Journal History

The Quaderni dell'Osservatorio Elettorale (QOE) – now the Italian Journal of Electoral Studies (IJES) – is an internationally recognized scientific journal devoted to exploring all facets of elections and voting.

The journal was established in 1977 under the name Quaderni dell’Osservatorio Elettorale (QOE) and quickly became a cornerstone for electoral studies in Italy. In 1980, Mario Caciagli was appointed as the first official Editor-in-Chief. His vision and unwavering commitment nurtured the journal for four decades, shaping it into a highly respected platform for research.

During its early years, QOE primarily served the Italian social science community. However, under Caciagli's leadership, the journal evolved. It broadened the scope of its content, publishing diverse, high-quality papers, and steadily grew its global audience, earning its initial international recognition.

A significant transformation began in 2015. A renewed Editorial Staff embarked on modernizing the journal to align with contemporary international standards. This included increasing the number of English-language contributions, refining the double-blind peer review process, and pursuing indexing in major academic databases.

The journal entered a new phase with issue no. 1/2020, volume 83. It officially adopted its current English name, the Italian Journal of Electoral Studies (IJES), marking its evolution as QOE-IJES. Simultaneously, it became the official journal of the Italian Society for Electoral Studies (SISE). A new editorial team took the helm, expanding both the Editorial Board and the International Advisory Board, while shifting the publication focus predominantly to English.

This evolution culminated in a significant milestone: in November 2023, QOE-IJES was accepted for indexing in Scopus, an evidence to its academic quality and growing international relevance.

Today, the journal continues its longstanding legacy. It remains the first and only journal dedicated to electoral studies in Italy, but with an even stronger international outlook.