Aim & Scopes

Aims and Scope

Academic focus and interdisciplinary research areas of JODIGO – Journal of Digital Governance

JODIGO – Journal of Digital Governance is an international peer-reviewed scholarly journal dedicated to advancing research and critical discussion on the transformation of governance, public administration, public institutions, policymaking, and public services in the digital era. The journal provides an interdisciplinary platform for scholars, policymakers, public-sector professionals, and practitioners to examine how digital technologies reshape the organization, operation, accountability, accessibility, and effectiveness of contemporary governance systems.

JODIGO is particularly interested in research that moves beyond the technical adoption of digital technologies and investigates their broader institutional, administrative, political, social, ethical, regulatory, and policy implications. The journal seeks to develop knowledge about how governments, public institutions, citizens, and other actors interact within increasingly digital governance environments.

Scope of the Journal

JODIGO welcomes theoretical, empirical, conceptual, comparative, policy-oriented, qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method, and review studies addressing digital governance. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

Digital Governance and E-Government
Digital Public Administration
Digital Public Services
Public-Sector Digital Transformation
Artificial Intelligence in Government
Algorithmic Governance and Automated Decision-Making
Data-Driven Governance
Government Data, Open Data and Data Governance
Smart Cities and Smart Governance
Digital Government Infrastructure
Digital Democracy and Citizen Participation
Civic Technology and Digital Engagement
Digital Transparency and Accountability
Digital Trust and Institutional Legitimacy
Cybersecurity Governance and Digital Resilience
Privacy, Data Protection and Digital Rights
Digital Regulation and Technology Policy
Platform Governance and Public Policy
Digital Inclusion and the Digital Divide
Accessibility and Inclusive Digital Government
Public-Sector Innovation and Institutional Change
Digital Leadership and Organizational Transformation
Digital Policy Design and Implementation
Comparative and Global Digital Governance

Core Research Dimensions

JODIGO particularly encourages studies that examine digital governance through one or more of the following dimensions:

Institutional: how digital transformation changes public institutions, organizational structures, administrative capacity, and intergovernmental relations.

Policy: how governments design, regulate, implement, and evaluate digital policies and technology-related public interventions.

Administrative: how digital systems affect public management, decision-making, service delivery, organizational processes, and bureaucratic practices.

Political and Democratic: how digitalization affects participation, representation, transparency, accountability, political communication, and citizen-government relationships.

Social and Ethical: how digital governance influences equity, inclusion, privacy, public trust, digital rights, algorithmic fairness, and access to public services.

Research Approaches

The journal welcomes qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method, comparative, case-study, survey-based, experimental, computational, policy-analysis, institutional-analysis, bibliometric, systematic-review, conceptual, and theoretical approaches. Cross-country, cross-institutional, longitudinal, and comparative studies are particularly encouraged when they provide insights that extend beyond a single administrative or technological context.

Editorial Priority

Priority is given to original and well-grounded manuscripts that address significant questions concerning the transformation of governance in the digital era. Submissions should identify a clear research or policy problem, engage critically with relevant scholarship, employ an appropriate theoretical or methodological approach, and demonstrate implications for governance, institutions, public administration, public policy, or public services. Internationally relevant, comparative, interdisciplinary, and policy-oriented studies are particularly encouraged.

Manuscripts Generally Outside the Journal's Scope

JODIGO is a journal of digital governance rather than a general computer science, information technology, or software-engineering journal. Manuscripts may be considered outside the journal's primary scope when they:

• focus exclusively on software development, algorithm accuracy, network performance, hardware, system architecture, or technical optimization without substantive implications for governance or public institutions;

• describe the implementation of an information system or digital application without a clear research question, analytical framework, or governance contribution;

• examine private-sector digital transformation without meaningful relevance to governance, public policy, public institutions, or public services;

• provide primarily promotional, consultancy, commercial, or product-oriented material;

• discuss digital technology only incidentally, without making digital governance a meaningful component of the research; or

• lack sufficient scholarly engagement with relevant governance, public administration, public policy, institutional, political, or digital-government literature.
Scope Principle: The central consideration for JODIGO is not simply whether a study involves digital technology, but whether it produces rigorous and meaningful knowledge about how digital transformation changes governance, public institutions, policymaking, public administration, public services, accountability, participation, or relationships between governments and citizens.