“Asia-Pacific Security and Maritime Affairs” was founded in 1994. Its predecessor was Asia-Africa Zongheng, which was sponsored by the Asia-Africa Development Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council. In 2015, it changed its name and jointly run by the Asia-Africa Development Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council and the Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies at Nanjing University.
After years of development, Asia-Pacific Security and Maritime Affairs has become an important platform for publishing research papers on regional security and maritime issues in China, and gradually formed an academic brand in international politics and Chinese diplomacy.
(1) Adhere to correct guidance and fulfill social responsibilities
Asia-Pacific Security and Maritime Affairs has always adhered to the correct editorial direction and academic orientation. Since changing its name in 2015, especially since its 2019 revision, it has closely focused on its mission statement with topics covering theoretical and practical aspects of traditional/non-traditional security issues in the Asia Pacific region, highlighting regional security/maritime concerns as well as major power relations, peripheral diplomacy, regional hotspots etc., opening up columns such as analysis on hotspots within Asia Pacific region; observation on maritime dynamics; discussion on regional security; focus on international politics etc., and combining academic research with policy studies both domestically and internationally, while maintaining high standards of academic quality and publication standards.
In recent years, significant progress has been made with this journal being indexed in relevant abstracting and indexing services : Chinese Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI), Annual Report Statistics Source Journal for Impact Factor Yearbook Database (Chinese Academic Journal Impact Factor), Chinese Social Science Citation Index Expanded, Important Reprint Sources of Renmin University Press Periodicals Data Collection among others.
Against the backdrop of the unprecedented changes over a century, Asia-Pacific Security And Maritime Affairs” focuses on key issues such as the major changes of the century and world political development trends, Sino-US strategic competition, the transformation of the international order, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic impact, regional economic integration and China's international development cooperation etc., and presents a series of research results with academic depth.
Asia-Pacific Security and Maritime Affairs prioritizes societal benefits by focusing on key hotspots in the Asia-Pacific region while highlighting theoretical and practical aspects of relevant studies. It actively implements the overall national security concept to better implements national strategic needs. It has achieved good results in evaluating the social benefits of journal publishing in the Beijing area over the years.
In the annual academic journal impact factor reports of academic journals published over the years, Asia-Pacific Security and Maritime Affairs” maintains a stable level of influence with steady growth. Well-known media outlets such as Chinese Social Science Network (CSSN), People’s Daily Online (PDO) and Chinese Social Sciences Digest continue to reprint or publish summaries of this publication resulting in significant improvement in both social benefits and academic influence.
(2) Resonating with current events to serve peripheral work
Asia-Pacific Security and Maritime Affairs is closely related to the development strategies of the party and the state, by promoting academic innovation through flourishing research on policy studies. It proactively organizes publications on important theoretical/practical topics including: China's Diplomatic Theory/Practice; Major Power Relations/Regional Issues; International Order/Gobal Governance; Law of the Sea/South China Sea Issues and other cutting-edge topics authored by high-profile authors.
On important occasions, the editorial board takes the initiative to organize publications interpreting key events such as the 70th anniversary of China’s peripheral diplomacy in 2019, the interpretation of Xi Jinping’s concept of “Maritime Community of a Shared Destiny,” which stands above all others nationwide, etc.
In 2020, the journal closely monitored the progress of regional economic integration and published an article entitled The Pace of Asia-Pacific Regional Economic Integration - Centered on RCEP, which received great response and was reprinted by CSSN and Reference News.
In 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 had a profound impact on the world. After the public health incident on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess, an article entitled The 'Cruise Dilemma' Under International Law and the Construction of a Human Health Community was published. Due to its high profile, it was noted by the relevant departments of the Legal Working Committee of the in National People's Congress. Another article entitled Sustainable Security Concept and Global Epidemic Prevention Rules - Discussing the Construction of a Sustainable Safe Human Health Community proposed specific epidemic prevention rules that werebased on reality.
