Political Violence @ A Glance is an online magazine that answers questions on the most pressing problems related to political violence and its alternatives. Our goal is to use rigorous research to improve policies and practices in ways that help reduce conflict and build lasting peace.
We aim to ensure that our posts are timely, important, and high-quality; that they include the proper framing and necessary details (and don’t include unnecessary details); and that they are both authoritative and accessible. We place a premium on drawing out policy relevance, making sure articles are readable, and that main messages and policy implications come out strongly.
We accept posts on a wide variety of topics and encourage submissions from experts across varying disciplines. Posts should reflect new thinking, careful analysis, and clear writing that can be translated into action to improve practice.
Why submit to PV@G?
- Contribute to policy impact: While peer-reviewed journals are important for advancing the academic field, we believe that reducing conflict and building lasting peace requires practical insights and knowledge, anchored in evidence, that is relevant for policymakers. This magazine is a place for you to share your expertise on these essential policy and practice issues.
- Flexibility and innovation: We offer flexibility and innovation that other platforms don’t—you can say what you want to say, take risks, and find your voice in public policy debates. All of this will help promote your research and your career, and increase your impact outside the ivory tower.
- Streamlined peer review. Our editorial office will provide authors a summary of issues raised by reviewers to address in revisions, when needed, and will send feedback to authors within two weeks of submission (and usually less).
- Editorial assistance: We can provide editorial support to make your posts compelling, elegant, and readable.
- Rapid publication. We generally publish articles within 1-3 weeks of submission, depending on the degree of revision and editorial support needed; and we work with authors when helpful to time publication to sync with important global events.
Publication Criteria
Accepted articles typically have the following attributes:
- Hasn’t been published in other news outlets.
- Is targeted firstly to policy and general audiences, and secondly to academic audiences.
- Offers provocative, compelling insights
- Is grounded in evidence
What we won’t publish:
- Posts that are written in a heavy academic style.
- Posts that simply summarize an academic book or article.
- Self-promotion masquerading as a post.
- Posts with footnotes. Hyperlinks should be used in their place.
- Posts that exceed 1,000 words.
Types of Articles
We generally consider the following article types, but we will consider ideas for other article types as well.
Analysis These posts analyze current events through the prism of research, and draw links between what happens in one country, and what has happened in others. These pieces often (1) pose a why questions which it then seeks to answer, (2) shows that this is part of a larger phenomenon, and (3) explains why this is the case by referencing academic literature.
Notes from the field These posts are written by experts based in or reporting from the field (the location of the phenomenon they are writing about); are newsy, focus on a specific city, country, and aim to put what’s happening in context, citing scholarly research and experiences elsewhere.
Q&As We will occasionally publish interviews with experts, and accept interviews with either one expert as the focus, or dialogues between experts, in either written form or in the form of a podcast. PV@G reserves the right to condense and edit interviews for punch, and also solicits and conducts interviews.
Viewpoints PVG occasionally publishes commentary from experts that is anchored in rigorous academic research and analysis but also reflects the views of the experts themselves.
Your 5 Questions Answered In these posts, we take something in the news and ask experts to come back with their quick answers. We prefer to publish answers either from a group of three or from a single expert. Questions should be simple, and have real-world policy relevance.
Review Process
All articles submitted to be PV@G are reviewed by our editorial team usually within two weeks of submission. The role of the reviewers is to recommend acceptance–either with or without revision–or rejection, and to make suggestions for ways the article can be strengthened.
Editorial Process
All accepted articles are edited for length, flow, tone, and clarity. The editors are committed to working in partnership with contributors on edits; however they make the final decisions regarding style, title, and length.
Writing Tips
- Keep our key audience of policymakers in mind. Ours is not a forum for academics to talk to each other about the ins and outs of academia. Ours is a platform to advance ideas that can make a difference in policy and practice today. In what way does your analysis matter for them?
- Write clearly. Use clear, straightforward language and simple sentence structure.
- Be concise. We prefer posts that are 900 words or less. Break up long sentences with shorter ones. Cut out unnecessary words, sentences, or paragraphs.
- Personality is good. One of the things that sets PV@G apart is that we want to do what we do with personality. Be fun—we want to be something people not only feel they should read, but want to read.
How to Submit Your Post for Consideration:
Email your submission to Managing Editor, Lindsay Morgan, at: pvglance@gmail.com
We will review the submission and email you within two weeks if it has been accepted, rejected, or given a revise and resubmit. Note that if your post is accepted, we reserve the right to edit it for grammar and clarity and to change the title if necessary.