Journal aims and scope
The World Customs Journal (WCJ) is a free, independent, scholarly peer-reviewed journal that focuses on all aspects of Customs and border management. It provides a forum for customs professionals, academics, customs practitioners, industry researchers and research students to contribute and draw upon research, commentary, practical insights and experiences, to enhance its readers’ understanding of all aspects of the roles and responsibilities of Customs and other border management agencies.
The WCJ publishes rigorous, original, high‑quality scholarship and provides a common platform for established academics and customs professionals as well as for those entering this interdisciplinary field. As such, the Journal showcases diverse perspectives and analyses from a broad range of contributors from various backgrounds. The WCJ encourages submission of papers from all social sciences, humanities and other disciplines that relate to border management such as international trade, transport, logistics, law, policy, economics, management and human resource management, public administration, taxation, international relations, information and communications technologies, and data analytics.
The aim of the Journal is to have impact not only in an academic sense, but also in the broader sense of advancing the knowledge on all aspects of Customs and providing intellectual input to strategic decision‑making through critical analysis and constructive debate. Accordingly, the Journal publishes both theoretical and empirical contributions from both academics and customs practitioners covering the development of theories and concepts, methodological perspectives, empirical analysis and policy debate. The WCJ has an international scope and welcomes the submissions of papers from all corners of the world.
Journal information
Launched in 2007, the WCJ has become the leading international academic journal on aspecst of customs and it is widely consulted by researchers, educators, policy makers, customs practitioners and the broader public.
The Journal is published twice a year (March and September) and each issue contains contributions from both academics and customs practitioners, and typically includes a mix of articles, special reports, research notes and commentaries from a broad panel of international experts including experienced and seasoned researchers and customs practitioners as well as more recent newcomers to the field such as postgraduate students finishing their PhD theses.
The Editors invite researchers and readers to use the WCJ as a forum for debate and commentary on issues relevant to Customs and border management, present their perspectives on relevant issues and submit to the Journal accounts of evidence-based, empirical scientific research and analyses. The Editors also welcome contributions that seek to rebut or challenge previously published papers.
The WCJ offers its contributors a high degree of flexibility in terms of content and length of articles, but without compromising professional scholarly standards.
The policy of the WCJ and the content of each issue is determined by the Editor-in-Chief and subject to a broad oversight by members of the Editorial Board, who are mostly drawn from universities and academic institutions, but also include current and former customs officials and professionals.
Affiliated organisations
The Journal is published by the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies (CCES), Charles Sturt University, Australia, and the Institute of Customs and International Trade Law (ICTL), University of Münster, Germany in association with the International Network of Customs Universities (INCU) and the World Customs Organization (WCO).
The funding for the WCJ is independent of business and government to ensure academic integrity.
ISSN
- 1834-6707 (Print)
- 1834-6715 (Online)
Abstracting and indexing information
The WCJ is currently indexed in the following databases and included in the following Journal Lists:
- SCOPUS (Elsevier)
- EBSCO
- Australia Research Council Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2023 Submission Journal List
Journal keywords
Customs, customs administration, customs regulations, trade facilitation, customs research, world customs organization, customs profession, cross-border, tariff, tax, policies, customs legislation, customs duties, smuggling, customs law, international trade, rules of origin, supply chain, border management, supply chain security, compliance management
Publication and peer-review model
- Launch date: 27 March 2007
- Publication frequency: two issues per year (usually in March and September).
- Publication embargo: for the first six months following the publication of each new edition, the Journal will be available exclusively to Members of the International Network of Customs Universities (INCU) in the Members-only area of the INCU website. For information about membership options please visit the INCU website. After six months, the Journal will be made available to the public. All earlier editions are available to the public on the Journal’s website.
- Publishing formats: electronically in both HTML and PDF formats.
- Publication fee: the WCJ does not charge any publication or article processing fees.
- Peer-revew model: for details about our peer-review process, please see the “For Authors” page of this website.
- Acceptance rate: approximately 50%.
- Average time between submission & first decision: approximately 30 days.
- Average time between submission & publication: approximately 3-6 months.
