IAFOR Journal of Cultural Studies

'Publishing cutting-edge cultural research since 2016'


Editor-in-Chief: Holger Briel

ISSN: 2187-4905
DOI: 10.22492/ijcs
Contact: ijcs@iafor.org

The IAFOR Journal of Cultural Studies is an internationally reviewed and editorially independent interdisciplinary journal associated with IAFOR’s international conferences on cultural studies. Like all IAFOR publications, it is freely available to read online, and is completely free of publication fees for authors. The first issue was published in January 2016, and the journal continues to publish biannually.

Indexed in: Scopus (from October 2022), DOAJ, MIAR, TROVEScilit, SHERPA/RoMEO, Mir@bel, Dimensions, LENS.ORG and Google Scholar. DOIs are assigned to each published issue and article via Crossref.


Latest Issue

2024 Publication Timeline
Submissions open January 4, 2024

The Journal will publish two issues in 2024. The Editor-in-Chief invites general full paper submissions and offers an open space for papers that develop topics, threads and nodes of cultural understanding. Please see here for the Aims and Scope of the journal (please also see the note below about the pre-screening of submissions).

Volume 9 Issue 1
Submissions open: Thursday January 4, 2024
Submissions close: Monday March 4, 2024 (9am JST)
Target publication: July, 2024

Volume 9 Issue 2
Submissions open: Monday August 1, 2024
Submissions close: Thursday 10 October, 2024 (9am JST)
Target publication: December, 2024

Please note: PRE-SCREENING OF SUBMISSIONS WILL BE STRINGENT

  1. Articles that do not follow our guidelines and APA style will be rejected. Generally, typical submissions are about 7,500 words in length, NOT including references/footnotes; abstract 250 words maximum, 3-6 keywords. Significantly shorter (or longer) texts would find it difficult to advance to the publication stage.
  2. We do not send papers with a similarity index higher than 15% to the editorial team (submissions should not be a collection of quotes, even if properly cited and referenced).
  3. Manuscripts that offer long synopses of literary texts (or films and TV), along with critical analyses with derivative conclusions, are discouraged from submission. These papers are very unlikely to reach the publication stage.
  4. The IAFOR Journal of Cultural Studies is an international endeavour with an international audience. This means that papers may be rejected to maintain the journal’s Internationality when there is a disproportionately high number of submissions from one country.
  5. Papers must be professionally edited and proofread before submission. Please seek the help of an expert and native speaker in the field if needed. These standards are non-negotiable and strictly enforced by the editor of the IAFOR Journal of Cultural Studies.
  • Because we receive so many submissions, we generally won’t be able to offer detailed feedback on the reasons why an article is not accepted.
  • Once an article has been rejected, an author cannot resubmit either an amendment to this article or another article for this issue of the journal.
  • We will only accept one submission from any author in a particular issue and no more than two submissions, in different issues, over the course of a year. This includes both individual and shared authorship. If you submit as an individual you may not be a shared author on another submission, and vice versa. Also, if you have had a submission rejected you cannot be an author on another paper for that same issue.

Call for Journal Reviewers

The journal is currently seeking reviewers. If you think you would like to be involved in this process, please send an email with a short description of yourself, your research and the reasons why you would like to be involved to the journal editor at ijcs@iafor.org.


IAFOR Commitment

IAFOR believes in “Open Access” publishing, and since 2009, has been committed to maintaining an online searchable research archive that offers free access to anyone, anywhere, where there is Internet access, regardless of institutional affiliation or scholarly rank. IAFOR publications are accessible on the website (Open Access) to researchers all over the world, completely free of charge and without delay or embargo. Authors and contributors are not required to pay charges of any sort towards the publication of IAFOR journals.


License and Copyright Statement

Abstracts, research papers, and video footage are published under an IAFOR user license and are protected by copyright. Users may access, download, copy, translate, text and data mine, redistribute, display or adapt the articles for non-commercial purposes provided that users follow the guidelines set out in the IAFOR User License.

Journals and other forms of print and digital media will be made available by IAFOR to the general public on an online, Open Access basis. By publishing their work with IAFOR, authors enter into an exclusive License Agreement, where they have copyright but license exclusive rights in their article to IAFOR as the publisher.