Aims and Scope

The East Central Europe: Between the Baltic and the Adriatic (ECE) is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Institute of History at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Debrecen. For decades, the Institute’s Memoria Hungariae Research Group has been engaged in organizing international conferences, publishing edited volumes, and integrating the group into international research processes, thereby examining the place and image of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary from a European perspective. The journal was launched in 2023, following the publication of the volumes Zwischen Ostsee und Adria and in 2024 Zwischen Ostsee und Adria II, which focus on the medieval and early modern history of Central Europe. These volumes feature studies by both Hungarian and international scholars in foreign languages, and the editorial board is international.

As its title suggests, the journal focuses on the history of Central Europe, covering the region between the Baltic and Adriatic Seas. This region was for centuries a crossroads and meeting point where diverse ethnic groups, religions, traditions, and political entities interacted in unique ways. In addition to studies directly examining the history of the region, the editors welcome methodologically and/or theoretically relevant contributions for the analysis of historical processes.

According to the editorial concept, each issue is organized into one or more thematic blocks, but the journal also accommodates individual articles. The editors aim to publish reviews, book reports, and reports on ongoing research projects, in line with the spirit of the Institute of History at the University of Debrecen, to provide broader visibility for research conducted in Central Europe.

The journal seeks to create an interdisciplinary platform to facilitate dialogue and disseminate new research on the region, whose findings are often limited in international scholarship due to language barriers and the influence of national narratives. To support this goal, ECE is an open-access journal, published at least once annually, available in both print and online formats.