Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
An international relations scholar preparing a theoretical framework on global normative orders for submission to the European Journal of International Relations.
- Is an instance
A university evaluation committee reviewing an applicant's publications in the European Journal of International Relations alongside qualitative peer appraisals under DORA guidelines.
Editorial commentary
Quick answer: The European Journal of International Relations (EJIR) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by SAGE Publications on behalf of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) and the European International Studies Association (EISA). Established in 1995, it serves as a leading forum for international relations theory and global politics, holding a 5-year Journal Impact Factor of 4.0 (Clarivate Journal Citation Reports, ranked 22 in International Relations). It operates under print ISSN 1354-0661 and online ISSN 1460-3713.
The European Journal of International Relations is recognized as one of the premier scholarly journals dedicated to theoretical innovation and empirical research in international relations. Managed under a Joint Management Committee representing the ECPR Standing Group on International Relations (SGIR) and EISA, the journal bridges European and global scholarship across world politics.
Journal scope and editorial focus
EJIR publishes peer-reviewed research across all major traditions of international inquiry, including:
- International relations theory, including constructivist, critical, realist, and post-structural approaches
- Global governance, international institutions, and multilateral diplomacy
- International security, conflict dynamics, and peace studies
- Transnational political economy and global public policy (see also what is public policy)
- Historiographical and conceptual developments across broader political science
The journal emphasizes articles that make substantial theoretical contributions to the discipline rather than purely descriptive case studies. Editorial oversight is coordinated by an international editorial team, with submissions subject to double-anonymous peer review.
Bibliometric profile and Journal Impact Factor
Clarivate Analytics indexes EJIR in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), reporting metrics in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR):
- 5-Year Journal Impact Factor: 4.0
- 2-Year Journal Impact Factor: 3.7
- Category Rank: 22 in International Relations (Clarivate Journal Citation Reports)
- Publisher: SAGE Publications in association with ECPR and EISA
- Identifiers: Print ISSN 1354-0661; Online ISSN 1460-3713
The Journal Impact Factor measures the citation frequency of recent articles within a designated two-year window. For theoretical social science journals like EJIR, citations often accrue over a longer duration, making the 5-year JIF and Scopus CiteScore valuable complementary measures of sustained disciplinary influence.
Responsible research assessment
Consistent with the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), academic institutions and funding bodies should not rely on journal impact factors as an evaluative shortcut to judge individual scholarship. Theoretical articles published in EJIR shape conceptual paradigms over decades, requiring qualitative peer review to assess their true intellectual impact.
Sources
- European International Studies Association. European Journal of International Relations overview and call. https://eisa-net.org/ejir/ (read 2026-11-07).
- Crossref. Journal metadata for European Journal of International Relations (ISSN 1354-0661). https://api.crossref.org/journals/1354-0661 (read 2026-11-07).
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
<role vocab="credit"
vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="European Journal of International Relations (EJIR)"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/european-journal-of-international-relations" />{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "DefinedTerm",
"@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/european-journal-of-international-relations",
"name": "European Journal of International Relations (EJIR)",
"identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/european-journal-of-international-relations",
"description": "The European Journal of International Relations (EJIR) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by SAGE Publications on behalf of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) and the European International Studies Association (EISA). Founded in 1995, it publishes theoretical and empirical scholarship in international relations, holding a 5-year Journal Impact Factor of 4.0 and ranking 22nd in International Relations.",
"inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/publishing#set",
"url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/european-journal-of-international-relations",
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"publisher": {
"@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
},
"author": {
"@id": "https://casrai.org/#editorial-team"
},
"datePublished": "2026-11-08T01:08:52",
"dateModified": "2026-11-08T01:08:52",
"inLanguage": "en-GB",
"isAccessibleForFree": true
}
