In my eighth year as editor-in-chief of Nationalities Papers, I reflect with gratitude on the privilege of leading this journal during a period of profound global upheaval. Our thoughts remain with all those affected by the many conflicts and tragedies continuing around the world. In times of crisis and misinformation, the role of scholarly research is more essential than ever. Our mission—to provide rigorous, nuanced insight into the complexities of nationalism, ethnicity, and identity—continues to guide us.
This past year has been one of growth, transformation, and continued commitment to high-quality research. At the 2025 ASN convention in New York, we celebrated scholarly excellence through the awarding of the prestigious Huttenbach Prize to an outstanding article: “New Wild Fields: How the Russian War Leads to the Demodernization of Ukraine’s Occupied Territories” by Tetyana Malyarenko and Borys Kormych (https://doi.org/10.1017/nps.2023.33). We commend the authors for their contribution and encourage our readers to read their work.
The peer-review process remains the cornerstone of our journal’s success. We are deeply grateful to our volunteer reviewers for sharing their expertise and their valuable time. Their contributions are essential to advancing their fields, and we acknowledge their efforts by listing their names in this issue. The strength of Nationalities Papers rests on the active participation of our community.
Our journal continues to perform strongly, as evidenced by a number of key metrics. The 2024 Journal Impact Factor increased to 1.6—more than double the 0.7 score in 2019—and Nationalities Papers now ranks 6th out of 538 journals in History, 22nd out of 182 in Area Studies, 15th out of 39 in Ethnic Studies, and 134th out of 322 in Political Science. Table 1 below captures the improvement over time. Our goal is to move our journal into the Q1 quartile across all categories.
Table 1. Ranking across fields, 2020-2024
The fully open access publishing model has been working well for our journal. All accepted research articles are freely available to global audiences at no cost to the authors, amplifying their visibility and impact. This is the second year since Nationalities Papers moved to a digital-only format, supporting our goal of reducing our environmental impact. Production timelines have also improved. Articles took an average of 121 days to be published online (via FirstView) in 2022, but we are down to an average of 64 days for 2024, the most recent year for which data is available. We are working with Cambridge University Press (CUP) to improve these times.
Our editorial team continues to evolve. In May 2025, Julie George stepped down as Associate Editor after more than a decade of dedicated service. Julie’s leadership has been critical for the success of our Special Issues section, and we are grateful she will remain on the Editorial Board. We are delighted to welcome David R. Stroup, who joined our Editorial Board as Associate Editor for Special Issues. David has already worked on several forthcoming collections, ensuring the journal remains a hub for timely, themed scholarship. Ed Schatz, who has served on our Editorial Board since 2002, has decided to take a well-deserved break, and we want to thank him for his fantastic contributions as both an author and reviewer. I would also like to warmly welcome a new Editorial Board member: Yuval Feinstein. We look forward to working with him.
The special collections page has expanded with new content, including reading lists, a new page for our special issues, and separate pages for state of the field articles (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/information/state-of-the-field), the winners of the Huttenbach Prize (https://nationalities.org/prizes/huttenbach-prize), and our photo contest, which remains a vibrant platform for scholars to share images from their fieldwork that capture the lived realities of ethnicity, migration, and national identity. We are delighted to announce the 8th annual Photo Contest in Nationalism and Ethnic Studies, a highlight for our readers, and encourage you to submit your photographs by the May 20 deadline. Finally, we are active on social media and encourage you to follow us for news and content from the journal, and to engage with colleagues and other readers.
As we look to 2026 and beyond, I encourage you to continue submitting and reviewing manuscripts and special issue proposals, citing and sharing work published in the journal, and promoting Nationalities Papers within your networks. I look forward to connecting with many of you in person at the ASN convention in New York. All the best in the new year!
