About the Journal

Public Administration and Civil Service (PACS) is an open-access, double-blind peer-reviewed journal published four times a year. The journal publishes articles devoted to topical issues of public administration, civil service, economics, and international relations.

The first issues of the scientific analytical journal were published in 2007 and the electronic archive of the journal has been available on the website since 2013. Today, the journal publishes original research articles and review papers addressing current problems of public administration, civil service, economics, and international relations in Kazakhstan and other countries.

ISSN: Print – 1994-2370, Online – 2959-0302

Public Administration and Civil Service:

  • encourages interdisciplinary and innovative articles addressing current and contemporary issues of public administration;
  • is oriented toward both scholars and practitioners interested in public administration at international, national, regional, and local levels;
  • encourages promotes innovative research aimed at deepening understanding and expanding knowledge of public administration practice in Kazakhstan and beyond;
  • contributes to strengthening networks in the field of theoretical and practical knowledge of public administration;
  • supports pluralistic methodological approaches.

All articles submitted to PACS undergo a double-blind peer-review process. The editorial board seeks to make an initial decision (accept the article, request revisions, invite resubmission for review, or reject the manuscript) within three months from the date of manuscript submission.

The journal provides open access to its content based on the principle of free availability of scientific research to a broad audience and support for the global exchange of knowledge.  Article publication is free of charge.

Indexing and Rankings

  • Kazakhstan Citation Database (KazCDB) – https://nauka.kz
  • EBSCO, Political Science Complete
  • Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources (ROAD)
  • Scilit – Scientific Literature Database (Switzerland)
  • ERIH PLUS – European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences
  • ISSN International Centre (Paris) – https://portal.issn.org
  • ROAD – Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources
  • SUDOC – Système universitaire de documentation (France)
  • OpenAlex – Open Scholarly Knowledge Graph
  • Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory (Ulrichsweb)
  • Google Scholar

 

Peer-Review Process

All submitted manuscripts are initially assessed by the Editor-in-Chief, who decides whether the manuscript is suitable for peer review or should be rejected at the preliminary stage (“desk reject”). The assessment is based on the manuscript’s relevance to the scope and interests of PACS as well as its overall scientific quality.

Manuscripts deemed suitable for further consideration are sent to two or more experts whose task is to identify the general and specific strengths and weaknesses of the work. The peer-review process is managed by the Editor-in-Chief in collaboration with one of the Associate Editors of PACS.

In cases where the manuscript author is affiliated with the editorial board, the author is excluded from all editorial procedures related to the article. In such cases, the peer-review process is organized by the Editor-in-Chief and an independent editor. The author’s affiliation with the journal is indicated in the final publication.

The journal uses a double-blind peer-review procedure in which both authors and reviewers remain anonymous throughout the process. The first decision is usually made within three months of manuscript receipt; however, timelines may vary depending on reviewer availability and other unforeseen circumstances. Reviewers are encouraged to provide constructive feedback even if the article is not recommended for publication.

Based on the reviews and their own assessment, the Associate Editor makes a recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief:
a) accept the manuscript for publication;
b) request minor revisions (Revision required);
c) request major revisions with resubmission for review (Resubmit for Review);
d) reject the manuscript (Decline).

The final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief, who bears overall responsibility for publication.

PACS adheres to an exclusive submission policy. This means that manuscripts currently under consideration by other journals or previously published are not accepted for review.

 

Peer-Review Policy

  • Reviewers and authors  should not be close colleagues, relatives, participants in the same research project, or otherwise closely collaborate.
  • Reviewers should only accept manuscripts that fall within their area of expertise.
  • Reviewers are required to respond promptly to invitations and provide reviews within a reasonable timeframe, as peer review is an integral part of the academic process.
  • Reviewers’ comments   should not be influenced by the author’s nationality, religious or political views, gender, or other characteristics, nor by commercial interests.
  • Feedback should be expressed respectfully and without hostile or provocative phrasing.
  • Reviewer evaluations should be free of personal attacks, defamation, or derogatory remarks.
  • Reviewers may be selected either from among members of the PACS editorial board (at least one) and external experts, or exclusively from external experts (at least two).

Reviewers are encouraged to provide a constructive assessment of the manuscript guided by the following questions:

  • Does the submitted article fit the scope of the journal?
  • Is the scientific contribution of the article clearly articulated? How relevant, useful, and substantial is this contribution?
  • Does the article present a coherent and logical argument? Are the selected materials, methods, and analyses appropriate and correctly applied? Do the conclusions follow from the analysis presented?
  • Are the references accurate, up to date, and consistent?
  • Does the structure of headings correspond to the content and is it concise?

 

Readership

The primary target audience consists of scholars and practitioners interested in issues of public administration at the European, national, regional, and local levels.

Publication Fees

There are no publication fees for authors.

Publication Frequency

PACS publishes four issues per year.

Publisher

PACS is published by the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.