Policy of the journal

General Provisions

The Journal is a peer-reviewed scholarly publication, founded in 1992, and published by Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.
ISSN: 1563-0285
eISSN: 2618-1215
Frequency: 4 issues per year (quarterly).

Publication Frequency and Schedule

The Journal is published four times a year in an online (electronic) format according to the following schedule:

Issue 1: by 20 March of the current year;
Issue 2: by 20 June;
Issue 3: by 20 September;
Issue 4: by 20 December.

Aims and Scope

The Journal publishes original research findings and analytical reviews in political science, international relations, international law, and regional studies, including (but not limited to) the following areas:

international relations and foreign policy;
global and regional security;
international and national law in an international context;
global political processes;
world economy and regional integration (in connection with political processes and international relations);
regional studies: current issues of regions and macro-regions in the context of international processes and foreign policy.

Language Policy and Metadata Requirements

Manuscripts are accepted in Kazakh, Russian, or English. For each article, author information (full name, affiliation, country, contact details) and identification of the corresponding author are mandatory.
Mandatory requirement for all articles: the title, abstract, and keywords must be provided in three languages – Kazakh, Russian, and English – regardless of the language of the main text.
The bibliography is formatted according to the language of the main text: “Әдебиеттер (Adebietter)” (Kazakh), “Литература (Literatura)” (Russian), and “References” (English). For articles in Kazakh and Russian, an additional “References” section in English is mandatory, where bibliographic data are provided in Latin script (transliteration) and, where necessary, the translated title is given in square brackets. For articles with the main text in English, no additional transliteration and no bibliography formatting in Kazakh or Russian are required.

Manuscript Submission and Length Requirements

Manuscripts are submitted by the corresponding author via the Journal’s online platform (OJS) with completed metadata for the article and all co-authors. Communication “editorial office – author – reviewers” is conducted via OJS; in exceptional cases, via email.
Recommended submission time: at least 2 months prior to the planned publication date of the nearest issue.
Recommended manuscript length: 3,000–7,000 words (excluding the title, author information, abstract, keywords, and references).
An article by the same author (single-authored or co-authored) may be published no more than once per calendar year.

Originality, Simultaneous Submission, and Duplicate Publication

Only original manuscripts that have not been published previously and are not under consideration elsewhere are accepted. Authors are responsible for accuracy, scientific novelty, and proper use of data and citations.
Duplicate publication, substantial undisclosed text recycling (self-plagiarism), citation manipulation, and other forms of publication misconduct are not permitted.

Authorship and Contribution

Authorship is attributed to researchers who made a substantial contribution to the study concept, research conduct, analysis/interpretation of results, and manuscript preparation.
The corresponding author confirms that all co-authors approved the submission and the final version.
Changes to authorship (addition/removal/reordering) after submission are permitted only upon a reasoned request by the corresponding author, with written consent from all co-authors, and subject to an editorial decision.

Conflicts of Interest and Funding

Authors must disclose potential conflicts of interest (financial and non-financial) and funding/support sources (if applicable).
Reviewers and editors must declare conflicts of interest and recuse themselves where such conflicts exist; the manuscript is assigned to another editor/reviewer.

Plagiarism and Text Similarity Policy

Manuscripts are screened for text similarity using tools available to the Journal.
Manuscripts proceed to peer review only if the originality level is above 80% (based on screening results) and citations are properly formatted.
If improper borrowing is identified, the editorial office may request corrections, reject the manuscript, or initiate post-publication actions (correction/expression of concern/retraction).

Peer Review

The Journal applies double-blind peer review. Each manuscript is sent to at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise.
Peer review is confidential: authors do not receive reviewers’ identities; reviewers receive manuscripts without author identification.
Reviewers evaluate scholarly significance, originality, methodology, quality of argumentation, accuracy of references, and alignment with the Journal’s scope.
Possible decisions: accept; accept with revisions; further review; reject.
In case of divergent reviews (one positive and one negative), the manuscript may be sent to a third reviewer; the final decision is made by the responsible (academic) editor / handling editor.
Recommended peer-review timeframe: up to 2 months from the date the manuscript is sent to reviewers.

Editorial Decision, Revision, and Resubmission

Reviewers’ comments are sent to the corresponding author via OJS. Authors submit:

a revised manuscript;
a point-by-point response to reviewers’ comments.
Author(s) may withdraw the manuscript from consideration by notifying the editorial office via OJS.

Complaints and Appeals

Author(s) may submit a reasoned complaint or appeal regarding an editorial decision via OJS/editorial email. Appeals are considered by the responsible editor and/or editorial board; where necessary, an additional independent assessment is appointed. The decision is recorded and communicated to the corresponding author.

Publication Ethics and Editorial Actions

The Journal adheres to academic integrity principles and international publication ethics standards, including COPE approaches.
Violations include plagiarism, fabrication/falsification of data, unethical authorship practices, undisclosed conflicts of interest, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, and other violations of publication ethics (publication misconduct).
Where misconduct is suspected, the editorial office may request explanations/materials, suspend the review process, and/or appoint an additional assessment.

Corrections, Expression of Concern, and Retraction

If errors or potential violations are identified after publication, the editorial office applies post-publication actions: correction (erratum/corrigendum), expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the nature of the issue and the degree of substantiation.
An expression of concern is issued where there are substantiated doubts regarding reliability/accuracy/ethical compliance, but the inquiry is not yet completed. Following the outcome, the editorial office decides whether to remove the expression of concern, publish a correction, or proceed with a retraction.
In the event of retraction, the article is not removed: it remains part of the scholarly record, is marked “Retracted,” and a separate notice is published with date and rationale; where possible, the PDF is labeled accordingly.

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automated Tools

The use of AI as an auxiliary tool (language editing, translation, formatting, bibliography preparation, technical data processing) is permitted subject to mandatory author verification.
If AI was used, author(s) must disclose this in the cover letter upon submission, specifying the tool and the purpose of use. Upon request, author(s) provide additional information to ensure publication transparency.
AI cannot be listed as an author/co-author. Authors bear responsibility for content accuracy, referencing, and ethical compliance.
AI must not be used for fabrication/falsification of data, creation of fictitious references/sources, or presenting unverified generated text as research results.
Uploading unpublished manuscripts, reviews, or editorial correspondence to third-party AI services is prohibited where it violates confidentiality or applicable rules.

Open Access and Licensing

The Journal provides open access to published materials on the official website; articles are available in full text.
Publications are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Reuse is permitted with mandatory attribution and a reference to the original source (Journal, issue/year, DOI if available) within the license terms.

Copyright and Self-Archiving

Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal the right of first publication.
Authors may deposit the published article elsewhere (institutional repositories, personal pages, academic networks) with a mandatory reference to the original publication in the Journal.

DOI and Metadata (Crossref)

Each published article is assigned a DOI; registration is performed via Crossref to ensure persistent identification, accurate citation, and long-term accessibility.

Article Processing Charge (APC)

For manuscripts accepted for publication, an APC of 60,000 KZT per article is established.
The fee is charged after acceptance; payment does not influence editorial decisions and does not replace peer review.
Proof of payment (receipt in PDF or JPEG) must be sent to the editorial office email address.

Archiving and Long-Term Preservation

The Journal provides access to current issues and the archive on the website. The editorial office seeks to ensure long-term digital preservation using available technical solutions for OJS and/or institutional preservation mechanisms.

Confidentiality and Personal Data

Authors’ personal data are used solely within the editorial process and for publication of necessary bibliographic information.
The editorial office does not disclose information about manuscripts under consideration to third parties, except appointed reviewers.
Reviewers’ identities are not disclosed to authors or third parties.