What Makes Strong Research in Regional & Federal Studies? — Davide Vampa & Mariely Lopez-Santana - The IR thinker | Lyssna här

Today, it is a real pleasure to speak with the editorial team of Regional & Federal Studies, one of the leading journals in the field of territorial politics, regionalism, and federalism.

The journal was established in 1991 as Regional Politics and Policy: An International Journal focusing on regionalism in Western Europe. In 1995, the journal changed its name to Regional and Federal Studies, expanding its focus and scope.

Impact Factor: 1.4 / 5-Year Impact Factor: 1.6

Indexed: Scopus / Web of Science

First Decision: 40 days

Acceptance Rate: 28%

Davide Vampa & Mariely Lopez-Santana

Davide Vampa, Lead Editor of the journal and Senior Lecturer in Territorial Politics at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, where he also serves as Co-Director of the Centre on Constitutional Change and Chair of the ECPR Standing Group on Federalism and Regionalism, as well as Mariely Lopez-Santana, Deputy Lead Editor and Associate Professor of Political Science at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, USA.

Content

00:00 - Introduction

01:45 - The Journal’s Intellectual Identity

06:01 - How the Journal Adapted to a Changing Field

08:33 - Managing Breadth and Coherence Across Federalism, Regionalism, and Multilevel Governance

10:43 - Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries: Bridging Political Science and Beyond

14:02 - Theory or Empirics? Balancing Conceptual Innovation and Case-Based Research

18:00 - Major Intellectual Trends in Regional and Federal Politics

22:09 - Underexplored Topics

25:32 - Methodological Diversity: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Approaches

27:48 - Methodological Shifts: Dominant Approaches and Emerging Techniques

29:53 - The Data Challenge: Obstacles in Gathering Quantitative Evidence