The prize for the 2025 Article Award is publication on E-International Relations and £1500 (GBP) in scholarly books and subscriptions, provided courtesy of our sponsors.

Each year, E-International Relations invites PhD / doctoral students (at any stage), research-track Masters students, and early career academics (within 5 years of submitting their PhD) to prepare articles outlining novel, or under appreciated, ideas that contribute to a better understanding of international relations. The award welcomes articles on the widest range of topics, so long as they connect their subject matter to a global or regional issue, with the aim of sparking debate that will contribute towards real-world outcomes. We welcome empirical, political, historical, legal and diplomatic approaches, as well as articles that discuss theoretical and disciplinary issues in an accessible way. As the purpose of this award is to communicate new ideas to the widest possible audience, entrants must avoid writing in an abstract or overly jargon-laden manner. Papers must be concise, written to engage any informed reader – including non-specialists. The criteria we have placed below will assist entrants in writing in a suitable way for the award.

Prize details

Shortlisted papers will be copy-edited and published on E-International Relations and promoted across all our social media channels to allow the ideas expressed to reach our audience of 3+ million readers. From the shortlisted candidates, one paper will be awarded and win book vouchers and digital subscriptions to the value of £1500, shared across our sponsors – Edinburgh University Press, Polity, Sage, Bloomsbury, Manchester University Press, Palgrave Macmillan and Bristol University Press.

About our sponsors

Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish books and journals across a range of subject areas in the humanities and social sciences. Our Politics & International Relations list spans the globe and features some of the world’s most valued political scientists, philosophers and thinkers. You can sign up for our Politics and International Relations newsletter.

Polity is one of the world’s leading publishers in politics and international relations. We publish many of the key scholars in the field and our list has earned a reputation for innovative, cutting-edge think-pieces, as well as outstanding textbooks. See our latest catalogue.

Palgrave Macmillan publishes award-winning and impactful research across the humanities and social sciences. Powered by Springer, SpringerLink, our content platform, allows us to make all our books accessible on any device. The winner will be able to claim books published by any of the imprints that Springer Nature publishes.

Sage is a global academic publisher of books, journals, and library resources with a growing range of technologies to enable discovery, access, and engagement. Discover our textbooks and explore our Learning Resources.

Bloomsbury is a leading independent publishing house, established in 1986, with authors who have won the Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker Prizes. The Politics & International Relations list engages with global issues covering political theory, international and diplomatic history, security studies, conflict resolution and government policy.

Manchester University Press is home to the most transformative research from established and emerging scholars. They publish key series on political economy, diplomacy, Russian grand strategy, Middle Eastern geopolitics and more, and offer two distinct digital collections for libraries.

Bristol University Press Digital offers access to over 2,000 books and 8,000 journal articles, including 750+ open access resources. The platform features themed e-collections aligned with global social challenges and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, supporting researchers and practitioners with high-impact, accessible scholarship.

Entry criteria

1) Applicants must be a single author who is enrolled as a PhD student/candidate (at any stage), on a Research-track Masters, or be an early-career academic who has been awarded their PhD within the last 5 years (we can give or take a little here, so don’t worry too much if you are marginally outside this). We do not allow co-authored or group authored articles for this award.

2) Papers must be between 3500–5000 words, including references and citations. As references are included in the word count, keep referencing and quotation to a minimum and only cite where you are directly referring to essential literature/ideas.

3) You must write about a subject that you have academic insight on (due to your own primary research and/or data collection) and do so in a manner that allows your ideas to be understood by as wide an audience as possible.

4) If you are currently volunteering as an editor (any position) with E-International Relations, you are ineligible to enter this award.

5) The deadline for receipt of your paper is 7 September 2025.

You must format your article as follows

• Prepare your article in Microsoft Word format (.docx) in well written, well edited, publishable English (any variant is fine).
• Include a bio (20–100 words) that details academic/professional affiliations, titles, positions and preferred pronouns (as applicable). We are happy for you to include notable publications and web/social links.
• Shape a catchy title that directly describes the content. It must be 80 characters or less and in Title Case.
• Do not indent the first sentences of paragraphs. Leave one clear line of space between each paragraph.
• Referencing should be via embedded hyperlinks and/or the Chicago Manual of Style’s author-date system.
• We do not allow footnotes or endnotes in any form (for referencing, or otherwise).
• Your article must not exceed 5000 words, inclusive of references and citations.
• Indent quotes longer than two lines. Do not italicise quotations.
• Do not use a double space after each period / full stop (single space please).
• If you have used images, figures or tables, compile these at the bottom of your article and number them. If used, these must be integral to the content and be created/owned by you, or supplied with attribution and a destination link to the source confirming it is public domain.

Please prepare your article in one Microsoft word format (.docx) attachment. The first page of your attachment should contain the title of your article, mark out that is is an entrant for the 2025 Article Award, and contain a short narrative style biography (see format guide above). Email it to submissions.e.ir@gmail.com. You must clearly title your email ‘Article Award Entry’.

---

Papers must be received by 7 September 2025. We will inform all entrants of our decision before the end of September.

There are no charges, or any hidden costs, for any aspect of entering the award. Our Publishing Agreement is available here. Copyright remains with you, the author.

---

If you would like to help us promote the award, you can download/print our poster, and share this web page across your networks.