Caucasus Edition
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Upcoming:Public roundtable: institutions and local mediationNew:Opinion: Peacebuilding needs slower policy timelinesRecent:Volume 2, Issue 1 now available in PublicationsUpcoming:Public roundtable: institutions and local mediationNew:Opinion: Peacebuilding needs slower policy timelinesRecent:Volume 2, Issue 1 now available in PublicationsUpcoming:Public roundtable: institutions and local mediationNew:Opinion: Peacebuilding needs slower policy timelinesRecent:Volume 2, Issue 1 now available in Publications

For Contributors

Submission Portal, Glossary & Guidelines

Caucasus Edition welcomes contributions from established researchers as well as emerging analysts and writers. These guidelines help authors write for a shared regional platform while respecting the complex political and social context of the South Caucasus and Turkey.

Submission Portal

Before You Submit

Please read the contributor guidelines before submitting your article.

Read guidelines

Accepted Contributions

Scholarly and analytical articles

Research-based pieces that deepen understanding of conflicts, regional developments, and peace processes in the South Caucasus and Turkey.

Reflective writings

Practice-informed essays from scholars, practitioners, journalists, policy analysts, emerging researchers, and writers.

Journalistic coverage

Parallel coverage of recent developments that matter for neighboring societies or for the wider regional context.

Accepted Themes

  • Conflict transformation, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding processes
  • Mediation practice, dialogue formats, and confidence-building measures
  • Political science, governance, security, and institutional accountability
  • Economy, sociology, anthropology, and social psychology of conflict
  • Collective memory, comparative history, and identity theories
  • Regional cooperation and inter-societal relations in the South Caucasus and Turkey
  • Disputed territories, de-facto authorities, and regional security dynamics
  • Recommendations for improving peace processes and positive social transformation

Citation & Editorial Guidelines

Citation style

Use Chicago Manual of Style in-text citations in author-date format unless a specific editorial exception is requested.

Language of dialogue

Use terminology that is as neutral, precise, and acceptable to multiple sides as the context allows.

Editorial review

The Editorial Board may refuse articles that disregard the glossary and terminology recommendations.

Author voice

Views expressed in the Journal are those of the authors.

Author Style Sheet

Manuscript Formatting

  • Use a consistent manuscript format with single line spacing, justified alignment, 2-centimeter margins, and paragraph spacing of 6 points before and after each paragraph.
  • Main titles should use initial capital letters, 16-point type, and bold formatting.
  • Subtitles should use initial capital letters, 14-point type, and bold formatting.
  • Sub-headings, bibliography titles, and bibliography entries should be consistent in format and size.
  • When a separate template is provided, follow the template font guidance. The style sheet notes Times New Roman 12-point for general documents and Palatino Linotype 11-point for article formatting.

Numbers & Dates

  • Spell out numbers from one to ten most of the time; use numerals for numbers higher than ten.
  • At the beginning of a sentence, spell out the number, for example: Forty-five cases were identified.
  • Large round numbers may combine numerals and words, for example: 10 thousand cases.
  • Write ordinal numbers as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on.
  • Write dates as September 15, 2013, or September 15 when the year is current or clear from context.

Punctuation & Spelling

  • Use American English spelling, such as color and center.
  • Use italics for words that are foreign to English.
  • Place punctuation after quotation marks in the Journal style.
  • Use a hyphen with no spaces for linked words, for example non-violent.
  • Use a dash with single spaces around it to introduce an explanatory phrase.
  • Use single quotation marks only for a quotation or reference inside a larger quotation.
  • Spell out monetary symbols, for example Azerbaijani manat, Armenian dram, Turkish lira, and American dollars.
  • Use a comma before the final and in a series.

References

  • Use in-text references and include a bibliography at the end of the paper.
  • Use footnotes or endnotes only for commentary or additional information.
  • Use Zotero, Microsoft Word References, or another citation manager when possible to keep references consistent and transferable.
  • Title the final bibliography section Bibliography.
  • Keep date-accessed formatting consistent across bibliography entries.

Foreign-language sources

  • Use the author's name in English for in-text citations.
  • In the bibliography, begin with the author's name in English.
  • Include the original-language title, then an English translation of the title in brackets.
  • Give the city and publisher name in English when available.

Interviews and focus groups

  • Cite unpublished interviews or focus groups in text or in footnotes rather than in the final bibliography.
  • Include the interviewer, brief identifying information about the interviewee when appropriate, and the place or date if known.
  • Use real names only for well-known experts or when interviewees have explicitly consented to be cited by name.
  • For privacy, otherwise use generic descriptions such as focus group participant from Georgia.
  • Keep the interview citation approach consistent throughout the paper, especially in co-authored work.

Glossary Principles

The Editorial Board works toward a language fit for dialogue: terminology that can support analysis without reproducing hate speech, collective blame, or one-sided political cliches. Authors are asked to follow these principles while recognizing that some cases require careful editorial interpretation.

  • Avoid xenophobia, hate speech, language calling for violence, and pejorative descriptions of any side.
  • Avoid ethnicizing conflicts or assigning collective guilt to an entire ethnic, national, or social group.
  • Use legal, factual, and context-sensitive descriptions for conflict events whenever possible.
  • Use simultaneous place names where appropriate and explain naming differences in the text.
  • Avoid provocative cliches, enemy-image language, and terms that impede dialogue.

Terminology Guide

Naming Conflicts

  • Use Nagorno-Karabakh conflict rather than ethnically marked or one-sided alternatives.
  • Use Georgian-Abkhaz conflict and Georgian-Osset conflict for political conflicts over status and governance.
  • Use Georgian-Russian conflict when describing confrontation between the two states.

Geographical and Political Designations

  • Use Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia as neutral conflict-region designations.
  • When relevant, use paired names such as Stepanakert/Khankendi, Shushi/Shusha, Tskhinval/i, and Sukhum/i.
  • Use region of the conflict for the wider area affected by the conflict, not only the immediate conflict zone.
  • Use line of contact for the line between military forces of the conflicting sides.

Parties and Affected People

  • Use sides to the conflict or sides in the conflict to include key actors without ethnicizing the dispute.
  • Use civilian populations or civilians for those who are not military personnel, conscripts, or members of power structures.
  • Use victims of the conflict for people directly affected by the conflict, including families of the wounded, killed, and missing.
  • Use forcibly displaced persons for people who lost homes, property, or safe return because of conflict.

Events and Memory

  • Avoid derogatory constructions such as so-called when referring to sensitive events.
  • Avoid generalizing phrases such as all Armenians, all Azerbaijanis, or other collective blame formulas.
  • Use incidents in the zone of armed confrontation or conflict for firing, exchanges of fire, sniper activity, and direct fighting.
  • When referring to military actors, name the force or institution where possible rather than an ethnic group.

Negotiations and Dialogue

  • Use peace process or peacebuilding process for political negotiations and civil-society efforts aimed at transforming conflict.
  • Use confidence-building measures for non-political activities, monitoring, and recurring dialogue platforms.
  • Use public control or monitoring for civil-society monitoring of commitments and agreements.
  • Use dialogue platform formats for ongoing meetings, discussions, and talks across social groups and levels.

Editorial Note

The Editorial Board strongly recommends that authors adhere to these guidelines when collaborating with the Journal. At the same time, the Journal acknowledges that following every term exactly may not be possible in every context, and reserves for authors and editors a degree of interpretation in applying the glossary.