The Review contains four distinct sections:

Reflection, Evaluation, and Integration: The heart of each issue is made up of two or three extended essays that synthesize scholarship, clarify debates, pose new perspectives on existing research, identify new directions in the field, or provide insight into scholarship in various parts of the world.

Reviews of Books: As many as 20 short pieces review single books or sets of two or three related books that have been published within the past year.

Featured Book Reviews: Each issue also contains three or four extended reviews of books. These will be books that have been published outside the United Sates and written in languages other than English, or books that make a particularly important contribution to the field, wherever they are published.

The Forum: A goal of the Review is to stimulate lively dialogue and debate about the nature of and future directions for international studies. The Forum provides an outlet for debates over concepts, theories, current research, or even about reviews that have been published in the International Studies Review itself.