Pitt professor to head Latin American research journal

Pitt professor Aníbal Pérez-Liñán’s new position will make Pitt a focal point of Latin American studies in 2016.

The Latin American Research Review announced on Wednesday that Pérez-Liñán, a professor in Pitt’s political science department, will be the new editor-in-chief of the journal beginning in 2016. LARR, an interdisciplinary journal, publishes research on Latin America and the Caribbean that will be of use to a multidisciplinary audience. The Latin American Studies Association houses the almost 50-year-old journal, which will transition to an open access, online-only publication in 2016.

Pérez-Liñán’s new position will bring LARR to the University for the first time and will be an immense asset at Pitt, according to Ariel Armony, director of the University Center for International Studies.

“Dr. Pérez-Liñán’s new role as editor-in-chief of LARR will further the role of the University of Pittsburgh as a leader in exceptional research initiatives that are sure to make a global impact,” Armony said in a University release.

Pérez-Liñán conducts research primarily on democratization in Latin America. He has been a faculty member at Pitt since 2011 and has a doctorate from the University of Notre Dame. Pérez-Liñán, who’s originally from Argentina, obtained his undergraduate degree in political science from Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1993.

Pérez-Liñán published one of his own articles, “Interbranch Conflict and Governability” in LARR in 2003, so he has “a special affection for [LARR],” according to Pérez-Liñán.

Pérez-Liñán said the journal’s new open access format will make it more accessible to students and expand opportunities for social media and technology integration.

“There are immense possibilities,” he said. “Currently, most online journals you can access only if your library pays for them.”

Under his leadership, Pérez-Liñán said the journal will also feature more work from the humanities, including poetry and literature. As part of its multidisciplinary approach, a diverse range of people have a role in the journal’s creation, according to Pérez-Liñán.

Almost 60 percent of LASA’s members reside outside the United States, according to a University release.

Professors in the humanities field from across the world write and edit for the journal already. In 2016, Pérez-Liñán said having Pitt at the epicenter of LARR’s publication will shine a spotlight on the work Latin American scholars are doing at the University.

“Pitt is a focal point for Latin American studies worldwide and is a natural home for this journal,” Pérez-Liñán said in the release. “The new editorial team is committed to preserving LARR as the top interdisciplinary journal for studies of Latin America and to taking LARR into a new era marked by digital technology and open access publications.”