Call for Papers: “Mental Health and Armed Conflict”, Deadline for Submission of Abstracts: 15 May 2025

Deadline for Submission of Abstracts: 15 May 2025
Decision whether Abstract has been selected: 15 June 2025
Deadline for Submission of Full Papers: 15 November 2025

Armed conflicts, whether international or non-international, have profound and far-reaching consequences on the mental health and psychological well-being of civilian individuals, families, and communities. Those consequences are aggravated when the legal frameworks, including those protecting health, are not respected. Exposure to hostilities, acts terrorizing the civilian population, sexual violence, displacement, deprivation of liberty, ill-treatment, loss, despair, and trauma can lead to both immediate and long-term psychological harm.

Submitting your proposal

We invite anyone interested to submit a proposal by 15 May 2025. That proposal should consist of an abstract of maximum 500 words, as well as a biography of maximum 300 words (or a CV). Note that, if you are invited to submit a paper based on your proposal, the target length for a completed traditional article should be between 8,000 and 10,000 words, including footnotes – though we are open to proposals for other formats, such as opinion notes. Our selection process will prioritize innovative proposals focusing on international humanitarian law, humanitarian policy and / or humanitarian action and which have a clear potential to contribute to, and advance, legal and policy debates in this space in the years ahead. In your 500-word abstract, please include:

Proposed title;
The main arguments you intend to develop; and,
An explanation as to how your topic adds to the existing literature and fits within the Review’s editorial line.

Please note the Review reserves the right not to publish anything which may jeopardize ICRC operations.

Please send your abstract and bio as a single Word document to [email protected] and ensure that “Proposal: Mental Health and Armed Conflict” is in the email’s subject line. Note that, in line with our ongoing commitment to provide a space for a diverse array of voices in this field, we encourage submissions by established and emerging voices alike. You will be notified as to the status of your proposal by 15 June 2025. If you are invited to submit a full-length article, a draft of your completed article will be due no later than 15 November 2025.