The journal publishes original scientific articles according to the international IMRAD structure, as well as theoretical and review articles using a non-standard structure.
Structural elements of articles
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Empirical article |
Theoretical article |
Review article |
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Title |
Required |
Required |
Required |
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Author's data |
Required |
Required |
Required |
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Abstract |
Required |
Required |
Required |
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Keywords |
Required |
Required |
Required |
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Introduction |
Required |
Required |
Required |
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Literature Review |
Optional |
Optional |
Required |
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Matherial and Methods |
Required |
Required |
None |
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Results and Discussion |
Required |
Required |
Structured by thematic sections |
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Conclusions |
Required |
Required |
Required |
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Acknowledgements and Conflict of Interest |
Required |
Required |
Required |
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References |
Required |
Required |
Required |
The peculiarity of using a non-standard structure of the article is that there is no Materials and Methods section. Instead, a brief and at the same time detailed research methodology is described in the last paragraph of the Introduction section. Another difference is that instead of the Results and Discussion section, this type of article should have at least two separate sections with appropriate subject titles (titles should be at least 5 words long!). The last feature of writing an article with a non-standard structure is the list of references. It should consist of at least 40 literature references (articles, books, dissertations).
Technical requirements
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Article language |
English |
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File format |
MS Word (*.doc, *.docx) |
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Page orientation |
Portrait |
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Page format |
A4 |
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Length of a scientific article / Length of a review or theoretical article |
from 4000/ from 4500 words |
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Font |
Times New Roman |
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Margins |
2 cm on all sides |
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Line spacing |
1.0 |
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Font size |
12 pt |
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Indentation |
1.0 |
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Alignment |
Justified |
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References |
presented in English (the use of transliteration when translating the used sources into English is unacceptable!) |
Tables, figures, graphs, equations
Tables, figures, graphs, and formulas should be numbered and placed after their mention in the text (notes are placed directly below the table/figure/graph). All abbreviations must be spelled out at the first mention in the text.
Equations must be created in Equation Editor, variable mathematical values in the text according to the formulas are typed in italics.
Figures and graphs should be centred, text wrapping around the figure is prohibited.
All dimensions of physical quantities should be submitted in accordance with the International System of Units (SI). There is a space between units of measurement, symbols, and numbers to which they refer.
Contents of the sections
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UDC Index |
left justification |
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Article title |
no more than 12 words; presented in English; centre justification, uppercase, bold |
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Author’s data |
are presented in English; exception in the center; the first and the last names of the authors are written in full in the appropriate order |
The following information about the authors must be indicated:
- the first and the last names;
- academic degree and position of each author;
- structural units of the institution where the authors work;
- full official names and legal addresses of authors’ institutions;
- contact email addresses;
- ORCID.
Abstract
The section is presented in English with identical content (200 to 300 words in length). The abstract should be informative (not contain general words), structured (follow the logic of the article presentation), and meaningful (disclose the main research results, clearly formulate the relevance, goal, methods of problem analysis, as well as the practical value of the study). The abstract should not contain abbreviations, footnotes, and references.
Keywords
5-7 words or phrases related to the subject matter do not duplicate the title of the article and do not consist of common words.
Introduction
The section highlights the current state of the problem under study at the global level, analyses the latest research and publications (7-10 works of other researchers) with links to scientific publications over the past 3-5 years. The relevance, purpose, objectives and the novelty of the study are substantiated. References to literature must be submitted in round brackets. One citation should not include more than 3 sources.
Literature Review
This section is optional and should contain the results of research by scientists who analysed certain aspects of the subject matter. Each name of the researcher must be accompanied by a corresponding reference from the list of references.
Materials and Methods
The section describes the main stages of the study and justifies the choice of the methods, techniques, approaches, or actions used to obtain new scientific research results. The strategies and criteria for sampling (if the article contains an empirical part) are explained, the experimental basis of the study is noted. The stated methodology should provide a complete picture of the research progress so that it can be repeated by other scientists with the use of the same materials and methods. The section is required in the structure of a scientific article.
Results
The section presents the main material of the study with full justification of the scientific results obtained. Tabular or graphical materials are necessarily accompanied by the results of statistical data processing. Sources are placed under tables and figures. Value judgments should be avoided, as well as the elements of the description of the methodology and direct repetition of the data presented in the tables and graphic material in the text of the article. Numerical results should be rounded in accordance with established rules, taking into account the mean research error, confidence interval or distribution of values. Research results must be sufficiently substantiated, methodologically correct, have novelty and practical value.
Discussion
The discussion should be based on the interpretation of the research results. The most important scientific facts established are involved in the consideration, taking into account the previous data and analysis, in accordance with the literary sources on the current state of the problem with references to the works of a similar direction of research conducted in other countries.
Conclusions
Conclusions should fully and specifically reflect the results of research, correspond to the purpose and title of the study, word-by-word duplication in the abstract is unacceptable. It is important to indicate the prospects for further research on the selected topic.
Acknowledgements
The section is for expression of gratitude to individuals or organisations for all possible technical assistance, ideas, financial (material) aid, which made the research possible, etc.
If you have no Acknowledgements, state “None”.
