reading literatures/novels/poems might do well to rehearse our imagination and to smooth our writing Treat writing as a dialogue; assume an audience when you write.

*attached

If you cant explain it simply, then simply you dont understand it well enough. Albert Einstein

Thank You
Hizkia Yosie Polimpung Center for Global Civil Society Studies (PACIVIS) Universitas Indonesia Critics & Comments: yosieprodigy@gmail.com