1951
The International Political Science Abstracts was launched in 1951 under the direction of Jean Meyriat. At the time, Prof. Meyriat served as the Secretary-General of the International Council for Social Sciences (ICSS), an organization whose establishment was supported by UNESCO, and as head of the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques documentation department.
The journal was a quarterly publication that consisted solely of abstracts of articles in the field of political science. The pattern adopted in 1951 has been followed ever since. The editor reviews articles from specialized or general periodicals and journals, as well as the main yearbooks dealing with political science, and publishes non-critical abstracts. The articles published in English have an abstract in English; those published in other languages have an abstract in French (since 1977, all the titles have had an English translation). The abstracts are sourced from three places: summaries published in the journals themselves, summaries provided by authors upon request from the editor, and summaries created by the editor or editorial staff. The editor or editorial staff also edit and summarize many of the longer abstracts provided by authors or journals. To assist researchers, each issue includes a detailed subject index. This is included in an annual subject index and supplemented by an annual author index.
The Abstracts and Serge Hurtig
The success of the Abstracts can be largely attributed to Serge Hurtig whose connection with IPSA dates back to the 1952 IPSA World Congress of Political Science in the Hague where he served as an assistant to Jean Meynaud, then the IPSA Executive Secretary. Prof. Hurtig also served as Secretary-General from 1960 to 1967, and Vice-President of the Executive Committee from 1979 to 1985. In 1963, Prof. Hurtig assumed the role of editor for the Abstracts and held this position until 2000, establishing himself as one of the world's longest-serving journal editors. In 2000, Paul Godt joined him in the role, but Prof. Hurtig continued as co-editor until 2016.
A special session, IPSA and Serge Hurtig, 1952-2012, the First 60 Years, was held at the 2012 IPSA World Congress of Political Science in Madrid to honor Prof. Hurtig’s significant contribution to the Association’s development and the Abstracts. Following this session, Prof. Hurtig was honored with a specially-designed IPSA medal in recognition of his unwavering dedication. You can view the complete video of the special session and read heartfelt tributes penned by his colleagues and friends below.
Rapid Access to Political Science Publications Worldwide
Today the Abstracts is published six times a year and provide rapid access to scholarly publications from every region of the world, featuring English and French abstracts for journals published in languages from Arabic to Urdu, including journals published in Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, German, Spanish and all the Nordic languages.
IPSA’s flagship journal is a staple to help researchers and students identify the professional articles needed for their work. Only relevant content is covered, and the non-evaluative abstracts enable searchers to quickly identify the best source material for their research.
