About the Journal

Focus and Scope

An independent voice for people working in the aid sector, the Humanitarian Leader/Leader Humanitaire provides a platform for humanitarian professionals, researchers, activists and volunteers to test ideas and insight in an accessible academic setting.

We tell stories that challenge our collective assumptions and present concepts that help make humanitarian aid more just, equitable and effective.  We welcome submissions that broadly inform humanitarian leadership, and promote discussion and dialogue in the sector. 

The Humanitarian Leader/Leader Humanitaire is published by the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership.

Interested in submitting to this Journal?

Submissions are encouraged to challenge our collective assumptions about the humanitarian system. We welcome papers that deal with concepts of leadership in the humanitarian system, as well as ideas useful to humanitarian decision-makers, or that interact with core concepts of the humanitarian system.

How to submit | Contact us

All submissions will be reviewed and prospective authors will be advised of the outcome. Please refer to the Author Guidelines on the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership website for details. 

Prospective authors are welcome to share an abstract with the English Editors, Dr Phoebe Downing and Dr Marian Abouzeid, or the French Editor, Justine De Rouck, for feedback, prior to writing and submitting a paper. 

Peer Review Process

The Humanitarian Leader publishes non-peer reviewed articles. 

Open Access Policy

The Humanitarian Leader is an Diamond Open Access journal, meaning that it is both free-to-read and free-to-publish. We provide immediate open access to our content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. 

Journal History 

Launched in August 2019, the Humanitarian Leader provides a platform for non-peer-reviewed research to promote discussion and dialogue in the sector. In 2023, we were also excited to begin publishing as a dual language journal, with papers accepted in both English and French.

Papers are published online up to 10 times a year, with an annual print and online edition published in December. 

View previous print editions on the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership website.