Submission Guidelines

Important Notices – read before submitting

When it comes to publishing your papers, we’re a stickler for following guidelines. So, be sure to read the submission guidelines below before you submit an article to us.

Strategy: Military Strategy Magazine (MSM) is a Strategy publication, so articles must be about the threat or use made of violence for political objectives. We are not an international relations or foreign policy publication. We strongly recommend that you read the MSM Brief “What is Strategy” to understand how Military Strategy Magazine views strategy.

Accessible language is key: Be clear. Ensure that your article is written in accessible language. While Military Strategy Magazine is an academic peer review publication, and has as its main audience those already involved in and/or learning strategic studies, war studies, as well as active, reserve and retired military personnel, please do not force your readers to have to decode what it is that you are arguing. Impress all of our different audiences with your ideas and arguments and not academic jargon and paragraph-long sentences. Reaching the interested and invested layperson is a massive bonus. We want as much of the public to understand your work, so as to have a public with a better understanding of Strategy at large.

Article Types:

Deadlines: Rolling submissions, with articles being selected for specific Issues.

Peer-Review Process: All articles submitted to Military Strategy Magazine undergo both a rigorous internal review process, and an external, double blind review. The external review is conducted by a minimum of two external reviewers, though three or more reviewers are utilized in certain cases.

In the case of a ‘split verdict’: if an article receives a split decision resulting from the two external reviewers – one with a verdict of ‘publish’ and another with the verdict of ‘reject’ – one of two options will be undertaken. The first, if deemed necessary, will be to utilize a third external reviewer. If a third reviewer is deemed unnecessary, the choice will be left to the editor of the magazine, who will receive counsel from other internal leaders of Military Strategy Magazine. For the purposes of full transparency, the editor, or another internal leader, will inform the author of how we will choose to proceed: whether we will use a third external reviewer or whether a decision to publish or reject an article will be made internally.

Microsoft Word documents only: please submit articles only in MS Word files.

You may submit articles to the Publisher or the Editor of Military Strategy Magazine See below for more details.

Your article may not be published in another publication unless you receive our written consent.

Please do not submit dissertations/theses unless they have been properly reworked to fit MSM’s article framework. This includes focusing on strategy (the ethos of the publication) as well as style (e.g. accessible language) and word count (3,000 maximum, not including endnotes).

Proposals: You may submit a very short and concise proposal before writing your piece, so as to ensure the topic is suitable for the publication.

Length of articles: all articles are to be 3,000 words or less (we do not count endnotes towards the word maximum). However, it is the sole decision of Military Strategy Magazine‘s Publisher and Editor to decide if a longer piece will be published. This is rare and only occurs under very specific circumstances. We do not publish bibliographies, so ensure that your citations are complete.

Citation format: the citation format is left to the discretion of the author, so long as all authors use an established and recognized system.

If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to contact us at any time. State your query in simple, clear language. We will respond as quickly as possible.

Articles for the Magazine

What we want

  • Articles submitted in Microsoft Word format only
  • Articles containing no more than 3,000 words (not including endnotes)
  • Articles in English
  • Articles on Strategy specifically – and in relation to – Policy, Tactics and Operations
  • Articles on Strategic History, but not Military History
  • Articles using endnotes must use a recognized system. Articles do not have to contain citations unless necessary (e.g. quotes, stats). We do not publish bibliographies.
  • Articles that use evidence and empirical observation over opinion
  • Articles that are well written, structured, intelligent and even provocative or witty, without being simplistic, vacuous, slanderous or rude
  • Articles re-butting or countering the ideas of previously published articles in MSM are welcome.

NOTE: Please keep rigid language and complexity to a minimum, and comprehensible language and simplicity to a maximum. Our goal is to get your work read by the widest possible audience.

What we do not want

  • No articles that exceed 3,000 words, unless granted permission from Military Strategy Magazine (endnotes are not counted as part of the maximum word count).
  • No articles that seek to predict the future. No political or strategic prognosticating or foreign policy predictions
  • No articles on military training, organization, capability or technology
  • No articles representing political opinion
  • No articles that are exclusively on tactics and/or operations
  • We prefer that articles do not exclusively seek to analyze or comment on a specific nation’s foreign policy, unless it is in the wider context of Strategic History. Exceptions may be made, so contact us if you have any questions.  MSM is not an International Relations journal – it is a rigorously peer-reviewed publication on strategy.

