About
Focus and scope
The International Labour Review (ILR) is a quarterly international journal publishing the finest peer-reviewed research on work and employment. It presents the original thoughts and analyses of world-class academics and field experts and is committed to enriching the dialogue among the scholarly community by highlighting diverse perspectives on the ever-evolving world of work and employment.
Published quarterly in English, French and Spanish, the ILR serves as a platform for advancing academic research and fostering informed policy debates and decision-making across a spectrum of work-related disciplines. These include, but are not limited to, economics, law, industrial relations, social policy, sociology and history.
Since its inception in 1921 by the ILO’s Governing Body, the ILR – which is owned and administered by the ILO’s Research Department – has been a cornerstone in the dissemination of high-quality research and scholarly discourse in these areas.
In addition to original research articles, the ILR publishes commentaries and opinion pieces on current issues facing the global labour community and critical reviews of recent significant publications. These features aim to keep practitioners and researchers abreast of the latest trends and discussions pertinent to work and employment studies.
The ILR welcomes manuscripts related to the world of work from all disciplines and encourages the submission of those with an interdisciplinary approach. Furthermore, the journal invites the submission of both theoretical and empirically-based studies, as well as comparative and international ones, and country-level studies that explore concepts, trends and institutions that are of interest to an international audience. The ILR promotes a style of writing that is accessible to both academics and policymakers and a multidisciplinary readership.
The ILR will only consider solicited book reviews. The word limit for book reviews is between 800 and 1,000 words. These will be processed by the Managing Editor and a decision on whether to accept, accept with revisions or reject the review will be communicated to the author of the book review.
Journal history
The ILR was established in 1921 by the International Labour Organization (ILO) Governing Body. The first issue was published in English and French (Revue Internationale du Travail), while a Spanish version was first published in 1923 and adopted its definitive name, Revista Internacional del Trabajo, in 1930.
In its long history, many renowned scholars and experts have contributed to the ILR. Among them are two authors who would become Nobel Peace Prize laureates and five economists who were awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their groundbreaking work. The first article by a member of this distinguished group was published in the ILR as early as 1922.
Over more than 100 years, 13 ILO officials have led the ILR; some of them for a short time, others for a decade or even longer. As of 1971, the ILR has had its own editorial team and a person specifically appointed to lead and manage the journal. Starting from 1994, this position has been held mainly by ILO officials with an academic or research background.
The Editorial Board currently comprises the Chair and seven members who are world-class academics and researchers. The journal also works with a number of Editorial Advisers with expertise in work and employment studies.
Publication frequency
The journal is published quarterly online.
Special Issues of articles are welcomed and will be published as part of the normal issue, and within a separate collection page.
Publication fees
There are no publication fees. This journal is published by the Open Library of Humanities (OLH). Unlike many open-access publishers, the OLH does not charge any author fees. This does not mean that we do not have costs. Instead, our costs are paid by an international library consortium.
Archiving and indexing
ILR is archived and indexed according to the publisher's policy.