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Articles

From time to time, the Journal of International Humanitarian Action publishes collections of articles on topics of special interest.

Special Collection:

International Organizations, Humanitarian Action and Human Rights: Effects of COVID19
This special collection explores how responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have affected the provision of humanitarian aid and the protection of human rights.

Special Collection:
Humanitarian Assistance in Armed Conflicts 
International Humanitarian Law governing the question of humanitarian assistance in armed conflicts does not always address contemporary challenges in a satisfactory way nor does it provide clear answers to recent developments. Taking into account legal debates and practical challenges we would like to devote one of our special collections to the interpretation of IHL in the field of humanitarian assistance during armed conflicts.

Special Collection:
Agenda for Humanity Revisited
As we are approaching the 10th anniversary of the Agenda for Humanity, challenges to transnational solidarity and attacks on humanitarian values have never seemed so acute. The objective of this special collection is to take stock of the progress on the Agenda for Humanity, seven years after its adoption.


Special Collection:
The state and future of humanitarian studies: A Special Collection to Celebrate 30 Years of NOHA
On the occasion of NOHA’s 30th anniversary, we encourage the submission of research articles and commentaries concerning the state and future of the interdisciplinary field of humanitarian studies.  From the end of the nineties onwards, research on humanitarian action has progressed with the growing importance of humanitarian affairs in global politics. Initially restricted to medical and legal sciences, humanitarian studies now gather a vibrant community of researchers and practitioners combining perspectives from political science, economics, anthropology, communication, and management. Over the past decades, educational programs in humanitarian action have flourished all over the globe.


Special Collection:
Psychosocial Elements of Humanitarian Action
This Collection is dedicated to field research discussing the psychological, social, and mental health aspects of humanitarian action. It explores pre- and post-disaster interventions and rehabilitation efforts targeting the psychosocial well-being of the affected communities as well as humanitarian workers.  It aims to explore a variety of beneficiaries' characteristics and contexts using preventive measures including DRR (disaster risk reduction) and empowerment.
Published 8 February 2017 through 29 March 2019


Special Collection: 
Humanitarian Technology
Humanitarian actors have long adopted and adapted technology to improve aid delivery and protection practices. But beyond asking what technology does for humanitarian action, this Collection explores what it does to humanitarian action. It highlights  the need to pay greater attention to the kinds of technologies that various humanitarian actors make use of – including questions about how and why some of these technologies may not necessarily be ‘humanitarian’, e.g. because of how their application may risk exposing crisis affected individuals and communities to various kinds of insecurity.
Published 17 August 2016 through 28 July 2020


 

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Aims and scope

The Journal of International Humanitarian Action is an open access peer-reviewed journal for researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and anyone moved to understand contemporary challenges, reflect critically on practices, and engage at humanitarian action’s leading edge.

We welcome original academic and/or practice-informed contributions not only from scholars of international humanitarian law or practitioners of global nonprofit management, but also from myriad other areas spanning the social sciences and humanities and beyond.

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:

  • humanitarian ethics
  • humanitarian protection
  • application of international humanitarian law (IHL)
  • humanitarian programming, monitoring, and evaluation
  • education and training of humanitarian aid workers
  • the Humanitarian-Development-Security Nexus
  • governance, organization, and evolution of humanitarian systems 
  • best practices and knowledge-sharing in humanitarian action
  • politics of humanitarian aid
  • humanitarian technology
  • psychosocial elements of humanitarian action

The journal regularly publishes special collections that can be proposed by guest editors and discuss in detail pressing questions of humanitarian action. Given the diversity of our readership, the editors seek submissions that transcend disciplinary and sectional divisions and promote rigorous and inclusive discourse around the challenges, problems, and practices of humanitarian action.

100% Gold Open Access...Globally

SpringerOpen offers APC waivers to papers whose corresponding authors are based in countries classified by the World Bank as low-income economies as of July 2021. Papers whose corresponding authors are based in countries with lower-middle-income economies and with a 2020 gross domestic product (GDP) of less than 200 billion US dollars are eligible for a 50% discount (reference - World Bank 1st July 2021). Please request your waiver or discount at the point of submission. When prompted to provide a reason for your request, please cite the corresponding author's country of origin.

For some authors, publishing charges (APCs) are generously covered by the Network on Humanitarian Action, whether in whole or in part. For other authors, APCs are covered by institutions or one of Springer Nature's wide-ranging open research agreements such as Projekt DEAL.

The Journal of International Humanitarian Action has been published in 100% Gold Open Access format since its inception. We are committed to publishing high-quality material from around the world. Every submission is assigned to a handling editor who orchestrates blinded peer review. Papers that are accepted following peer review will be published. Articles published in Gold OA format confer CC-BY copyright to the author and are immediately available to be read, cited, and built upon by all.

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Annual Journal Metrics

  • Speed 2021
    93 days to first decision for all manuscripts (median)
    155 days to first decision for reviewed manuscripts only (Median)

    Usage 2021
    198,474 downloads

    Speed Jan-Nov2022*
    156 days to first decision for all manuscripts (median)
    399 days to final disposition "accept" (mean average)

    Usage Jan-Nov2022*
    263,428 downloads

    *December 22 data will be added as soon as they become available