Funding
In this section, the author(s) should indicate all sources of financial support received for the study. In case of absence of financial support, please indicate: “The study was not funded”.
Conflict of Interest
All authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise that might be perceived as influencing an author's objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or directly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript. The existence of a conflict of interest does not preclude publication. If the authors have no conflict of interest to declare, they must also state this at submission and include a statement in the "Conflict of Interest" section. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to review this policy with all authors and collectively to disclose with the submission ALL pertinent commercial and other relationships. Discovery of the failure to adequately disclose a conflict of interest at submission or during the review process may result in the rejection of a manuscript or other author sanctions.
If you have no conflict of interest, state “None”.
References
References in the text to sources should be indicated in parentheses "()", еxample: (Ivanov, 2023). If you need to indicate a reference within a line, you should indicate the year in "()", for example: "L. Klein (2013) proposes....".
In this case, the names and years of sources in the text should clearly coincide with the data in the list of references. It is not allowed to mention more than 3 sources in one citation.
No more than two works by the same author may be cited in the list of references. Also, no more than two articles from the same journal/collection of articles, etc. may be included.
The list of references should be in English (transliteration is not allowed), references arranged in alphabetical order, and formatted according to APA 6th Referencing Style (2010).
Books
Boutellis, A. (2024). The UN stabilization mission in Mali (MINUSMA): Peacekeeping caught in the geopolitical crossfire. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-66466-3.
Glasius, M. (2023). Authoritarian practices in a global age. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780192862655.001.0001.
Meyerrose, A.M. (2025). Eroding democracy from the outside in: International organizations and democratic backsliding. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/9780197816479.001.0001.
Edited Book
Bunce, V.J., Pepinsky, T.B., Riedl, R.B., & Roberts, K.M. (Eds.). (2025). Global challenges to democracy: Backsliding, resiliency, and democratic theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781009602570.
Bexell, M., Jönsson, K., & Uhlin, A. (Eds.). (2022). Legitimation and delegitimation in global governance: Practices, justifications, and audiences. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780192856111.001.0001.
Multi-volume Works
Carayannis, T., & Fiedler, C. (Eds.). (2023). The Oxford handbook of international organizations (Vol. 1). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chapter in a Book
Arkan, Z. (2025). Narratives on European security and the leitmotif of hybrid threats. In European security and hybrid threats: A narrative in the making (pp. 39-65). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-86793-4_3.
Kiçmari, S. (2024). Functions of diplomacy. In Introduction into diplomacy (pp. 91-121). Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-97-3897-7_5.
Van Engeland, A. (2022). Human rights: Between universalism and relativism. In S. Sayapin, R. Atadjanov, U. Kadam, G. Kemp, N. Zambrana-Tévar & N. Quénivet (Eds.), International conflict and security law (pp. 93-113). The Hague: TMC Asser Press. doi: 10.1007/978-94-6265-515-7_5.
Conference Paper
Teodosiev, P. (2024). Trends in the development of modern international relations. The new challenges for diplomacy. In Proceedings of the 15th International scientific and practical conference (pp. 275-281). Rezekne: Rezekne Academy of Technologies. doi: 10.17770/etr2024vol4.8207.
Margetts, H., Dorobantu, C., & Yasseri, T. (2023). Artificial intelligence and democracy: Governing emerging technologies in political systems. In Proceedings of the International conference on digital government research (dg.o 2023) (pp. 1-8). New York: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3598469.3598485.
Kubicek, H., & Noack, T. (2022). Digital participation and democratic innovation in public governance. In Proceedings of the 15th International conference on theory and practice of electronic governance (ICEGOV 2022) (pp. 220-228). New York: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3560107.3560138.
Journal Article
ührmann, A., & Lindberg, S.I. (2023). Democracy and autocratization in a changing world order. Annual Review of Political Science, 26, 75-95. doi: 10.1146/annurev-polisci-051421-102542.
Jazbec, M. (2021). Diplomatic functions in the 21st century diplomacy. Journal of Law and Politics, 2(1), 1-12.
Lecocq, S. (2024). European foreign policy towards hybrid actors in the middle east and north Africa: An exploration of diplomatic practices. Geopolitics, 29(2), 607-629. doi: 10.1080/14650045.2023.2174432.
Maliqi, N., Racaj, M., & Totich, M. (2022). Hybrid warfare and how to deal with hybrid warfare. Vizione, 39, 235-246.
Doctoral Thesis
Mikhaylovskaya, A. (2024). Strengthening democracy with digital innovations. (Doctoral thesis, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands).
Doctoral Dissertation
Libengood, J. (2025). Algorithms of eversion: Contemporary states and digital sovereigns. (Doctoral dissertation, University of South Florida, Tampa, USA).
Government Legislation
Act of the United States No. H.R. 3776 “To Support United States International Cyber Diplomacy, and for Other Purposes”. (2018, June). Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3776/text/rs.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act). (2024, June). Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/oj.
Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council "On a Single Market for Digital Services (Digital Services Act)". (2022, October). Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2065/oj.
Webpage
V-Dem Institute. (2025). Democracy report 2025. Retrieved from https://www.v-dem.net/.
International IDEA. (2024). The global state of democracy 2024. Retrieved from https://www.idea.int/.
United Nations. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/.