About Area Studies

Area Studies is a peer-reviewed comprehensive academic journal founded by Tsinghua University’s Institute for International and Area Studies and published by The Commercial Press. It has two issues per year. The journal aims to serve the development of Area Studies as a first-level discipline in China and is aimed at providing a high-caliber exchange platform for scholars engaged in areas studies to discuss related research subjects, topics, theories, and methods while promoting new knowledge via specific topics and themes.

The journal has four sections: Special Issues, History & Geography, Field Research, and Reviews & Critiques. The Feature Topics section explores common issues in Area Studies through research papers that are transnational and interdisciplinary and revolve around specific topics and themes. The History & Geography section focuses on the elements of time and space in Area Studies in both breadth and depth. The Field Research section looks at the empirical side of Area Studies, such as field research methodology, theory, reflection, and practice. The Reviews & Critiques section is a platform on which academics may debate topics by discussing and critiquing viewpoints, methods, or theories in the format of a commentary, book review, etc.

The inaugural issue of Area Studies has been published in the fall of 2022. We warmly and sincerely welcome submissions of high-caliber original works from academics all over the world.

Submission Requirements

1. Submissions must be original research papers on novel topics conducted scientifically with sound and sufficient arguments. They must be written fluidly, have substantial academic value, and feature a high degree of innovation.

2. The body of the text (including notes) must be between 12,000 and 20,000 words.

3. Each research paper submission must include a title, an abstract, and keywords, all in both Chinese and English, plus a brief introduction to the author(s), and the project. The abstract in Chinese should be no more than 500 characters and should present clearly the core claims and innovative aspects of the paper. There should be three to five keywords to summarize the content and core claims of the paper. The introduction to the author(s) should include the author(s)’ name, affiliation, position/job title, main field of research, plus the phone number and email address of a main author. For funded projects, the project name and serial number should be provided. For reviews, only the affiliation and position/job title of the authors, and the phone number and email address of a main author need to be provided.

4. References should be listed as footnotes on each page, with numbering restarting from “1” on each page. No separate reference section is needed at the end of the paper.

5. The first time a non-serial publication is referenced in the text, information of the citation should be provided as a footnote in the following pattern: author(s), title of article (if it is a contribution within a publication, list the contribution title, name of the individual(s) in charge of compiling the anthology, and anthology title in that order), place of publication, publisher, date of publication, and page number(s). If the same publication is cited again, only the author(s), publication title, and page number(s) must be cited.

6. A serial publication must be cited as a footnote in the following pattern: author(s), title of article, title of periodical, and year and issue number (or volume number or year).

7. An electronic publication must be cited as a footnote in the following pattern: title of article, year of publication (use the last-updated date), retrieval information (URL, DOI, etc.), and date of retrieval.

8. Images must be 600 dpi and in TIF format or editable vector images.

Selection Process

1. Submissions undergo double-anonymous expert review to prevent any misconduct. Please do not submit a work that has been or will be submitted to any other publication.

2. While maintaining a professional level of respect for authors’ works, Area Studies reserves the right to edit or remove content from submissions. Please make any objections known in advance.

3. Area Studies permits China’s online knowledge platform cnki.net to digitally reproduce, compile, issue, and disseminate its content.

4. The website of Area Studies (http://areastudies.iias.tsinghua.edu.cn) is the only channel to make submissions to us. Your submission must include MS Word and PDF files. If your work has not been accepted or you have not received notice that it has been edited for use within three months of submission, you may submit it to another publication.