The academic life.
There are several organizations around the world called Institute of Strategic and International Studies. The one I want to review here is the one run by Dr. Detelin Elenkov of Angelo State University in Texas.
The website for the “Institute” gives no headquarters location, but the signature in Elenkov’s email claims that its “Global Office” is based here:
1717 Atlantic Blvd.
Key West, Florida, 33040 USA
Google Maps shows a house at this address. Is Elenkov the owner of the house?
Detelin Elenkov
According to its website, the “Institute” will run at least six conferences in 2015, all in popular tourist destinations:
2015 Conferences
Miami Beach, Florida = January 4-6
Key West, Florida = March 15-17
Paris, France = May 18-20
Bangkok, Thailand = July 5-7
Orlando, Florida = August 20-22
Las Vegas, Nevada = October 25-27
Registration for the U.S. conferences costs $350. One can also attend the conferences over the internet. If you want an extra copy of the conference proceedings, it’s $50 for the copy and $25 for the shipping, according to the website.
The “Institute” publishes three broad-scoped journals:
- Journal of Strategic and International Studies™
- Review of Strategic and International Studies™
- Review of Social Studies, Law and Psychology™
Regarding peer review, the publisher states,
All paper submissions will be double-blind peer-refereed on continual basic [sic] throughout the year, and authors will be notified of the review outcome within 3-5 weeks after the arrival of their submissions.
That’s a fast peer review. The journals are not open-access. They are not toll-access either. It’s almost impossible as far as I can determine to access the journals’ content. I cannot even access the journals’ tables of contents. When I try, I get this:
No access.
So if you are a really bad writer, or if your research is really poor, this institute’s journals might be a really good place for you to publish. Almost no one will see your work, but you can still get academic credit for publishing it.
And you may get a university-sponsored vacation as well.
