Hikama (Governance) is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, with International Standard Serial Number p-ISSN 2708-5805 and Electronic Standard Serial Number e-ISSN 2708-5813.
The journal's first issue was published in September 2020. Hikama seeks to produce and disseminate specialised research in public administration and public policy, including governance and public sector reform; performance and service quality; transparency, accountability, and anti-corruption; and the management of human and financial resources in public institutions.
The journal also prioritises research on the analysis, design, and evaluation of public policies, with particular attention to the policy instruments and actors operating at national and local levels, as well as sectoral policy studies in areas such as education, health, urban development, energy, the environment, and social protection.
Its scope of interest also extends to topics such as digital transformation and e-governance, artificial intelligence in public administration, sustainable development, and governance in fragile and transitional states.
In addition, it engages with international governance, international cooperation, international organizations, and transnational public policies (for more details, see belwo: Hikama's Scope and Research Interests).
Hikama is published three times a year and serves both academic and research specialists and a broader readership concerned with governance, policy formulation and implementation, and the management of public institutions, including third-sector and civil society actors.
The journal is premised on the view that institution-building, reform initiatives, political development, and the advancement of good governance in the Arab world require a rigorous, evidence-based approach to governmental activity and an expansive conception of public administration and public policy one that treats administrative and technical dimensions as constitutive elements of the political process rather than as domains separable from it.
The journal's title, ḥikāma, was selected because it follows the Arabic morphological pattern faʿāla, a form commonly used in the names of professions and occupations, spanning fields from craftsmanship and manufacturing to management.
The term was adopted as the closest Arabic rendering of governance, in preference to the more widely used ḥawkama. This choice underscores the journal's conceptual stance that public administration and public policy are embedded within a broader political context that generates and shapes policy, rather than constituting autonomous or purely technical domains.
Hikama is guided by an academic editorial board composed of scholars in public administration and public policy, alongside policymakers and professional practitioners.
It also has an active international advisory board that provides strategic oversight, safeguards scholarly standards, advises on the development of its research agenda, and strengthens the journal's standing in the fields of public administration and public policy across both Arab and international scholarly communities.
Hikama adheres to rigorous academic publishing standards that uphold the quality and methodological accuracy of its research and the clarity of its knowledge production, as well as publishing ethics that adhere to high standards of academic integrity.
Hikama's Scope and Research Interests
Hikama's primary research focus lies in public administration and public policy. In this capacity, it seeks to serve as an emerging intellectual platform that expands the analytical horizons of these fields in the Arab world by re-examining their political and social foundations.
The journal also provides a forum for sustained scholarly reflection on the trajectories that Arab political systems across their values, institutions, administrative apparatuses, and policy choices should pursue to advance political modernity and social justice.
Grounded in a citizen-centred orientation, Hikama prioritises analysis of the concrete effects of public policy on citizens lives and advances problem-focused, solutions-oriented scholarship across the full range of public administration and public policy domains.
Hikama's foremost priority is to publish scholarship grounded in clearly articulated theoretical and applied frameworks that engages directly with contemporary, pressing problems, with particular emphasis on issues relevant to the Arab world.
The journal also places strong value on research that adopts interdisciplinary approaches and moves beyond narrowly technical treatments of public administration and public policy.
Studies published by Hikama include:
1. Theoretical contributions that advance the journal's disciplinary fields by engaging contemporary debates, offering critical lenses for interpreting key problems, and introducing emerging methodologies and analytical approaches in public administration and public policy. Within this category, priority is given to scholarship that develops robust theoretical perspectives grounded in the challenges facing the Arab world, contributes to cumulative knowledge-building, and deepens understanding through empirically informed engagement with Arab case studies.
2. Empirical studies addressing, inter alia, the organizational design of public institutions; centralization and decentralization; local administration and municipal governance; human resource management in the public sector; revenue enhancement and public finance; budget preparation; expenditure rationalization and financial governance; public resource management; tax policy and the distribution of fiscal burdens; third-sector management and civil society organizations; crisis and disaster management; leadership in public administration; e-government and public-sector digital transformation; artificial intelligence in public administration; performance monitoring and evaluation; public administration ethics; performance improvement strategies; and the governance of relationships and partnerships among the public, private, and non-governmental sectors, as well as related themes.
3. Applied themes also encompass policymaking and policy analysis, including the study of the roles of key actors in the policy process governments, political parties, civil society organizations, and the private sector as well as research on public policy instruments, their design, and processes of policy analysis and evaluation. This line of inquiry also examines how political and social environments shape policy formulation and implementation. It further includes research on evidence-based policymaking, the development of mechanisms for grounding governmental decision-making in data and knowledge, and efforts to enhance the effectiveness of public policies. Sectoral policy research is likewise included, covering health, population, education, housing, labour, scientific research, development, the environment, energy, social protection, resource management and land use, technology, information networks, and related domains.
4. Applied research topics also include public policies that reinforce governments constitutional commitments to delivering public services especially in health, education, and research and development. This thematic area encompasses studies of policies that foster civic values and political culture; strengthen the rule of law; and consolidate constitutional institutions, citizenship, the separation of powers, and political participation. It further includes research on policies that advance human rights and freedoms and promote the political empowerment of marginalized groups, minorities, youth, and women. In addition, the journal publishes work on improving the policymaking environment through democratic and judicial oversight mechanisms, alongside internal accountability and control systems.
5. Research on human security in Arab societies, social and economic rights, and the social dimensions of public administration and public policy especially studies that examine equitable access to public services and identify policy choices aligned with sound social outcomes.
6. Applied research on international governance, with particular emphasis on approaches to strengthening policy integration across the Arab region and between Arab states and their neighbouring regional partners. Priority is given to studies that adopt Arab Arab comparative perspectives or that situate Arab experiences in comparison with international counterparts, especially across the Global South. This area further includes analyses of international experiences and their relevance to Arab contexts, notably on international governance; the role of international organizations in public administration development; international aid and development policy; regional integration and transboundary policymaking; and the diverse roles of the United Nations and international development programmes in supporting institutional capacity-building and improving governance across Arab countries.
