Hylke Dijkstra became Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Contemporary Security Policy earlier this year. The first issue under his editorship has just been published. It contains a forum on ‘Syria, The Islamic State and Terrorism’ which is available via Free Access. Contemporary Security Policy is hosted at FASoS and published by Taylor and Francis.
Earlier this year, Hylke Dijkstra became Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Contemporary Security Policy. Following a transitional period, he has now published his inaugural issue (August 2016; 37(2)). One of the oldest peer reviewed journals in international conflict and security, Contemporary Security Policy promotes theoretically-based research on policy problems of armed violence, intervention and conflict resolution. Since it first appeared in 1980, Contemporary Security Policy has established its unique place as a meeting ground for research at the nexus of theory and policy.
This inaugural issue of Hylke Dijkstra includes articles on why international security regimes are so difficult to establish and maintain, how the British army used historical lessons for the war in Afghanistan, and US mediation in nuclearized India–Pakistan crises. It also includes an innovative forum on “Syria, The Islamic State and Terrorism”. Because of the urgency of the topic, this forum is available via Free Access.
In his editorial statement, Hylke Dijkstra notes that “the academic interest in international security has never been as great. New jour- nals open up shop. Existing journals increase their number of issues. General interest journals continue to pay strong attention to contemporary security problems.” And yet, academic journals increasingly fail to take their communication function seriously: “knowledge is not ‘out there’ because it happens to be in the pages of an academic journal.” He notes that “the journal should serve as a catalyst for the communication of findings. Not as a graveyard where research finds its final resting place.”
Indeed, there is a difference between doing research and the communication of research. “Communication, for one, takes two. It is not only about the researcher but also about the audience. This means that research not only needs to be solid, but also communicated in a way which is understandable, accessible and relevant for the audience. Now this may seem obvious, but it is not. In fact, we see quite the opposite. Publication seems increasingly about the research process rather than about communication.”
The full editorial statement can be read online. Hylke Dijkstra will remain the editor at least until the end of 2020. The ambition is, through a pro-active approach to editing and communication, to further strengthen the profile of Contemporary Security Policy. The journal was recently included in the Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science, as part of the Emerging Sources Citations Index while it is being considered for the Social Science Citation Index. Contemporary Security Policy is hosted at FASoS and published by Taylor and Francis.
