ABOUT FMR

Forced Migration Review (FMR) has become the most widely read and consulted publication on refugee and internal displacement issues. It provides a unique global forum for sharing information, experience and policy recommendations among practitioners, policy makers, researchers and displaced people.

As the in-house publication of the Refugee Studies Centre, FMR is a key part of the RSC’s dissemination and outreach activities – which, in turn, complement the RSC’s extensive programme of research and teaching.

A bit of history…
FMR was first published in 1987 under the name Refugee Participation Network (RPN) newsletter. When the proposal for a network and newsletter emerged from a meeting of UNHCR and ICVA members in 1985, the Refugee Studies Centre (then, Refugee Studies Programme) at the University of Oxford offered to host both network and newsletter. The aim was to facilitate greater communication between researchers, refugees and all those individuals and organisations working for and with refugees. By the mid to late '90s, the RPN was increasingly publishing articles relating to internal displacement as well as refugees, and the old name seemed inadequate. In 1998 the publication was re-launched as Forced Migration Review, formally encompassing both refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). 

Since then…
We have published 35 regular issues of FMR plus some special issues (on the tsunami and Iraq) and a number of shorter supplements. These are all available free of charge online and in print (stocks permitting).

We now publish FMR in four languages: English, Arabic, Spanish and French. The Spanish edition of FMR is coordinated by Eva Espinar and Nachi Perea Crespo of the Instituto Interuniversitario de Desarrollo Social y Paz (Interuniversity Institute for Social Development and Peace) at the University of Alicante, Spain. Some issues have also been printed in additional languages to increase access: the tsunami issue in Tamil, Sinhala and Bahasa Indonesia, FMR 26 (on Palestine) in Hebrew and FMR 30 (on Burma) in Burmese.

How useful is FMR?
Forced Migration Review is the only publication of its kind: easy to read, topical, of international relevance, with a majority Southern readership and a diverse range of authors, fully accessible online with hyperlinks – and free of charge.

Practitioners and policymakers from around the world tell us how useful it is to know how others implement programmes and tackle challenges in order to help them plan their own work, start new initiatives, improve current projects – and avoid others’ mistakes.

We know from the emails and letters we receive that for many readers – especially in the South – FMR is the only publication they receive and read. Furthermore, most copies of FMR are circulated within organisations and read by numerous staff. We encourage photocopying and forwarding of articles, asking only that the source is acknowledged. FMR is fully searchable by keywords.

FMR publishes topical articles while they are still relevant and can contribute to policy debates. We can respond promptly to unexpected events and shifts in policy debates. A special issue on the humanitarian response to the Indian Ocean tsunami, for example, was published within six months of the disaster and fed into UN evaluations. A supplement on the IDP institutional architecture was prepared in time to contribute to the formulation of the new UN humanitarian cluster response framework.

FMR authors regularly report receiving more feedback on their articles in FMR than from more academic journals in which their work has been published. We publish authors’ email addresses to encourage debate and networking.

We are privileged to work with people all over the world – who read FMR, write for FMR and fund FMR – and are glad to know that FMR is of use to them. Some of the many unsolicited appreciative comments we have received are online.

How are we funded?

FMR is entirely soft-funded and the Editors have to fundraise for every aspect of FMR, including staff salaries. Our annual budget is approximately £350,000. Although we receive some core funding, publication of most issues is only made possible by issue-specific grants from NGOs, UN agencies and other bodies. We are very grateful to all those agencies which have supported and continue to support FMR.

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