A big thank you to IWW Mindanao for having us, to participants for an excellent discussion, and to Sukanya Podder for bringing us on board!

[..] common writing challenges and pitfalls, and why flashily-marketed but dubious AI “write your literature reviews in seconds” tools negate the entire point of the literature review process.

Topics discussed ranged from the purpose and structure of journal article literature reviews (as compared to thesis literature reviews), the difference between theory, concepts and analytical frameworks [..]

This won't be the last of such published roundtable discussions on the state of the field.. We'd also like to reiterate our call for "Reimagining the Field" submissions - full-length articles reflecting on a particular element of the field in civil wars research. See our conclusion for more details!

Huge thanks to our contributors @christinaboyes.bsky.social @hyyppati.bsky.social @mervekeskin.bsky.social Dana Landau, Rachel Schwartz and @meganastewart.bsky.social for reflecting on the fuzzy edges, ordering processes, need to de-centre violence and issues of knowledge production in the field

Interested in joining us for a discussion? DM us or contact @alexwaterman.bsky.social. We're particularly keen to pull in a broad church of civil wars scholars reflecting the field's methodological diversity, so please do circulate widely!

We are keen to build on our excellent roundtable at #ISA2025 in Chicago this year (keep an eye out for a write-up in our next issue!) by reflecting specifically on epistemology and the diverse research approaches that make up our field of study

Followed by our exciting @civilwarsjournal.bsky.social roundtable on Sunday, with all of these cool people!