How to Submit your Article

Tip to writers: It is best if your question/argument will be in your title. Keep it short and succinct.

  • E.g. “Are Targeted Killings Policy, Strategy, or Tactics?”
  • E.g. “The Strategy, or lack thereof, of Peacekeeping Operations.”
  • E.g. “Winning Hearts and Minds: Strategy or Myth?”
  1. Articles are to be submitted electronically to the Publisher: info [at] theijgroup [dot] com or info [at] militarystrategymagazine [dot].
  2. Please do not send a blank email with only the article attached. Please ensure that you state that you are submitting an article to Military Strategy Magazine for consideration, along with a short abstract, which will also be helpful.
  3. Please include two copies, one with a cover sheet, which should include your name, title, date of submission, and your email address, and any other information you may feel is relevant. The second copy must not contain any personal information at all, as it will be the copy sent for the external double-blind, peer-review process.

‘Exclusive Articles’ – Submission Guidelines

Submission guidelines for MSM Exclusive articles are quite simple.

  1. First, ensure that the article you aim to write is on strategy and a current event(s). This is key.
  2. Second, we highly encourage you to read the MSM Brief titled, ‘What is Strategy’.
  3. Third, before putting pen to paper, be sure to read carefully and follow the guidelines (listed above) for articles meant for the magazine. Due to the relatively long time gap between the publication of issues of the magazine, ‘current events’ are not a common feature in articles published in the magazine, which is why the new peer review MSM Exclusive section is both unique and important.
  4. Make sure that the title of your article is clear, succinct, and mentions what the article is on (e.g., Yemen, Ukraine, the U.S., Israel, Mexico, Sudan, etc.)
  5. Keep the layperson in mind when you write your article. There are many people interested in strategy and current/ongoing armed conflict (and other related topics). It is best to be as clear and simple in laying out your argument, while keeping technical jargon to a minimum, as technical jargon is only understood by a few.
  6. The word maximum is 3,000 – we do not count endnotes as part of the word max. An article that is less than 3,000 words is acceptable, but external reviewers may recommend that a writer utilize the full 3,000.
  7. Once we receive both copies (one without and one with a cover sheet, including a 2–4-line biography and a 2—4-line abstract), we will send the article to two separate expert external reviewers. This is, of course, a double-blind review.
  8. MSM Exclusive articles are considered time-sensitive, so the review process will be relatively fast. You will receive verdicts and comments/recommendations in return.
  9. It is up to the writer to decide what he/she will amend, and it is up to the writer to decide how quickly he/she will resend the amended piece (if amendments will be needed). Obviously, as the article will be on current events, a quicker turnaround will benefit the writer.
  10. The hope is that your article, as opposed to a common blog post, will be a serious, expertly reviewed article to be published on the MSM Exclusives section, which in turn will be read by those in the realm of war studies and the defense and security establishments. Many of our articles are also taught at various war colleges. We hope to see your work on their curricula.
  11. On submitting your article via email: when composing your email message, please ensure that the subject line contains a clear reference to “MSM Exclusives”.
  12. From the moment we receive your article, and should it pass external review, we will do our best to publish your work as quickly as possible, with seven days being the hoped-for maximum time frame for the entire process.
  13. Lastly, it is possible – but not guaranteed – that a reworked version of your standalone MSM Exclusive article (after serious amendments and additions have been made) might be publishable in a future issue of the magazine. If this is something that you wish to pursue, please contact us first before reworking your article.

To submit your MSM Exclusive article to Military Strategy Magazine, please email us using the following address: info [at] theijgroup [dot] com.

Regarding inquiries on the status of your article intended for the magazine (excluding MSM Exclusive Articles)

  • Please refrain from inquiring about the status of your article – we will work hard to inform you of the verdict at the earliest possible time.
  • If you have any questions, concerns, comments or suggestions, you may contact us at any time.