An introductory note: By the former IPS Co-Editors

Abstract

It is with great pleasure that we welcome the new format of Italian Political Science (IPS) as an open-access, peer-reviewed, quarterly journal. It is, in some way, the journal's third life.

IPS was launched in 2007 by Maurizio Cotta with Giliberto Capano as a professional digital journal whose mission was to foster debate on problems relating to the development of Political Science in Italy and abroad. For the first time, the Italian political science community had access to an electronic tool, entirely written in English, to engage in the international debate.

In 2013, IPS was relaunched with a new editorial team, a new website, a new format and a section including book reviews. As a professional journal, IPS was faced with such challenges as the internationalization of teaching (first and foremost of PhD programmes), the evaluation of research, and the reform of academic programmes. While the SISP journal ‘Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica’ was changing into ‘Italian Political Science Review’, IPS was conceived primarily as a forum to debate on traditional and emerging research issues or new teaching instruments. A number of interviews with the founding fathers of Political Science in Italy and with Italian political scientists in relevant international roles aimed at fostering the circulation of ideas, in combination with short but more structured articles. Special issues were devoted to specific new or neglected sub-fields of the discipline.

IPS has now turned into an open-access scientific journal with a broader scope. This is a new, exciting adventure. By fostering the understanding of political phenomena through the lenses of Political Science, IPS opens to a wider politically-minded public without losing scientific rigour. This new phase, aimed at further strengthening Italian Political Science in Italy and abroad, kicks off with a timely first issue focusing on the 2018 Italian general election. We believe that such a strong beginning will be upheld in forthcoming issues.

Good luck to the co-editors and to the new editorial team.