Behind the Scenes at CICE: The Life of an Issue
When a new issue of Current Issues in Comparative Education is released, it appears as a finished and polished body of scholarship. Arguments are refined, citations aligned, framing cohesive. What readers do not see is the extended arc of collaboration, deliberation, and revision that makes publication possible.
Each issue begins months earlier with the release of a call for manuscripts. For the 2026 Winter Issue, that call centered on the theme Education, Value-Systems and Global (Dis)Orders. It invited scholars across contexts to consider how education both reflects and reshapes shifting political arrangements, moral frameworks, and global tensions. Circulated widely across institutions and networks, the call marked the true beginning of the issue’s life. Submissions arrived from researchers engaging the theme through diverse methodologies, disciplines, and geographic perspectives.
From that point forward, the visible journal recedes and the editorial process unfolds largely out of view. In the current cycle, the Winter Issue is stewarded by a team of doctoral and master’s student editors: one Editor-in-Chief and one Managing Editor, supported by four Senior Editors, five Editors, and five Copy Editors, along with a Digital Engagement specialist who helps shape the issue’s online presence. Manuscripts are read closely and discussed collectively. Reviewers offer detailed and constructive critique. Senior editors guide authors through multiple rounds of revision, strengthening conceptual clarity, methodological rigor, and intellectual contribution. Copy editors later move line by line through each accepted manuscript, ensuring coherence, stylistic consistency, and precision. By the time an article appears on the Columbia University journal platform, it has passed through many hands and many conversations.
This layered process reflects the ethos that guides the journal’s leadership. As Editor-in-Chief Camille Fabo explains:
“The three motivations that guide my work with CICE are first to honor the legacy of the bold students, now influential scholars, who founded the journal nearly thirty years ago. Second, to contribute to the collective effort of strengthening manuscripts through thoughtful dialogue and collaboration. Third, to help shape debates each year that reflect PhD students’ interests in education, moving beyond trends to engage the breadth and depth of the questions that matter to our field and that resonate with our diverse intellectual and cultural backgrounds.
I am grateful to both contribute to and learn from this unique academic platform for scholarly exchange. The work requires dedication and is truly collective, but it is always worthwhile, fertile, and fulfilling in its polyphony.”
“Polyphony” aptly captures what distinguishes CICE. Each issue is not simply a themed collection, but a convergence of voices shaped through sustained dialogue. Doctoral students serving as editors balance coursework, dissertation milestones, teaching, and research while engaging in rigorous editorial deliberation. Peer reviewers across institutions lend their expertise, and authors respond thoughtfully to critique. Over time, through layered conversation and revision, the issue takes intellectual form. When publication finally arrives, it appears on the Columbia University journal platform, where the latest articles are hosted and made openly accessible. The digital release marks the visible culmination of months of collective effort, however the publication is not an endpoint. The articles begin to circulate globally, enter syllabi, spark debate, and contribute to ongoing conversations in comparative and international education.
Even as one issue is released, the next cycle is already underway. Because CICE is graduate student–led, leadership transitions are integral to its structure. Each incoming Editor-in-Chief brings new questions, renewed priorities, and fresh vision. The next special issue, which will coincide with the journal’s 30th anniversary, will continue this tradition of continuity and reinvention.
That is the life of an issue at CICE: collaborative, dialogic, and sustained by the shared commitment of many voices working in concert.