E-International Relations

What E-International Relations does

E-International Relations (E-IR) is an open access publishing platform for International Relations scholarship, founded in 2007 and operated by a UK-registered non-profit headquartered at the University of the West of England in Bristol. It serves IR students, academics, and practitioners globally through scholarly articles, open access books, the Thinking Global podcast, a Substack newsletter, student learning resources, and RSS feeds, with content (excluding Bloomsbury co-published textbooks) released under Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0. The platform hosts 10,000+ articles and 40+ books and reaches approximately 3 million readers annually, with over 50% of readers outside North America/UK and roughly 50% currently in education.

Operationally, E-IR runs on a WordPress-based CMS supported by Slack-based coordination across an all-volunteer global team of academics, practitioners, and students. Output is distributed through the e-ir.info website plus podcast syndication across Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google, and Audible, and paperback editions sold through Amazon and bookstores. Editorially, the organization maintains an impartial stance independent of corporate or political backing and curates submissions through volunteer editors led by Editor-in-Chief Stephen McGlinchey.

Commercially, E-IR is a non-profit with no investors or financial backers. Revenue is raised through four streams: (1) display advertising sold to 40+ universities, major academic publishers (Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Pearson, Routledge), and organizations such as NATO, with leaderboards at £250/30 days, banners at £200-£450/90 days, and newsletter/social packages at £100/30 days (20% bundle discount); (2) paperbacks and e-book sales in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing for premium textbook editions; (3) voluntary donations via PayPal; and (4) paid Substack subscriptions. Strategic partners include Bloomsbury (co-publishing) and the British International Studies Association (conference coverage and podcast content).

Name

E-International Relations

Legal name

E-International Relations

Website

https://e-ir.info

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

E-International Relations is a UK non-profit open access publisher of International Relations scholarship, serving a global audience of students, academics, and practitioners through scholarly articles, open access books, a multi-platform podcast, and student learning resources, funded by donations, advertising, and book sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAGAFAJ

Open Access Scholarly Journals & Monographs

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Academic & Scholarly Publishing (Journals, Monographs)

SECONDARYEDAGAJAA

Open Textbooks (Open-licensed core texts)

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Open Educational Resources (OER) & Open Textbooks

SECONDARYEDAGAJAF

Open Multimedia OER (video, audio, podcasts, animations)

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Open Educational Resources (OER) & Open Textbooks

SECONDARYMPAJABAG

Open Educational Resources (OER) & Open Access Academic Publishing

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Educational & Academic Publishing (Textbooks, Scholarly, STM)

Keywords

• Open access publishing
• Scholarly articles
• Academic e-books
• International relations research
• Open educational resources

Headquarters

HQ city

Bristol

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Substack Subscriptions: Voluntary donations through PayPal and paid Substack newsletter subscriptions from supporters who help fund operations
2. Advertising: Advertising sales to universities (degree courses), academic publishers (Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Pearson, Routledge), and organizations (NATO, NGOs). Pricing: Leaderboards £250/30-day cycle, Banners £200-450/90-day cycle, Newsletter/Social £100/30-day cycle with 20% discount for bundled bookings.
3. Book Sales: Open access books available as free PDF downloads, with physical paperback editions sold through Amazon and all good bookstores worldwide. E-IR partners with Bloomsbury for premium textbook editions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

E-IR operates an open-access online publishing platform offering free scholarly articles, open access e-books, the Thinking Global podcast, and student learning resources on International Relations topics. All content (except Bloomsbury-published textbooks) is published under Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0, reaching over 3 million readers annually across the globe through the website, Substack newsletter, podcast platforms, and social media.

Product overview

E-International Relations is an open access online publishing platform offering a unified portfolio of free scholarly content. The core offering comprises academic articles and opinion pieces, an extensive library of open access e-books, the Thinking Global Podcast featuring interviews with IR scholars, and student-focused essays and learning resources. Content is distributed via the website, RSS feeds, and the Substack newsletter. All content (except images) is published under Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0 license, and the platform reaches over 3 million readers annually with over 10,000 articles published since 2007.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Scholarly Articles Academic-styled articles and opinion pieces freely accessible on the E-IR website, covering international relations, geopolitics, security studies, and global politics. Written by emerging and established academics and practitioners.
• Open Access Books A range of open access scholarly e-books covering international relations theory, global politics, security studies, regional conflicts, climate justice, and other IR topics. Most titles offer free PDF downloads; premium textbook editions are produced in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing.
• Thinking Global Podcast A podcast series featuring interviews, discussions, and analysis with academics and practitioners on international relations topics. Distributed across Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, and Audible.
• Student Essays and Learning Resources A dedicated section for students featuring academic essays, study guides, learning resources, free textbooks, and opportunities to get published. Designed for undergraduate, master's, and PhD students studying International Relations.
• Weekly Newsletter (Substack) A fortnightly newsletter distributed via Substack that mirrors and cross-posts E-IR site content to subscribers, with an optional paid subscription tier that helps fund operations.

