“International policy and politics are ‘par excellence’ a matter which needs international communicability”: this was the rationale behind the decision, in 1966, to publish an English “supplement” to Lo Spettatore Internazionale, the new journal of the Rome-based think tank Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), founded by Altiero Spinelli the year before.
Fifty-seven years on, the journal’s original mission of broadening the debate beyond national barriers does not simply live on, it has expanded. The International Spectator has become a standalone, peer-reviewed platform for scholarly debate for students of international relations and international affairs from all across the world. While its editorship is firmly rooted in the spirit and expertise of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, the vast majority of the contributors to The International Spectator are based outside Italy and, increasingly, Europe. As evidence of its international standing, the journal is included in the top 25 per cent in rankings such as SCImago and Scopus CiteScore in the subject category Political Science and International Relations, and is also part of Clarivate’s Emerging Sources Citation Index.
This is not to say that The International Spectator’s mission is accomplished. As the editors of the journal, we are strongly committed not only to constantly improving the quality of published content, but also to further widening participation, diversity and debate. In the last few years, this commitment has been reflected in a number of initiatives to improve the gender balance in both the journal’s governing bodies and among its authors, and to encourage submissions from scholars at all career stages and from all world regions. We established a policy of having at least one female reviewer for peer-reviewed articles, in order to connect with a wider network of women scholars; we issued calls for special ‘cores’ of articles reserved for early career scholars, also inviting them to act as guest editors; and – in line with our original identity as an English-language journal edited in a non-English-speaking country – we provide copy-editing, including language editing, to all authors of accepted articles free of charge.
In parallel, an effort has been made to increase the dissemination of the research outputs published in The International Spectator to a wider and more diverse audience. To this end, we launched a blog (www.theinternationalspectator.com), where shorter posts based on selected scholarly articles are published on a regular basis, as well as a podcast channel. The journal also has its own Twitter and Instagram accounts, with updates on the journal’s latest content and activities.
In 2023, a number of additional changes will be introduced, aimed at adopting new best practices in terms of accountability, governance and diversity. Since January, the journal has launched its own peer-review platform, through which all submissions will be processed, screened and peer-reviewed. By the end of the year, a new governance mechanism will be in place, according to which all roles in the journal’s governing bodies – including the Editorial Board, International Advisory Board and Editorial Committee – will be appointed by the Istituto Affari Internazionali for a fixed term of three years (renewable). A new scheme aimed at facilitating the submission process for early career scholars will be launched, providing extra support and mentoring in the pre-review stage. Finally, the journal’s editors plan to attend a number of international conferences and events, in an effort to further widen the network of international collaboration of the journal.
It is our hope that, thanks to these initiatives, the journal will continue to work successfully towards its fundamental aim of enabling participation “in the debate on international politics” among “scholars and politicians of all countries”, holding true to its founders’ vision.