In 2026, the Central European Journal of International and Security Studies (CEJISS) will commemorate its 20th anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, the Journal will bestow the 20th Anniversary Award for the best paper written by a PhD candidate, postgraduate (Master’s) student or recent graduate. Hence, we cordially invite all eligible individuals to submit their work for consideration. Submissions are welcome and accepted from current postgraduate (MA- or PhD-level) students or those who finished their MA or PhD studies in 2023, 2024 or 2025. Submissions must be original, previously unpublished papers within the field of International Relations (broadly defined) or any of its subfields.
The submissions may be based on conference papers or PhD/MA dissertations. Co-authored papers are accepted, but all authors must meet the aforementioned conditions. The key criteria for evaluation are related to the submissions’ originality and scientific (academic) quality, including the strength of the argument, theoretical/analytical framework and empirical evidence.
The awarded paper will be published in the first issue of CEJISS in 2026. Shortlisted finalists will be provided with extended feedback in the form of two reviews. Should they wish, the finalists can elaborate on their manuscripts in accordance with the provided feedback, and their manuscripts can also be considered for publication in the journal.
- Deadline for submissions: 1 October 2025
- Announcement of the winner and the shortlisted finalists: 30 November 2025
- Publication of the awarded paper (print issue): March 2026
- In order to submit your paper or get more information, please contact Dr. Martina Varkockova (Deputy Editor-in-Chief of CEJISS) at varkockova@cejiss.org.
- Please use the following email subject: anniversary award
- Language of submission: English
- Length: 6,000–12,000 words (including bibliography, footnotes, abstract)
- Abstract: 100–200 words
- We do not request any specific citation or formatting style. However, the author of the awarded paper will be responsible for adjusting the style of the paper according to the journal’s guidelines prior to the paper’s publication.
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About CEJISS
CEJISS is a quarterly journal that publishes peer-reviewed scholarly articles across the entire field of International Relations and International Security. Since its foundation in 2007, it has been proudly committed to the principle of open access publishing (no fees to publish, no fees to read). It is indexed in SCOPUS, ERIH Plus, ProQuest, EBSCO, Google Scholar and other databases. CEJISS is currently ranked in Q2 in Political Science and International Relations among Scopus journals (according to SJR 2024).
CEJISS is a pluralist journal. It favours a variety of theories and methods used as well as topics and geographical areas covered. Nonetheless, CEJISS is particularly (but not exclusively) interested in drivers of the contemporary world’s change – from geopolitical shifts, nationalist resurgence and regionalisation to environmental and technological changes. Rather than specialising in a particular theme, it prefers to understand the broader impacts and mutual entanglements of these processes. CEJISS has published articles focused on Central and Eastern Europe as well as on other regions and the global international system. It is open to inter-disciplinary, cross-thematic and trans-regional works discussing international aspects of politics and security. CEJISS also welcomes policy-relevant articles. However, please note that all articles must meet the usual research standards (they need to be research articles in the first place).