Diversities

Diversities, formerly the International Journal on Multicultural Societies (IJMS), is a scholarly and professional journal established in 1998 by the social sciences research and policy division of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The journal is now jointly published by UNESCO and the Max Planck Institute for the study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity [Page 391]at Göttingen, GerMany. Its objective is to improve the linkages between academic communities in various regions and across different social science disciplines. In may 2010, IJMS changed its name to Diversities. The new International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) for Diversities (2079–6595) has been linked to the ISSN for IJMS (1817–4574) for bibliographic reference and records. Its editorial office is located at the Max Planck Institute for the study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity. Diversities is a peer-reviewed, open-access, online-only publication, available on the Web site, http://www.unesco.org/shs/diversities and on the directory of open access journals at http://www.doaj.org.

Diversities provides a platform for international, interdisciplinary, and policy-related social science research in the fields of migration, multicultural policies, and human rights. One of its particular features is to promote policy-relevant social science research. Each issue is devoted to a coherent, thematic debate on a key issue in the field of migration and multicultural society. Topics and contributors represent the full range of global regions. Examples of the themes include exploring religious pluralism (1999), the human rights of linguistic minorities and language policies (2001), national identity and attitudes toward migrants (2005), depicting diversities (2010), and skilled migration and the brain drain (2012). Diversities publishes two issues per year, each issue generally including five to eight thematic publications in addition to unsolicited manuscripts in the open forum section (i.e., any topic within the domain of the journal) and book reviews.

The IJMS published policy-relevant social science research on multiculturalism, and established itself as a successful electronic journal with a broad audience worldwide. Following the traditions of IJMS, Diversities explores a wide range of topics related to social differences, including ethnicity, religion, language, gender, sexuality, disability, social status, and age. It focuses on how these notions are socially constructed, how they unfold in different contexts, and how they are addressed in policy and practice. The journal provides a forum for discussion, debate, refinement of social theory, and development of key ideas at the nexus of research and policy.