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Bloomsbury PublishingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerE-IR partnered with Bloomsbury to produce 'Foundations of International Relations', a fully featured textbook for beginners published by Bloomsbury. E-IR is unable to offer free downloads of the Bloomsbury edition but provides earlier versions free and chapter excerpts.
• British International Studies Association (BISA)flagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerE-IR collaborates with BISA to produce 'E-IR x BISA' conference coverage, including the Thinking Global Podcast recordings featuring BISA conference highlights, keynote speakers, and special events.
• University Advertising Clients (Cambridge, George Washington, Duke, Georgetown, Oxford, etc.)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOver 40 universities have advertised degree programs through E-IR's advertising platform, reaching the site's 3 million annual readers.
• Academic Publisher Clients (Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Pearson, Routledge)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor academic publishers advertise publications through E-IR's platform targeting the academic readership.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Conversation: The Conversation is a nonprofit open-access news and academic analysis platform where scholars write articles for general and expert audiences. It directly compares to E-IR as a volunteer/academic contributor model publishing open-access scholarly content, with monetization via institutional partnerships and content syndication.
• Social Science Research Network (SSRN): SSRN is an open-access preprint and working paper repository for social sciences, now owned by Elsevier. It is highly comparable to E-IR as a discovery and dissemination platform for social science scholarship (including IR), though SSRN operates as a preprint repository rather than a curated publication platform.
• War on the Rocks: War on the Rocks is an open-access platform for analysis and debate on foreign policy, defense, and national security. It directly competes with E-IR for IR scholarly readers and contributors, with similar content mix (articles, podcasts) and institutional partnership model.
• The Diplomat: The Diplomat is a current-affairs magazine focused on the Asia-Pacific with international relations coverage. While more news-driven than E-IR's scholarly focus, it targets overlapping audiences of policy professionals, academics, and students interested in international affairs.
• Open Edition: OpenEdition is a nonprofit open-access publishing infrastructure for humanities and social sciences, offering journals, books, and research blogs. It directly compares to E-IR as an open-access scholarly publishing platform serving social science and humanities disciplines with similar institutional partnership and content distribution model.

Broad incumbents

• Project MUSE: Project MUSE is a leading academic content platform hosting humanities and social science journals and books from major university presses. It is a broader incumbent providing open access and subscription access to scholarly content, comparable to E-IR as an academic discovery platform but at significantly larger scale.
• JSTOR (ITHAKA): JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources serving universities and libraries worldwide. As an established incumbent in scholarly content distribution, it is comparable to E-IR's role in academic content access, though JSTOR focuses on archival journal content while E-IR focuses on current open access scholarship.
• Public Library of Science (PLOS): PLOS is a nonprofit open-access scientific and medical publisher founded on the principle that scientific research should be freely available. While focused on STEM rather than IR, PLOS is highly comparable to E-IR as a nonprofit open-access academic publisher with author-fee and institutional revenue models.
• Frontiers: Frontiers is a Swiss-based open-access academic publisher with journals across multiple disciplines including social sciences. Comparable to E-IR as an open-access scholarly publishing platform with similar editorial workflows, though Frontiers operates at much larger scale with paid editorial infrastructure.
• Foreign Policy: Foreign Policy is an established magazine and digital publication covering global affairs, international relations, and foreign policy. As an established incumbent in IR publishing, it competes for the same scholarly and policy audience as E-IR, though with paid editorial staff and subscription revenue model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/E_IR
• YouTubeopen.spotify.com/show/4NNZ6Xer3w1k5FuBG4KTza
• Facebookfacebook.com/einternationalrelations
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/e-international-relations

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about E-International Relations