jcer.net

What It Is

Journal of Contemporary European Research (JCER) is an interdisciplinary, open-access, online academic journal focused on contemporary European research. According to the information on the site, it primarily serves original research and scholarly discussion in the field of contemporary European Studies, rather than functioning as a course, training program, or online learning platform in the usual sense. The website includes an introduction to the journal, the editorial team, submission guidelines, past issues, contact information, and information portals for readers, authors, and librarians.

Core Content and Institutional Background

The core of JCER is academic publishing and research dissemination. Its editorial team includes scholars from institutions such as the University of Birmingham, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, University of Suffolk, and Dublin City University. Its editorial board members also come from universities and research institutions across Europe, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and elsewhere. The journal emphasizes originality, anonymized manuscripts, citation standards, word limits, and the use of iThenticate for plagiarism checks, reflecting a fairly standard academic journal workflow.

Pricing and Certificates

The site states that JCER is an open-access online academic journal, but it does not disclose author processing charges, subscription fees, payment methods, or any other pricing information. It also does not offer course certificates, training credentials, or proof of learning outcomes. Therefore, from an “education/course” perspective, it is better suited as a research reading resource than as an educational product that users can enroll in to earn a certificate.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are its clear disciplinary focus, open-access model, and strong academic backgrounds among its editors and editorial board members. It is suitable for students and researchers in European studies who want to consult literature and understand academic writing standards. The submission preparation checklist is also useful for authors seeking to understand the journal publication process. However, its drawbacks are significant: UACES trustees have decided to close JCER to new submissions, while continuing to support the website and publish papers that have already been accepted or are still in the review process. This means it is no longer suitable as a new publication outlet, and it also lacks educational services such as a course structure, interactive teaching, and assignment feedback.

Who It’s For and Access from China

JCER is suitable for university students and faculty, researchers, librarians, and academic readers in European studies, political science, international relations, and area studies. For users in mainland China, the scraped text does not provide information about accessibility, so its access status from China is rated as “unknown.”