About the Journal

Focus and Scope

Carta Internacional is the journal of the Brazilian Association of International Relations (ABRI), dedicated to publishing scientific articles about international relations. It aims to promote qualified intellectual debate about important international issues that within the ABRI are organized in seven analytical axes: Theory of International Relations; International Institutions; International Security, Strategic Studies and Defense Policy; International Political Economy; Foreign Policy Analysis; History of International Relations and Foreign Policy; Teaching and Research in International Relations. The journal’s scope comprises these analytical axes, and works by Brazilian and foreign researchers dealing with issues and problems related to them are most welcome. Carta Internacional publishes original and innovative articles within the analytical axes mentioned above, and is open to a wide variety of theoretical and methodological traditions. However, contributions which do not emphasize international or cross-border issues, problems and phenomena, defined as pertaining to the international studies agenda, are out of the journal’s scope.

Carta Internacional is a quarterly journal that receives contributions in an ongoing flow in the form of unpublished scientific articles written in Portuguese, English or Spanish. All submissions should be made online and follow the guidelines for authors detailed in Submissions. The journal maintains a high-quality standard and, with scientific quality being the first and more important criterion for assessing contributions. Before submitting, please make sure that the manuscript strictly follows the standards defined in the Guidelines for Authors.

In general, we recommend that the manuscripts have the following characteristics:

- Present a clear and concise argument, highlighting its scientific contribution to the field of International Relations;

- Be based on current and cutting-edge literature, which expresses the state of the art in the subject area of the article;

- Present clearly structured arguments and pertinent evidence;

- Have a final section (Conclusion) that adequately summarizes the content and analyzes the results of the article, possibly introducing an agenda for further research;

- Be written clearly and observe the correct use of grammar and academic language in Portuguese, English or Spanish. In addition, the journal’s publication criteria must be strictly observed.

Peer Review Process

Carta Internacional submits all contributions to double-blind peer review. The Editorial Team will designate two external reviewers for each article, according to the following criteria: academic background, area of expertise, scientific production in the subject area of the article, absence of conflicts of interest and institutional diversity. The process can take up to 160 days and includes three stages:

1) All submitted manuscripts are analyzed by the editors and evaluated in relation to their adherence to the journal’s scope and editorial policy, scientific consistency and writing standards.

2) If approved in the first stage, manuscripts will be submitted to similarity-detection mechanisms, involving the identification of excerpts of the manuscript that have been previously published by the author or anyone else. In this stage, the Editorial Team will use Similarity Check. After this procedure and if approved at this stage, the manuscript will be submitted to scientific arbitration.

3) The contributions approved in the second stage will be assigned to external referees in a double-blind process. External referees will be assigned considering the following criteria: academic background, area of expertise, academic production in the subject area of the article; absence of conflict of interest and institutional diversity. External referees may recommend full acceptance, acceptance with modifications, or refusal. In cases of disparate evaluation by peer reviewers, the manuscript will be assigned to a third referee. Acceptance with modification does not guarantee the publication of the manuscript, which will depend on meeting the referees’ and editors’ requests. In this case, the editorial team may resend the manuscript to the referees. In case of refusal, the manuscript may not be submitted again even with modifications.

Publication Frequency

Carta Internacional is a quarterly journal, with an average number of 10 articles published per issue since volume 10, number 01, in 2015. Since the volume 16, number 01, in 2021, the journal has adopted the model of continuous publication, maintaining the publication of three issues per year.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Publication Ethics Statement

The editorial board of Carta Internacional structures its editorial policies based on the international guidelines and principles of good and bad editorial practices, expressed on the documents Core Practices, from the COPE (Comittee on Publication Ethics); and Responsible research publication: international standards for editors (2011), drafted during the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity. Therefore, it affirms its commitment to the integrity, clarity and observance of the standards established by these documents for the good management of scientific journals, subscribing bellow the most relevant:

• Guarantee of confidentiality in the evaluation process of the papers concerning to the identity of the authors and reviewers.

• Assertiveness and compliance with the double blind procedures related to the peer review, preventing situations that could constitute conflicts of interests between the parties involved in the editorial process;

• If are identified conflicts of interest between the parties or misconduct of the involved it the editorial process, such as falsification, fabrication or distortion of data and research results, or plagiarism, for example, it is assured the adoption of the procedures stated by the COPE (Comittee on Publication Ethics) for the resolution of ethical problems;

• Guarantee of zeal for the intellectual property of the authors.