Maritime issues are important topics for the journal. Due to challenges posed by geopolitical factors, legal systems and various domestic and foreign policies of related countries etc., China’a views have not been well explained. In 2019, the editorial department invited Chinese authors from six countries to jointly research and write a report entitled “Joint Development of South China Sea” which analyzed the political disputes among parties involved as well as national practices through horizontal comparison and in-depth interpretation with vivid content resulting in it. In 2020, the article The Future of Global Ocean Governance and China's Choices was published, proposing policy recommendations in light of the current situation. Other articles such as Maritime Cooperation and Public Goods in the Vision of a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity received praise from various parties, and the Chinese Academy of Ocean Development actively requested that the article be reprinted on their public account. Wells also approached foreign translation agencies to translate these articles. In 2021, academic conferences, held a wide-ranging discussion on the theory and practice of community with a shared future for humanity.. The editorial department closely follows the changes in the world order and the current issues and attaches importance to commissioned articles. It focuses on writing opening and key papers and publishes high-quality articles such as Qin Yaqing's Transformation of World Order: From Hegemony to Inclusive Multilateralism, Zhu Feng's International Order and Sino-US Strategic Competition, Wei Ling's China’s International Development Cooperation under Great Changes, Hu Bo’s “Global Maritime Multipolar Pattern and the Rise of the Chinese Navy”, Zhang Xiaodong’s “Exploration of China’s Sea Power in Economic Transformation” , Li Wen’s “Constructing a Framework for Stable and Balanced Major Country Relations: the Chinese Solution”. These large-scale, scholarly and cutting-edge research works have continuously expanded their academic influence. In the ranking of full-text reprints of political science journals in the Newspaper Reprint Index Rankings 2020, Asia-Pacific Security and Maritime Affair ranks eighth in terms of reprint rate.
Asia-Pacific Security and Maritime Affairs has made great strides in promoting the development of media integration and accelerating efforts to disseminate academic results. The editorial team is taking advantage of new media to rapidly disseminate research results from print publications while providing enhanced services outside paper publications along with interactive functions through digital platforms such as WeChat accounts etc., thus increasing the academic and social influence of the journal.
Currently, the Asia-Pacific Security and Maritime Affairs has a website, WeChat account and other digital media platforms in addition to printed publications. Increased collaboration with digital publication platforms and the advantages of new mediawill help disseminate scientific results more quickly and increase the journal's academic and social influence.
As one of the first academic journals recognized by the State Administration of Press, Publication Radio Film and Television, the Asia-Pacific Security and Maritime Affairs adheres to the principle of putting quality over quantity while insisting on fair prudence. The editorial board and the editors work together to strengthen professional management to improve the quality of the publications.
First, the quality of content is improved byadopting the principle of three reviews, three proofreads. Editors continuously improve their policy stance by broadening research perspectives, raising problem awareness, and improving topic planning through deep understanding . In addition to anonymous prereview by the editors themselves, external peer review evaluations and double-blind peer-review systems are used. Scholars from various fields are invited as reviewers to optimize the evaluation of the expert structure evaluations. Each link is clearly defined with responsibilities assigned accordingly.
Second, “one author per paper” is encouraged and academic misconducts are strictly prevented. The editorial department strives to improve service awareness and create an environment where scholars are free from unethical practices such as exposing academic misconducts or advocating independent author etc., thereby avoiding post-review information changes whenever possible.
Third, the editing and publication rules are strictly implemented according to the national rules set by the relevant departments, and detailed operation rules including review procedures along with proofreading methods have been established in the editing process through measures such as updating software tools like the “Black Horse” correction software or dual-personnel verification sheets etc., thuscreating a mechanism to prevent errors at all stages of editing works.
Fourth, the eco-friendly administration is promoted, whichgreatly increases the efficiency of editorial processes, having already achieved paperless editing and remote office work. This helps to improve the efficiency of editorial work while complying with mainstream international trends in environmental protection and energy conservation.
Finally, it also strengthens network management and improves gatekeeping capabilities. The editorial department is working with authors to participate in online publicity work while establishing a network information release management system and perfecting it through practical experience. The editorial team is actively strengthening its knowledge of the spirit of international communication while always maintaining ideological vigilance.
In the new era, the Asia-Pacific Security and Maritime Affairs will contribute to promoting research on Asia-Pacific regional security issues as well as maritime studies, advancing the development of the discipline, and strengthening academic leadership and innovation by fully utilizing its functions as an academic platform that integrates innovative research institutions, world-class think tanks, talent cultivation platforms, and international exchange platforms.