Editorial Policies
Aims and Scope
"Asia and Africa today" is a monthly academic journal and Russia's only periodical focusing on topics and issues in Asia and Africa. (The issues of CIS countries are not considered in the journal.)
Mission of the Journal is to provide a platform for authoritative researchers from Russia, CIS and other countries to discuss processes and events taking place in Asia and Africa.
"Asia and Africa today" publishes scholarly articles on the political, economic and social processes of Asian and African states, their culture and art, reviews of Asian and African literature. The Journal also publishes reviews of the most important scientific events - international conferences of orientalists, symposia and scientific expeditions.
"Asia and Africa today" journal’s authors and audience includes scholars, researchers, PhD students and humanities students, as well as politicians, public figures, experts of Russian and foreign organizations that work with Asian and African countries.
The author's point of view does not necessarily coincide with that of the editorial board.
OBJECTIVES
Analysis of socio-political, economic, demographic, environmental, cultural and other processes in Asian and African countries and their history.
The major areas and subjects for presentation in the journal:
- political development of Asian and African countries;
- economic problems of Asian and African countries;
- international relations;
- development economics;
- Asian and African states’ activities in UN and regional international organizations;
- pandemic in Asia and Africa;
- globalization and regionalization;
- civilizational development issues;
- problems of society and the state, democracy and autocracy;
- the emergence and features of civil society;
- food problem in developing states;
- demographic processes and migrations of the population
- aggravation of environmental problems in Asian and African continents;
- ethnic and interfaith conflicts;
- Islam and Christianity and their influence on political processes in Asian and African countries;
- culture, science, education, literature, art;
- religions, beliefs, cults;
- traditions, customs, morals;
- chapters of history;
- Russia – Asia and Africa (political, economic, cultural and other relations of Russia with Asian and African countries).
TASKS
Assistance to scientific research in the field of Oriental and African studies. Publication of materials on the basis of topical research and theses, and also based on the results of overseas trips and fieldwork. Reviews of key Russian and international conferences and symposiums.
Involving prominent Russian and foreign researchers as authors.
Reviewing the most significant works and monographs on the journal’s topics.
The practical help to young orientalists and africanists. Publication of their materials under the heading "Post-graduate Column".
Cooperation with Oriental research Centres and Faculties of the Russian higher education institutions, as well as with foreign higher education institutions and research centres. Attraction of researchers and academic lecturers as journal authors. Strengthening and development of cooperation with co-founders of the journal - Institute of Oriental Studies and Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
POLICY
Prompt reaction to the events taking place in Asian and African countries.
Extending of topics and improvement of quality of materials to be published.
Sections
Politics, economics
Book review
Top problem
Scientific life
Culture, literature, art
A letter to the editor
Pages of history
Africa day – May 25
Post-graduate tribune
Political portrait
BRICS today
Foreign expert view
Peer Review Process
Articles submitted to the journal are subject to mandatory review.
The purpose of reviewing is improving the quality of materials to be published in the journal through their independent evaluation by qualified experts.
Editor-in-Chief (his First Deputy, a member of the Editorial Board) determines whether the article submitted to the editorial office complies with the requirements imposed by the character of the journal and by design requirements. After that the article is sent for review to a specialist (Dr.Sc. or PhD, including members of the Editorial Board) who has a good understanding of the problems considered in the article.
The review process
1. Authors remain anonymous to the reviewers throughout the process.
2. A review (0,5 to 1 page) should be written in a free form and include the following:
- reasoned assessment of the scientific (theoretical and conceptual)
level of the article;
- evaluation of the degree of novelty of the results obtained by the authors and their practical significance in the relevant field of knowledge;
- general list of criticisms and their analysis;
- conclusion on the quality of the reviewed manuscript from the point of view of terminology and the use of the literary Russian language
(if the manuscript is in Russian);
- recommendation to accept the paper for publication, with or without editorial revisions; or to invite the authors to revise their manuscript to address specific concerns; or to reject outright (with appropriate reasoning).
The period of preparation of a review is one month from the date of its submission to the reviewers.
3. A review should be signed by the reviewer, certified by the Department of Human Resources at the main job of the reviewer, and then sent to the editorial office.
4. If the reviewer provides a positive recommendation, the article is accepted for publication.
5. If the reviewer recommends to reject the manuscript, the editorial office may submit the article for revision or send it to another reviewer.
6. If there is any disagreement between the reviewers (one review is positive, another is negative), it is up to the Editor-in-Chief (his first Deputy, the Editorial Board) to make the final decision.
7. The authors, with permission of the reviewer, may familiarize themselves with the reviews (on the condition of anonymity of the reviewers).
All reviews are kept in the editorial office for 5 years from the date when the issue of the journal containing the reviewed article was published.
Periodicity
During the calendar year, 12 planned issues are regularly published.
Indexing
Russian Scientific Citation Index – a database, accumulating information on papers by Russian scientists, published in native and foreign titles. The Russian Scientific Citation Index project is under development since 2005 by “Electronic Scientific Library” foundation ( elibrary.ru).
Russian Science Citation Index on Web of Science in partnership with Russia’s Scientific Electronic Library ( eLibrary.ru).
EBSCO Publishing