In the same way, the editorial board of the Carta Internacional values that these same principles which guide the editorial policy are observed and followed by the authors and reviewers that collaborated with the journal. As a way to assure this, it is taken as a reference the standards described in international documents about the conduct of reviewers and authors:

• Authors: transparency and honesty in the structuration and presentation of the methodologies used on the papers, as well as the results founded by the research; guarantee of unpublished and original work; appropriate mention to coauthors and collaborators who have participated in its construction; anonymity until the termination of the double blind evaluation process.

These guidelines are in accordance with the document Responsible research publication: international standards for authors (2011), drafted during the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity.

• Reviewers: evaluation based on the proposal’s scientific merit; acceptation of the evaluation request just under the verification of expertise for the evaluation of the proposed topic; observance of the demanded confidentiality during the process of double blind peer review, keeping from revealing information to other professionals about the evaluation process; denunciation of conflicts of interest related to the evaluation; impartiality regarding to political or religious aspects, for example, that could permeate the analysis of the proposed topic. All referees are external to the journal's editorial team.

These guidelines are in accordance with the document COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers (2013), drafted by the Comittee on Publication Ethics.

Through the commitment to these standards and principles, the Carta Internacional reaffirms its objective of diffusing scientific knowledge production with the required impartiality and quality during the editorial process, which contribute to the exchange of knowledge among researchers in international relations.

Archiving Policy

Carta Internacional is digitally preserved by PKP Preservation Network (PK PN).

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Social Networks

Sponsors

Since 2006, the Journal, Carta Internacional, has received financial support from ABRI.

• Associação Brasileira de Relações Internacionais (ABRI)

Journal History

Created in 1993 by the Nucleus of Research in International Relations of USP (NRIR), the International Letter followed the process of expansion and consolidation of the field of International Relations in Brazil. At the time of its creation the exponential multiplication of undergraduate courses had not even begun. At that time, the International Letter fulfilled the role of dissemination of information and a vehicle for debate among researchers, in the form of a newsletter that monthly discussed important subjects of international politics. For a decade it combined, in the words of its creator, Professor José Augusto Guilhon Albuquerque, "the tones of journalism and academic analysis." This was a very important combination that, at the same time, made it possible to point out the political and social relevance of the broader agenda of International Relations and the need for rigorous and academically informed political analysis. It was the perfect vehicle for a time when the field of knowledge was constituted as such; In fact, the International Letter contributed to the consolidation of vocabulary, research procedures and disciplinary boundaries of the emerging field of IR in Brazil.

Ten years later, the International Letter would be restructured as a scientific journal. Its reach was already national, collecting contributions and mobilizing readers from all regions of the country. The establishment of this new format coincided with the creation of the Brazilian Association of International Relations (ABRI). It is not, however, a mere coincidence. Both the creation of ABRI and the restructuring of the International Letter as a scientific journal responded to the demands of a disciplinary field in the process of consolidation. Between 2006 and 2010, 12 issues of the journal were published. Gathering at least a hundred contributions from Brazilian and foreign researchers, it became a reference for reflection on the agenda of international politics in the country. The journal was an important reference for a field that, in this period, was marked by the multiplication of master's degrees and the consolidation of its first doctorates. It was a necessary reference for the in-depth and rigorous debate of the main themes of the research agenda in international politics.

ABRI and the International Letter, each in its own way, have contributed to the process of consolidating the disciplinary field of International Relations. Today, when this field is consolidated, the International Letter is now being edited by ABRI. The possibility of maintaining a scientific journal that contributed so much to the development of our area in Brazil is a great honor and a great responsibility. We hope that ABRI will meet the expectations of the former editors of the International Letter and its members. We also hope that we can offer a great boost to the process of internationalization of this scientific periodical and strengthen its role of reference in our disciplinary field.

Finally, I would like to thank, on behalf of ABRI, all those who have supported the publication of this important periodical in recent years. I would like to do it, in the figure of the teachers José Augusto Guilhon Albuquerque and Rafael Villa. Finally, I would like to commend ABRI's commitment to maintaining the journal.

Paulo Lavigne Esteves

President of the Brazilian Association of International Relations (ABRI)

Management 2011/2013