Publication Guide
ISEAS Publishing is the publishing arm of the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, a Singapore research institution and statutory board established by an Act of Parliament on 7 June 1968 as the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and renamed on 12 August 2015 in honour of Yusof Ishak, Singapore's first president. It is widely regarded as the definitive scholarly publisher on Southeast Asia: since the early 1970s it has produced more than 2,000 book and journal titles and currently releases roughly 50 new titles a year, alongside three peer-reviewed tri-annual journals and the annual Southeast Asian Affairs review.
Unlike large commercial publishers, ISEAS Publishing charges no article processing charges. Its journals are subscription-based, submissions run through direct email contact with the editorial teams rather than a submission portal, and content is distributed through the ISEAS bookshop and major scholarly platforms. This guide covers which ISEAS journal fits your paper, what each title publishes, costs and access routes, the peer-review workflow, and how to submit.
Which ISEAS journal fits your paper?
| You're most likely to... | Choose this journal |
|---|---|
| Study the politics, security, political economy or international relations of the ASEAN states and Timor-Leste | Contemporary Southeast Asia - the institute's flagship, indexed in Scopus and SSCI, published in April, August and December. |
| Analyse the economies of Southeast Asia - trade, development, macro policy, regional integration | Journal of Southeast Asian Economies (JSEAE) - formerly the ASEAN Economic Bulletin (renamed April 2013); indexed in Scopus, ESCI and the Journal of Economic Literature. |
| Work on social and cultural issues - ethnicity, religion, migration, urbanization, tourism, popular culture | SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia - interdisciplinary, indexed in Scopus, SSCI and the ASEAN Citation Index; published March, July and November. |
| Write an invited country or thematic review of the year's developments | Southeast Asian Affairs - the annual review of the region, published every spring since the mid-1970s. |
What ISEAS Publishing actually publishes
- Contemporary Southeast Asia - refereed articles on the politics, security and international relations of the ten ASEAN member states and Timor-Leste. Three issues a year; manuscripts of 6,000-8,000 words in British English with Chicago-style endnotes.
- Journal of Southeast Asian Economies - refereed full articles (7,000-8,000 words) and research notes (4,000-5,000 words) on the region's economies, with an approximately 200-word abstract. Uses author-date referencing.
- SOJOURN - empirical and theoretical research on social and cultural life in Southeast Asia. Research articles up to 8,000 words with a 100-word abstract; research notes of 3,000-5,000 words. Author-date referencing; ranked among the leading Asia-based anthropology journals in SCImago.
- Southeast Asian Affairs - an annual edited volume of country and thematic reviews.
- Books - roughly 50 new scholarly titles a year across Southeast Asian politics, economics, history and society, sold through the ISEAS bookshop in print and ebook formats.
Open access, subscriptions and costs
ISEAS journals follow a subscription model, which means publishing in them is free for authors.
| Cost item | What you pay |
|---|---|
| Article processing charge (APC) | $0 - none of the ISEAS journals charge author fees |
| Submission fee | $0 |
| Reading access | Subscription - e.g., Contemporary Southeast Asia individual rates around S59-113 per year depending on region; institutional rates higher |
| Open access | No standard Gold OA route; Green self-archiving is the realistic no-fee option - confirm current terms with the journal's editors before depositing |
Selected institute publications, such as survey reports, are free to download from iseas.edu.sg, but the journals themselves are paywalled.
Peer review process
- Contemporary Southeast Asia: manuscripts accepted for consideration are refereed by external readers after editorial screening.
- Journal of Southeast Asian Economies: initial screening by the co-editors and associate editor, followed by double-anonymized review - two reviewers for articles, one for research notes.
- SOJOURN: editorial-team screening with external review, overseen by an international advisory committee.
- Turnaround: ISEAS does not publish standard decision times; area-studies review cycles typically run a few months. Ask the editors when you submit.
How to submit
- Pick the journal using the fit table above, and read the author guidelines on its page at bookshop.iseas.edu.sg.
- Prepare your manuscript in Microsoft Word, following the journal's word limits and reference style - Chicago endnotes for Contemporary Southeast Asia, author-date for JSEAE and SOJOURN. Templates are available on SciSpace.
- Email your submission directly to the editorial team: csea@iseas.edu.sg (Contemporary Southeast Asia), jseae@iseas.edu.sg (JSEAE), or sojourn@iseas.edu.sg (SOJOURN). There is no online submission portal.
- Respond to review - expect editor screening followed by external refereeing, then revisions handled over email.
Ethics and integrity
ISEAS Publishing operates under the governance of a Singapore statutory board and follows standard scholarly-publishing ethics: external refereeing, anonymized review at JSEAE, and editorial oversight by international advisory committees. Its journals have been continuously indexed in Scopus and the Web of Science citation indexes, and the press has no record of predatory-publishing concerns. Authors should disclose conflicts of interest and confirm originality at submission, per each journal's author guidelines.









