About the Journal

Theoria is a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed international journal of social and political theory. Published every quarter, its purpose is to address, through academic debate, the many challenges posed by the major social, political and economic forces that shape the contemporary world, especially but not only with regard to Africa, the global South, and their relations with the global North. Theoria wishes to bridge South and North through publishing writing on social and political theory, regardless of ideological perspective and theoretical or methodological approach. It is particularly interested in how contemporary systems of power bear on questions of democracy, freedom, equality, justice, race, gender and identity.

The journal publishes full and original articles, review essays, and book reviews. We also periodically publish a 'New Voices' section in which we publish peer-reviewed essays from scholars sharing emerging ideas and 'points of departure'. The journal is currently open access, and our latest issues can be found on the publisher's website. 

Our typical timeline for peer review is 16-20 weeks post-submission, which includes initial editorial review and external peer review. Authors are typically notified within 4 weeks of submission whether their paper will be externally peer reviewed or not, and they will receive some feedback from the editors if the decision is not to proceed to peer review. All submissions must be made online after registering for an author account. In 2025, the journal's total rejection rate (including rejections pre- and post-peer review) was 62%. The average time to publication for papers is approximately 9 months from initial submission. 

Please note that we allow only one paper per author (whether co-authored or sole-authored) to be under consideration at one time. If you have already submitted a paper to the journal which is still in the editorial process, at any stage, you will have to wait until a decision on that paper has been made regarding publication before a new submission can be considered.