The IMS Policy and Working Paper Series

Launched in September 2022, the Institute for Migration Studies’ Policy and Working Paper series provides an Open Access platform for publishing high-quality paper-length research by scholars, academics and practitioners from around the world. Policy and working papers are published on the IMS website as a resource for migration and refugee-focused research. Papers must be submitted in English. See the criteria for publication below. 

Areas of Focus

• Diaspora-Homeland Relations
• International Migration and Refugee Law
• Refugee and Displacement Studies
• Migrant Domestic Workers and Labor Migration
• Gender and Migration
• Refugee and Migrant Health
• Humanitarian Settings and Conflict
• Migration and Asylum Policy
• Statelessness, Citizenship, Identity and Transnationalism
• Environmental Migration and Displacement
• Migration, Refugee and Displacement Policy
• Borders and Securitization
• Repatriation and Safe Return 

Criteria for Publication

• Papers should be based on original research. They will be evaluated based on their contemporary relevance, contribution to the field, structure and analytical rigor.
• Papers are generally between 4,500 and 7,500 words, excluding footnotes.
• Cover pages must include the paper’s title, author’s name and affiliation, and their email address.
• Papers must include an abstract of 300 words, and 5 key words.
• No bibliography is to be inserted at the end of the manuscript. References are to be inserted as footnotes in any recognized referring style (APA or Chicago preferred).
• Font size 12 point, justified, single spaced.
• Footnote size 10 point, single spaced.
• US spelling for English.
• Submitted in .doc format.

Process

• The series accepts papers through an open call on a rolling basis.
• Papers will be reviewed by the series’ Editor, Dr. Jasmin Lilian Diab, as well as one designated reviewer.
• Those accepted may be subject to pre-publication light editing.
• Decisions to accept, reject or propose revisions to a paper will be made within a maximum of four weeks after submission.
• Papers are published online and are freely accessible.
• Opinions expressed in individual papers are solely those of the author/s, who retain the copyright.
• They do not represent the views of the Institute for Migration Studies, the School of Arts and Sciences or the Lebanese American University, and should not be attributed to them.
• For further information, and to submit a paper please contact the series Editor at: jasminlilian.diab@lau.edu.lb

Collections in This Series

• Series 1/2025, Inside the Camp: Reimagining Refugee Governance for a Changing World edited by Khaldoun AbouAssi, Jasmin Lilian Diab and Tina Nabatchi.

Papers in This Series 

• Paper 1/2025, Reshaping Durable Solutions: Return, Retrenchment, and Refugee Agency in Lebanon by Jasmin Lilian Diab, Tala Abdulghani and Ralph Haddad.
• Paper 2/2023, Unveiling a Tragedy: Underground Economies and Criminal Syndicates as Precursors to African, Middle East and Asian Migration Fatalities in the Mediterranean Sea by Sylvester Ndzelen Berinyuy.
• Paper 1/2023, Interpersonal, Institutional, and Structural Racism in COVID-19: Policy Impacts on Migrant Communities by Mohammad Al-Abbas and Jennifer Skulte-Ouaiss.