Journal of Caucasian Studies (JOCAS) is a peer-reviewed annual international open-access academic journal published in Istanbul (Turkey). It is published in May. Manuscripts and book reviews in English, Turkish and Russian from the fields of history, geography, ethnology, anthropology, linguistics, politics, international relations and other social science areas about the peoples of the Caucasus are considered for publication. As a subject of academic research the Caucasus is generally placed in the category of Russian Studies or considered as a hyphenated area study along with Central Asia as the Caucasus-Central Asian Studies. Strategic Studies looks at the region and its peoples from the angle of the presence and transportation of energy resources such as oil and gas, ethnic conflicts, and the national interests of various states. In Turkey, where the humanities are somewhat dominated by the field of historical studies, the Caucasus is studied within the context of either the Ottoman history or Turkic world.

JOCAS aims to fill the void left between these fields and to provide an alternative academic platform to overcome misinformation and one-sided approaches in the study of the region and its peoples.

By building a bridge between academics and researchers from various academic disciplines to extend and deepen the understanding of the Caucasian Studies through historical, sociological, political and economical research, JOCAS intends to contribute towards the recognition of the Caucasian Studies as an independent academic discipline.

JOCAS aims to support a greater global exchange of knowledge through Open Acess Publishing and for this reason does not require the authors to pay any fees for publication or the readers to access the published materials. See the Open Acess Statement and the Copyright Notice for further details.  

JOCAS has editors and advisors from various countries and institutions. To see the list of the members of the Boards of the Journal please see the Editorial Board page.

Peer Review

JOCAS accepts submissions of original articles, translations and book reviews. The articles that have passed the preliminary evaluation are sent to two referees. The articles that have passed the preliminary evaluation are sent to two referees selected by the Editors or Editorial Board, for double-blind peer review.

Kafkasya Çalışmaları – Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi / Journal of Caucasian Studies (JOCAS) / Журнал «Кавказоведческие исследования» является международным рецензируемым научным изданием. Он выпускается периодичностью раз в год (в мае) в Турции. В журнале публикуются научные статьи и рецензии на турецком, английском и русском языках. Предмет исследований – кавказские народы, область научных интересов – история, география, этнология, антропология, социолингвистика, политика, межнациональные отношения и другие сферы гуманитарного знания.

Publication Policy

JOCAS is an international peer-reviewed, annual academic journal. It is published in. Besides the regular periodical, Special Issues are also published. Call for papers for Special Issues is announced at the journal website and mail groups.

JOCAS publishes academic articles, translations and book reviews in the fields of history, geography, ethnology, anthropology, linguistics, politics, international relations and other social sciences.

JOCAS publishes works in Turkish, English and Russian.

Manuscripts submitted to JOCAS should not be published or sent to another journal for review at the same time.

Any conference or symposium proceeding can be published in an extended version by giving the conference/symposium details (title, place and date).

Submission of a manuscript to JOCAS is accepted as an application for publication. No copyright fee is paid for manuscripts. Authors should make sure they are not violating the rights of third persons. Authors, from the moment of submission of their article to the system, agree to have given publication rights to JOCAS.

Authors submitting their manuscripts to JOCAS agree to follow deadlines during the review process.

Manuscripts submitted to JOCAS should follow the style guidelines. Those works that do not follow the stated style and publication guidelines will not be send for review and be returned to the author.

When the number of articles accepted for publications by referees is more than the journal’s publication policy, editors decide which articles will be published.

Authors are responsible for the ideas and references they use in the manuscripts. JOCAS editors and referees are not responsible.

Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism is recognized as a serious academic offence and unethical. Journal of Caucasian Studies is using iThenticate software in order to detect and prevent plagiarism. All manuscripts received are scanned for plagiarism. The authors should ensure that they have properly referenced all works and words of others.

Publication Schedule

Journal of Caucasian Studies is published annually. Regular issue comes out in May. Additionally, a special issue can also be published, announcement for which shall be made on this website and relevant mailing groups. You can register to the journal as a reader, in which case you will be able to receive notifications from the journal.

Open Access Statement

Journal of Caucasian Studies is an open access journal which means that all published content is freely available without charge to the users or institutions. All manuscripts published in this journal are free to access immediately from the date of publication. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

Copyright Notice

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Privacy Statement

Names and e-mail addresses published in JOCAS are to be exclusively used for administrative purposes. They cannot be used for marketing purposes.

Authors Guidelines

To submit a manuscript authors need to register with a new account with the DergiPark, or if already registered, start your submission here. You can follow the process online through the user panel.

The writing and referencing guidelines required by the journal are available here.

Period Months