Article Types
Submissions should advance knowledge and spark insightful discussions on core and emerging issues, theoretical frameworks, and research methodologies in Central Asia.
Reflecting the spirit of our title, we actively encourage critical analyses of key concepts or comparative trends in public policy and economics within the region.
We particularly seek case studies and nuanced investigations into specific issue falling within the journal’s core areas of inquiry.
Editorial Policies
Peer Review
Central Asia Observation uses double blind peer review. Full details about the peer review process are available.
Data Policy
Availability of Data and Materials
Where ethically feasible, Central Asia Observation strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files, or deposited in a public repository whenever possible.
Data citation
Central Asia Observation supports the Force 11 Data Citation Principles and requires that all publicly available datasets be fully referenced in the reference list with an accession number or unique identifier such as a digital object identifier (DOI). Data citations should include the minimum information recommended by DataCite:
[dataset]* Authors, Year, Title, Publisher (repository or archive name), Identifier
*The inclusion of the [dataset] tag at the beginning of the citation helps us to correctly identify and tag the citation. This tag will be removed from the citation published in the reference list.
Preprint Policy
Authors retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels, and this does not prevent submission to the journal. For further information see our Online Licensing, Copyright and Permissions policies. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including your published paper’s DOI, as described on our Author Self-Archiving policy page.
Self-Archiving Policy
You may self-archive versions of your work on your own webpages, on institutional webpages, and in other repositories. If you want more information about the reuse rights you retain if you publish with us, please visit our Author Self Archiving Policy page.
Conflict of Interest
When submitting a paper, you and your co-authors must declare any potential conflicts of interest. You must do this by providing the relevant details on our online submission site and by including a Conflict of Interest statement in your submitted manuscript.
A detailed definition of conflicts of interest is available.
Plagiarism
Manuscripts submitted may be screened with iThenticate anti-plagiarism software in an attempt to detect and prevent plagiarism. Any manuscript may be screened, especially if there is reason to suppose part or all of the text has been previously published. Prior to final acceptance any manuscript that has not already been screened may be put through iThenticate. Please see more information about iThenticate.
Submission
We will consider your manuscript as long as
- it is your own original work and does not duplicate any previously published work, including your own;
- it is not under consideration, in peer review, or accepted for publication in any journal other than Central Asia Observation
- it has not been published in any other journal; and
- it contains nothing abusive, defamatory, libellous, obscene, fraudulent, or illegal.
Authors should observe high ethical standards and obey publication best practices. The following are all unacceptable:
- data falsification or fabrication
- plagiarism, including duplicate publication of your own work without proper citation
- misappropriation of work
We treat any case of ethical or publication malpractice very seriously. We will address them in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines. Further information about Ethical policies is available.
How to Submit
You must submit your paper via our web-based submission system, Editorial Manager, which may be found at https://journal.pe.ac/Central-Asia-Observation. If you have not published with Central Asia Observation before, you will need to create an account.
Questions about submitting can be sent to the editorial office at [email protected].
Article Requirements
- title page
- abstract—maximum word count: 350, single paragraph (unstructured)
- keywords—maximum keywords: 4-6.
- main text—maximum 10,000 words, inclusive of abstract, tables, references, figure captions, and endnotes
- acknowledgements
- funding statement
- conflict of interest statement
- references
- tables and figures with captions
- appendices (as appropriate)
Third-Party Permissions
If you wish to reproduce any material for which you do not own the copyright—including quotations, tables, or images—you must obtain permission from the copyright holder. The permissions agreement must include the following documents:
- nonexclusive rights to reproduce the material in your article in Central Asia Observation
- both print and electronic rights, preferably for use in any form or medium
- lifetime rights to use the material
- worldwide English-language rights
Manuscript Preparation: Format, Structure, and Style
Format free submission
Authors may submit their paper in any scholarly format or layout. Manuscripts may be supplied as single or multiple files. These can be Word, rich text format (rtf), open document format (odt), or PDF files. Figures and tables can be placed within the text or submitted as separate documents. Figures should be of sufficient resolution to enable refereeing.
- There are no strict formatting requirements, but all manuscripts must contain the essential elements needed to evaluate a manuscript: abstract, author affiliation, figures, tables, funder information, and references. Further details may be requested upon acceptance.
