About this journal
Aims and scope
The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs is the leading journal for coverage of policy issues concerning the contemporary Commonwealth and its members’ roles in international affairs. Founded in 1910, it is the UK's oldest international affairs journal. It provides analysis and commentary on all aspects of international affairs and policy issues relating to the Commonwealth and its 56 member countries.
An interdisciplinary journal with a particular focus on the Commonwealth and its member countries and on policy-related issues, The Round Table publishes high-quality research about all aspects of the Commonwealth from its member countries and beyond.
The journal also publishes shorter opinion pieces, book reviews, and occasional documentation relating to the Commonwealth in its many historical and contemporary aspects.
It welcomes contributions from a wide range of subject areas in the humanities and the social sciences, including, as they relate to the Commonwealth and its member countries:
- politics
- international relations
- history
- economics
- identity, values and faith
- environmental policies
- development studies
- area/regional studies
- small states
- health policies
- education policies
- law and legal systems
- sports policies
- arts and culture
The journal welcomes interdisciplinary contributions, and proposals for special issues, especially those which provide in-depth analysis of topics relevant to the contemporary Commonwealth and its member countries.
Peer review
Once submitted articles have been assessed for suitability by the editor and approved for further consideration, they will be double anonymized peer-reviewed by independent, anonymous expert referees. Opinion pieces, book reviews, and speeches or lectures do not go through peer review but are reviewed instead by the journal's editorial team.
Journal metrics
Usage
- 127K annual downloads/views
Citation metrics
- 1.7 (2023) CiteScore (Scopus)
- 0.603 (2023) SNIP
- 0.257 (2023) SJR
Speed/acceptance
- 40 days avg. from acceptance to online publication
Understanding and using journal metrics
Journal metrics can be a useful tool for readers, as well as for authors who are deciding where to submit their next manuscript for publication. However, any one metric only tells a part of the story of a journal’s quality and impact. Each metric has its limitations which means that it should never be considered in isolation, and metrics should be used to support and not replace qualitative review.
We strongly recommend that you always use a number of metrics, alongside other qualitative factors such as a journal’s aims & scope, its readership, and a review of past content published in the journal. In addition, a single article should always be assessed on its own merits and never based on the metrics of the journal it was published in.
For more details, please read the Author Services guide to understanding journal metrics.
Journal metrics in brief
Usage and acceptance rate data above are for the last full calendar year and are updated annually in February. Speed data is updated every six months, based on the prior six months. Citation metrics are updated annually mid-year. Please note that some journals do not display all of the following metrics (find out why).
- Usage: the total number of times articles in the journal were viewed by users of Taylor & Francis Online in the previous calendar year, rounded to the nearest thousand.
Citation Metrics
- Impact Factor*: the average number of citations received by articles published in the journal within a two-year window. Only journals in the Clarivate Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) and the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) have an Impact Factor.
- Impact Factor Best Quartile*: the journal’s highest subject category ranking in the Journal Citation Reports. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest Impact Factors.
- 5 Year Impact Factor*: the average number of citations received by articles in the journal within a five-year window.
- CiteScore (Scopus)†: the average number of citations received by articles in the journal over a four-year period.
- CiteScore Best Quartile†: the journal’s highest CiteScore ranking in a Scopus subject category. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest CiteScores.
- SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper): the number of citations per paper in the journal, divided by citation potential in the field.
- SJR (Scimago Journal Rank): Average number of (weighted) citations in one year, divided by the number of articles published in the journal in the previous three years.
Speed/acceptance
- From submission to first decision: the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the journal to receive a first decision. Based on manuscripts receiving a first decision in the last six months.
- From submission to first post-review decision: the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the journal to receive a first decision if it is sent out for peer review. Based on manuscripts receiving a post-review first decision in the last six months.
- From acceptance to online publication: the average (median) number of days from acceptance of a manuscript to online publication of the Version of Record. Based on articles published in the last six months.
- Acceptance rate: articles accepted for publication by the journal in the previous calendar year as percentage of all papers receiving a final decision.
For more details on the data above, please read the Author Services guide to understanding journal metrics.
*Copyright: Journal Citation Reports®, Clarivate Analytics
†Copyright: CiteScore™, Scopus
Editorial board
Editor:
Venkat Iyer - Ulster University, UK
Assistant Editor:
Terry Barringer (Book Reviews Editor)
Website Editor:
Debbie Ransome
Editorial Board:
Harriet Aldrich
Amitav Banerji
Peter Clegg
Poppy Cullen
John Elliott
Paul Flather
Anne Gallagher
David Gomez
Oren Gruenbaum (Eye on the Commonwealth Editor)
Gordon Johnson
Alexandra Jones
Beth Kreling
Alex May (Secretary)
James Mayall
Stuart Mole
Keshini Navaratnam
Michael Nazir-Ali
Rita Payne
Debbie Ransome (Website Editor)
James Robbins (Chair)
Mark Robinson
Victoria Schofield
Kayode Soyinka
Melanie Torrent
Jamie Trinidad
Owen Tudor
Carl Wright
Emeritus Members:
Richard Bourne
Meredith Hooper
David Green
International Advisory Board:
James Akampumuza (Uganda)
Sola Akinrinade (Nigeria)
Godfrey Baldacchino (Malta)
Cynthia Barrow-Giles (Barbados)
Anthony Bryan (Trinidad and Tobago/USA)
James Chin (Malaysia/Australia)
Indrajit Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka)
Hugh Craft (Australia)
Sunanda Datta-Ray (India)
Michael Frendo (Malta)
Dayanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)
Wm Roger Louis (USA)
Don Markwell (Australia)
Derek McDougall (Australia)
Henning Melber (Namibia/Sweden)
Eva Namusoke (Uganda)
Matthew Neuhaus (Australia)
Sue Onslow (UK)
Sandra Pepera (Ghana/USA)
Sir Ronald Sanders (Guyana/Antigua and Barbuda)
Tim Shaw (Canada/USA)
Farooq Sobhan (Bangladesh)
Robert Summerby-Murray (New Zealand/Canada)
Joanne Wallis (Australia)
Wang Gungwu (Singapore)
Brenda Yeoh (Singapore)
Yeoh Seng Guan (Malaysia/Australia)
Supported by Overseas Members
Open access
The Round Table is a hybrid open access journal that is part of our Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research.
Why choose open access?
- Increase the discoverability and readership of your article
- Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those with easy access to a research library
- Freely share your work with anyone, anywhere
- Comply with funding mandates and meet the requirements of your institution, employer or funder
- Rigorous peer review for every open access article
Article Publishing Charges (APC)
If you choose to publish open access in this journal you may be asked to pay an Article Publishing Charge (APC). You may be able to publish your article at no cost to yourself or with a reduced APC if your institution or research funder has an open access agreement or membership with Taylor & Francis.
Use our APC finder to calculate your article publishing charge
News, offers and calls for papers
News and offers
6 issues per year
Advertising information
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The Round Table Ltd and our publisher Taylor & Francis make every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the "Content") contained in our publications. However, The Round Table Ltd and our publisher Taylor & Francis, our agents (including the editor, any member of the editorial team or editorial board, and any guest editors), and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by The Round Table Ltd and our publisher Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. The Round Table Ltd and our publisher Taylor & Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to, or arising out of the use of the Content. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions .