Author Guidelines
Recommendations to authors before submitting an article
The journal Comparative Politics Russia accepts original author's manuscripts which consider the research topics from political-comparative and political-theoretical perspectives. Topical issues of international relations are welcome. The Editorial Board accepts articles of 25-40 000 symbols (without metadata).
Manuscripts are accepted in electronic form. To submit a manuscript, an author should first register at https://www.sravpol.ru/jour/user/register.
The Editorial Board accepts research and review articles as well as book reviews (critical analysis of recently published monographs).
Submitting an article to the Comparative Politics Russia implies that:
- the article has not been previously published in another journal;
- the article is not under consideration in another journal;
- all co-authors agree with the publication of the current version of the article.
When publishing, the Editorial Board — other things being equal — gives preference to research of an individual nature.
Before submitting an article for review, please make sure that the file(s) contains all the necessary information in Russian and English, sources of information in figures and tables are indicated and all citations are correct.
The submitted manuscript should meet the following requirements:
A research or review article (length without metadata 25-40 000 symbols)
The structure of a research article
Title. All aspects of the article should be combined and expressed as concisely as possible in the title. If the title is inconsistent with the style and/or content of the manuscript, the editors reserve the right to change the title of the article.
Author's full name. If the manuscript is prepared collectively, the names of the authors may be listed alphabetically or in the order corresponding to the contribution to the study.
The names of people who are not authors but who provided support should be listed in the Acknowledgments section.
Names in English should be given according to the foreign passport or as it was given in previously published articles. If the author does not have a foreign passport nor publications, the LC standard should be used for transliteration of the surname and first name.
Author’s affiliation. The name of the organization should be used without its postal address. Multiple affiliations are permitted. Authors should indicate the organizations that are directly related to the conduct of the research.
According to the internal regulations, authors representing structural subdivisions of MGIMO, in case of conducting research on the basis of the University, should use the following wording as a brief affiliation in Russian – МГИМО МИД России, and in English - MGIMO University.
Abstract (250-300 words). An abstract is a self-contained, short and powerful statement that describes the article. It should include the purpose, research question, methods, and results of the study.
Keywords (8-10). The use of single words should be avoided, favoring word combinations that will help a reader find the article faster through search engines.
Introduction (What is the purpose and intent of the study?).
Research Article:
The introduction should include the purpose of the study, a research question, a rationale, a critical review of the literature on the question (reflecting alternative answers to the research question found in other research studies), the author's original hypothesis, the methods used in the study to substantiate or refute the hypothesis, and an outline of the paper.
Review Article:
The introduction should state the purposes of the review and posit a research question or a hypothesis to be tested. The criteria for inclusion of research papers in the review should be outlined. All potentially useful papers, both published and unpublished, should be identified. The methodology used by the author while reviewing the selected literature should be described.
Methodology (What was done). This section should outline what was done to get the results of the research. The use of subheadings would be helpful to reflect different stages or parts of the research process.
Review Article:
The literature should be analyzed using either qualitative (e.g., comparison) or quantitative methods (e.g., using scientometrics). The use of subheadings is recommended.
Results.
Research Article:
This section should outline the results obtained. Just as in the main part, subheadings should be used to reflect each finding separately. The results should be presented in a logical order, i.e. in the order of their significance, which does not necessarily coincide with the order of their presentation in the text. Past tense verbs should be used to describe results, and present tense verbs should be used to describe figures and tables. The use of figures and tables to reflect the results of the study is welcome.
Review Article:
The results of the analysis should be presented clearly and convincingly via narrative, tables, and figures.
Discussion (What does it all mean?)
Research Article:
The conclusions should be considered in order from the most important to the least important. The author's findings should be compared with those of other studies to find out whether they are inconsistent. If so, possible reasons for the differences should be stated. It is desirable to list the diverging findings and to explain them. Additional research may be suggested to clarify the findings. It is necessary to briefly describe the limitations of the study in order to show that the author has taken into account all possible shortcomings of the research. Many authors are reluctant to perform this type of work, because they believe that thus they point out their weaknesses to the editor and reviewer. Nevertheless, this leaves a rather positive impression of the study, as it indicates the author's deep understanding of the chosen topic and their unbiased view of the text. In this regard, one should highlight the significance that the findings may have for researchers in this field of knowledge, researchers in other areas of study, and a wide range of readers. How can the findings be applied in practice? It is desirable to explain how the findings have extended existing knowledge on the research topic. If the results are interim, it is useful to suggest what further research is required.
Review Article:
Key findings should be interpreted. These conclusions are expected to deepen the understanding of the topic, not simply repeat already known information. The author should describe the relevance of these findings for further research, and explain how these findings extend the results of past research.
Conclusion
The main findings of the study should be stated again.
Information about the author(s)
Full name, academic degree, academic title, occupation, affiliation, ORCID, e-mail and postal address should be indicated.
Conflict of interest statement. Conflict of interest refers to such conditions and factors that can influence editorial decision making. Personal, political, financial, scientific, or religious factors may affect objectivity.
The author must notify the editor of actual or potential conflict of interest by including relevant information in the appropriate section of the article.
If there is no conflict of interest, the author must also disclose it. Example wording: "The author declares the absence of conflict of interest".
Acknowledgments. This section includes all sources of funding for the research, as well as acknowledgements to people who contributed to the article but are not authors. Contributing to the work on the article implies giving recommendations for improving the research, providing space for it, departmental supervision, and financial support.
List of references in Russian. This section should contain only research literature. References to statistical data, reports, regulatory legal acts, and Internet resources are formalized in the form of footnotes. The list should be arranged in alphabetical order and numbered. The list of references clearly shows the research field to which the article belongs and characterizes the research framework of the article. This framework should be relevant to the research question and at the same time should not be limited by it.
Information about the article in English should be given in the following order:
Title of the article
Information about the author(s)
Abstract
Key words
References
Review Article:
A book review is a critical analysis of a recently published book, usually a monograph. Reviews of monographs published the present or the previous year are accepted for publication in the present year issues.
Introduction (why was this particular book chosen?). The relevance of the book from the point of view of world and/or Russian policy, theory and practice of international relations should be explained.
Description (what is this book about?). It is recommended to adhere to the following structure:
- Problems touched upon
- Main arguments
- Methods
- Theories used
- Type of data
- Style of presentation
- Possible sources of bias
- Limitations
- Target audience
Critique. Internal critique aims at reflecting contradictions in the reviewed study such as inconsistency of the research question with the research design, type of data, theory and methods.
Contextual critique is aimed at reflecting contradictions between the reviewed paper and its context formed by other studies on the same problem. The novelty and relevance of the conclusions drawn should be assessed from the standpoint of existing knowledge.
Conclusion. It is necessary to outline the main points of strength and weakness of the study and to give it a final assessment.
Information about the author(s). Full name, academic degree, academic title, occupation, affiliation, ORCID, e-mail and postal address should be indicated.
Conflict of interest statement. Conflict of interest refers to such conditions and factors that can influence editorial decision making. Personal, political, financial, scientific, or religious factors may affect objectivity.
The author must notify the editor of actual or potential conflict of interest by including relevant information in the appropriate section of the article.
If there is no conflict of interest, the author must also disclose it. Example wording: "The author declares the absence of conflict of interest".
Acknowledgments. This section includes all sources of funding for the research, as well as acknowledgements to people who contributed to the article but are not authors. Contributing to the work on the article implies giving recommendations for improving the research, providing space for it, departmental supervision, and financial support.
List of references in Russian. This section should contain only research literature. References to statistical data, reports, regulatory legal acts, and Internet resources are formalized in the form of footnotes. The list should be arranged in alphabetical order and numbered. The list of references clearly shows the research field to which the article belongs and characterizes the research framework of the article. This framework should be relevant to the research question and at the same time should not be limited by it.
Manuscripts should be edited and written in academic language. A failure to meet the requirements is a reason to decline the publication. The journal publishes only reviews of those books, the original copies of which are available in the Editorial Office.
Technical requirements
Format. The manuscript should be printed in Microsoft Word format (with the extension *.doc, *.docx, *.rtf).
The article’s length (without title, abstract, reference list and information about the author) should be from 32 to 80 thousand characters (including spaces). The volume of the review without metadata - from 20 to 40 thousand characters (including spaces).
Page layout: left - 3 cm, right - 1.5 cm, top and bottom - 2 cm each, font - Times New Roman, 14 point, list of references - 12 point, footnotes - 10 point, interval in the text – 1,5, in the list of references and footnotes - 1.
Figures. Figures should be of good quality, suitable for printing. All figures should have captions with translation into English. Figures are numbered with Arabic numerals according to the sequence in the text. If there is only one figure in the text, it is not numbered. References to the figures are formalized as follows: "Fig. 3 indicates that ..." or "It is indicated that ... (see Fig. 3)". The caption includes the number of the figure and its title. It is aligned in the center: "Figure 2. Description of vital processes." Do not put a dot after the caption. The English translation of the caption should be placed after the caption in Russian.
Tables. Tables should be of good quality, suitable for printing. Editable tables are preferred, rather than scanned or drawn. All tables should have headings. The table title should be translated into English. Tables should be numbered in Arabic numerals in order of their presentation in the text. If there is only one table in the article, it is not numbered. References to tables shall be formatted as follows: "Table 3 states that ..." or "It is stated that ... (see Table 3)". The table heading includes the table serial number and its title. It is aligned in the center: "Table 2. Description of vital processes." Do not put a dot after the table title. Translation of the table title should be placed after the table title in Russian.
Photos. Photos, screenshots and other non-drawn illustrations should be uploaded separately in a special section of the article submission form as *.jpeg, *.bmp, *.gif files (*.doc and *.docx if the image has additional marks). Image resolution should be >300 dpi. Image files should be given a title corresponding to the number of the figure in the text. The file description should include a separate caption, which should correspond to the name of the picture placed in the text. Only black-and-white figures and graphs may be used.
Footnotes. Footnotes are numbered with Arabic numerals and placed page by page automatically. Footnotes may include references to anonymous sources on the Internet, references to textbooks, manuals, normative documents, statistical reports, articles in periodical socio-political publications, abstracts, dissertations, and the author’s notes. All primary sources including archival documents, normative documents, memoirs, etc. are placed in the footnotes.
References and reference list. The journal uses the Harvard citation format, which implies the author's surname, year of publication, and page of citation put in parentheses. The reference list must include only peer-reviewed sources (articles from research journals and monographs) mentioned in the text of the article. It is undesirable to include in the list of references abstracts, dissertations, textbooks, manuals, information from websites, statistical reports, and articles in socio-political newspapers, websites and blogs. If reference to such information is necessary, it should go in a footnote. When describing a source, its DOI should be given if it can be found (for foreign sources this can be done in 95% of cases).
References to articles accepted for publication but not yet published should be marked as "in press"; authors should obtain a written permission to cite such documents and a confirmation that they have been accepted for publication. Information from unpublished sources should be labeled as "unpublished data/documents"; authors should also obtain a written permission to use such material. References to journal articles must include the year of publication, journal volume and number, and page numbers. The description of each source should include all authors. References should be verified, and output data should be checked on the official website of journals and/or publishers.
Translation of the reference list into English is required. Russian-language literature in the References section must be transliterated in Latin with a translation of the title into English. After the description of the Russian-language source, an indication of the paper language is placed at the end of the reference: (In Russian). The LC standard should be used for transliteration of authors' names and journal titles.
Acceptance of a manuscript for consideration does not guarantee its publication, as it goes through peer-reviewing and editing. The Editorial Board reserves the right to edit and shorten materials.
Two files of an article should be sent to the Editorial Office: one containing all information about the author (see above) and one without author’s data for anonymous review by experts in the field.