- References can be in any style or format, so long as a consistent scholarly citation format is applied. Author name(s), journal or book title, article or chapter title, year of publication, volume and issue (where appropriate) and page numbers are essential. All bibliographic entries must contain a corresponding in-text citation. The addition of DOI (Digital Object Identifier) numbers is recommended but not essential.
- Spelling can be US or UK English so long as usage is consistent.
- Note that, regardless of the file format of the original submission, an editable version of the article must be supplied at the revision stage.
Presubmission Language Editing
If you are not confident in the quality of your English, you may wish to use a language-editing service to ensure that editors and reviewers understand your paper.
Language editing is optional and does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted. Edited manuscripts will still undergo peer review by the journal.
Title Page
Please include the following:
- the title of your paper
- all author names and affiliations
- mailing address and email address of one corresponding author
Abstract
Abstracts have a maximum length of 350 words and must not contain reference citations or abbreviations.
You can opt to include a video abstract in addition to the text abstract. The video abstract should clearly summarize the findings of your article and will be published online. It should be uploaded to the submission system as a separate file in .mp4 format, and clearly labelled, e.g. ‘video_abstract.mp4’. Please also include a still image from the video, which will appear in the PDF version of your article.
Free Format: Focus on your research
Your time is valuable and should be spent on your research, not re-typing reference lists. Free format submission helps make getting your manuscript ready to submit easier and faster.
If you submit to a journal that offers Free Format, either directly or by accepting an invitation to transfer your manuscript to that journal, you don’t ever need to worry about formatting requirements.
Simply submit your manuscript in the format of your choice, and we will update the formatting for you into journal style if your manuscript is accepted for publication.
Abbreviations
Please define nonstandard abbreviations at the first occurrence.
Tables
You must number all tables (e.g., table 1, table 2, table 3) and reference them in the text. You must place all tables at the end of the main text. Tables should be in an editable format, and not embedded as an image file.
References
You may format references in any readable style at submission. You are responsible for the accuracy of reference information.
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments should be included at the end of your manuscript.
Funding
Please fully cite any relevant funding information, including specific grant numbers.
Figures
You must include figure titles and legends within the manuscript file—they should not be included in the image file.
You must submit each figure as an individual image file. Submit all panels of a multipanel figure on a single page as one file. For example, if the figure has 3 panels, the figure should be submitted as one file. Each panel should be labeled as a letter (A, B, C, D, etc.) in the upper-left corner of each panel.
Images of photographs or paintings can be provided as raster images. Common examples of raster images are .tif/.tiff, .raw, .gif, and .bmp file types. The resolution of raster files is measured by the number of dots or pixels in a given area, referred to as “dpi” or “ppi.”
- minimum resolution required for printed images or pictures: 350dpi
- minimum resolution for printed line art: 600dpi (complex or finely drawn line art should be 1200dpi)
- minimum resolution for electronic images (i.e., for on-screen viewing): 72dpi
Images of maps, charts, graphs, and diagrams are best rendered digitally as geometric forms called vector graphics. Common file types are .eps, .ai, and .pdf. Vector images use mathematical relationships between points and the lines connecting them to describe an image. These file types do not use pixels; therefore, resolution does not apply to vector images.
Figures prepared as. jpg/jpeg files can be used. However, this format relies on ‘lossy’ compression; figures can lose quality each time they are opened, shared, or modified; therefore, we prefer not to receive jpg files.
Supplementary Material
You must submit supplementary data or supplementary material at the same time as the main manuscript.
- Supplementary material must be cited in the text of the main manuscript.
- Supplementary material will be available online only and will not be copyedited or typeset.
- Style and formatting of supplementary material should be consistent with that of the manuscript.
- Supplementary material should be formatted to function on any internet browser.
- Supplementary material files should be no larger than 2MB each.
Production
Central Asia Observation is a fully open access journal, and all articles are published in the journal under an open access license immediately upon publication.
However, under the 2023-2024 funding policy of funding bodies, authors from the UNESCO-defined Central Asia region are exempt from this charge. This policy allows researchers from the region to contribute their valuable insights to the journal without financial barriers.
Please note that the corresponding author will be required to arrange payment of the open access charge online following acceptance of the manuscript, although the payment can be referred to a co-author or other third party.
Central Asia Observation articles can be published under the following Creative Commons licenses:
- Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY)
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license (CC BY-NC)
After your manuscript is accepted, you must sign a license to publish form in our Author Portal.