Ketmen is the journal that publishes articles on Central Asia from Central Asia. The main goal of Ketmen is to establish an international platform where scholars from the Central Asian region can publish their academic work and share it with scholars and readers both inside the region and globally.

Ketmen is a word and instrument shared by all Central Asians. It means a hoe and it is used to dig the ground for a variety of purposes: soil tillage, creating irrigation ditches, mixing clay for bricks, making foundation for yurts, etc. One can think of all kinds of analogies: Ketmen will help till the soil of Central Asian academia and dig irrigation ditches for watering it and for connecting distant parts of the region with each other. It will help dig the foundations and mix the clay for raising the walls in the houses of local academic knowledge. Ketmen is also associated with hard and honest labor, connection to the folk on the ground and non-elitist status of the journal and its contributors. 

Ketmen publishes across a wide range of human and social sciences and encourages its contributors to use interdisciplinary approach and to collaborate with specialists from the variety of fields and countries within and outside Central Asia.

The scholarly articles by local authors often have solid empirical materials and analysis, however, they might not be grounded in Western theories due to limited access to Western literature in Central Asian countries. Frequently, this becomes the reason why they get rejected by Western academic journals. Ketmen will make it possible for Central Asian authors as well as authors from other regions to publish without reference to Western scholarship.  

Sidestepping Western theory does not mean lack of theorization. One of the main missions of Ketmen is to help Central Asian authors develop new theories, methodologies and academic styles. This is difficult to do without innovation and experimentation. That is why Ketmen is open to a variety of academic genres beyond traditional academic papers: essays, creative nonfiction, autoethnographies, storytelling, oral histories and others. It also encourages authors to experiment and innovate with methodologies, analysis and interpretations of their research. 

All submissions made in the format of traditional academic articles undergo the blind peer-review process and are read by at least two reviewers. The priority in selecting the reviewers will be given to local Central Asian scholars from quite an extensive database of scholars representing the variety of fields. Submissions made in other formats do not need to be peer-reviewed; the decision on their publication is made by Ketmen’s editorial board.

Marshall McLuhan famously claimed that “Medium is the message”. That is why the language of publication is just as important as its contents. In order to raise local Central Asian voices, Ketmen allows authors to publish in English, Russian and any local languages of their choice (Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Tajik, Uzbek or Turkmen). This adds to the experimental nature of Ketmen and to the multiplicity of its forms of expression. 

Over the last three decades, the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) has been a flagman in academic research and publishing. While it is not the only liberal arts university in the region, its location in Kyrgyzstan – the most democratic of all Central Asian states – makes it most vocal and free in academic expression. Thus, it is only reasonable that AUCA takes on a leadership role in this endeavor and becomes a regional anchor that brings together scholars from the entire region. 

Ketmen publishes three or four issues a year. It welcomes special issues devoted to specific themes proposed by the guest-editors or initiated by the members of Ketmen’s editorial board.

All accepted papers will be published online and made available in PDF format for readers free of charge. In addition, a limited number of hard copies of Ketmen will be printed for the AUCA library, for libraries in several other higher education institutions in Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries and for our local and regional partner organizations. The size of published stock depends on the availability of funding.

At the core of Ketmen, there is a group of highly motivated, experienced and productive scholars from AUCA and other partnering institutions who are committed to the idea of promoting local Central Asian scholarship. The board will engage in administering the journal and the peer review process, attracting contributions, popularizing the journal, providing feedback and making suggestions for improvement, proposing themes for special issues and fundraising. 

The journal is registered with the Ministry of Justice of Kyrgyz Republic and it follows the Ministry’s registration policy on academic journals. It is also registered with the Higher Attestation Committee of the Kyrgyz Academy of Science.

The journal is open to collaboration with and support by international and local organizations and foundations.