Focus and Scope

Pakistaniaat is a refereed, multidisciplinary, and open access academic journal offering a forum for a serious scholarly and creative engagement with various aspects of Pakistani history, culture, literature, and politics.

Though several existing journals do pay a fair degree of attention to the issues of South Asia and Postcoloniality, we feel that under the current climate of high capital and war on terror, Pakistan, often subsumed under the larger registers of South Asia or Postcolonial Studies, needs a particular space of its own in our academic and creative undertakings. Thus, Pakistaniaat aims to provide a public space on the Internet to introduce and discuss hitherto neglected aspects of Pakistani cultural and literary production and to make this knowledge available to a worldwide audience.

While we welcome Pakistan-related works from the metropolitan scholars and writers, we especially encourage scholars and writers from Pakistan and Pakistani diaspora to contribute their works so that we can also serve the important purpose of showcasing the quality and intellectual vigor of scholarly and literary works by Pakistanis.

 Pakistaniaat, thus, aims to provide an inclusive venue for all those interested in Pakistan's history, culture, and politics, and Pakistan's place in the region as well as in the world.

We define Pakistan not only as a cultural and political entity but also as a fluid concept. We, therefore, believe that Pakistan deserves a sensitive and compassionate synchronic and diachronic scholarly and artistic attention. We aim to accomplish this important mission of "covering Pakistan" by publishing scholarly articles, creative works, translations, and reviews of books about Pakistan.

Peer Review Process

All scholarly articles submitted to Pakistaniaat go through a two-stage review process. First, our in house committee decides whether the submission is suitable for external reviews; If found suitable, the submission is sent to two reviewers for a double blind review. The external review process usually takes from six to eight weeks but may take longer if the reviewers refer an article to a specialist.

Publication Frequency

Pakistaniaat published THREE issues per year (April, August, and December) until 2013. 

Pakistaniaat now publishes one continuous volume per year and the completed submissions are added to the current volume as they move through our editorial process. The volume is closed at the end of the calendar year. In some cases, when a special issue is planned, we might publish two issues in a calendar year.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Pakistaniaat is also a signatory to the Budapest Open Access Initiative.

Note on Plagiarism

We have a very strict policy on plagiarism. Simply stated, plagiarism happens when one presents someone else's work or ideas as one's own without providing a clear citation.

We will decline any works that contain plagiarized content. Plagiarism is a serious charge and we do not take it lightly. Our decision to decline a submission due to plagiarism will be final and cannot be appealed.

General Disclaimer

The views presented in Pakistaniaat are those of the respective authors and should not be construed as the official views of anyone associated with the journal.