Aims & Scope
The IAFOR Journal of Cultural Studies solicits scholarship in the broad areas of culture, social development, the arts, digital communities, philosophy and similar.
While much of the journal's focus rests on Asia, it encourages contributions from all across the globe, thereby establishing links between intercultural and transcultural phenomena and analysing them. Asia is a continent constantly evolving within a restive world and it is the aim of this journal to provide challenging and incisive commentary to accompany this process.
We envisage the IAFOR Journal of Cultural Studies to be an open space for developing topics, threads and nodes of cultural understanding. The journal recognises that cultural studies is necessarily hybrid in nature and that even the establishment of common research fields (itself a highly contested exercise) will do little to discipline it. This, however, does not relieve cultural studies of the necessary reflection upon its own histories and present status quo. It is hoped that some of these discussions will take place in the virtual pages of this journal and that those theoretical interventions stimulate and interact with further research. As cultures are becoming increasingly mediated, ample space will be provided for those interventions highlighting the relationship between (media) technology and culture.
The journal Editor welcomes submissions related to cultural studies from academics, practitioners and professionals within the field.
Please note that papers already submitted to or published as Conference Proceedings (IAFOR or otherwise) are not accepted for publication in any of IAFOR’s journals.
The articles are submitted through the submission portal and must conform to the journal Author guidelines.
Multiple submissions are not permitted.
All papers are reviewed equally according to double-blind peer review processes.
Fees
There are no fees of any kind for the IAFOR Journal of Cultural Studies.
Editorial & Peer Review Process
The IAFOR Journal of Cultural Studies practices double-blind peer review. The review process is as follows:
- Submissions check, (the Publications Office makes sure that all information needed for processing the submission further was provided; that the submission complies with the Author Guidelines; and that the content is relevant to the journal);
- Plagiarism screening with iThenticate software;
- Articles are anonymised;
- Submission is forwarded to the Editor who checks the work meets basic journal criteria; article anonymised and invitations sent to reviewers to review the manuscript;
- Primary checking of an anonymous submission, involving an assessment of its suitability for publication (based on the quality of language, compatibility with the IAFOR Journal of Cultural Studies Aims & Scope, evidence of research, and sufficiency of references to the international literature), performed by two reviewers independent of journal;
- Notification of the author(s) of the outcome of the review via a reviewing sheet(s) made available to the author(s) – if the submission is found suitable, the author(s) are invited to make any necessary changes and return the article to the editor;
- Proofreading and checking whether the reworked article is written in compliance with the reviewer's comments and the Author Guidelines.
- Plagiarism screening with iThenticate software.
We do not offer short peer review times, although reviewers are requested to return their review within 2 to 3 weeks. The editorial process may take more time (sometimes considerably) when there are extenuating circumstances, such as conflicts with the evaluators’ teaching duties at the beginning or end of an academic semester, or pandemics. It can be 2 - 3 months before authors are notified of reviewers’ reports, but every endeavour is made to shorten the process.
Responsibilities of the Authors
The submission of a paper implies that it has not been published or submitted and is not under consideration for publication by any other journal or in any other language, that the research described in the paper is original, and the presentation does not violate author’s rights or copyright. In addition, the contents of the paper must be known and approved by all authors, each of whom contributed to writing the paper and/or performing the research described within. Authors assume full responsibility for the contents, correctness and originality of the submissions.
Responsibilities of the Reviewers
Reviewers must inform the Editor if they cannot evaluate an article for any reason, such as the fact that it does not fit their area of expertise or presents a conflict of interest. Otherwise, they must complete the process by submitting a completed Review Form. No other means of communication can replace the Review Form, unless previously agreed with the Editor. If the reviewers do not return a Review Form, the submission is reassigned to a different reviewer.
Responsibilities of the Editorial Board
The Editor and members of the Editorial Board must ensure a correct, unbiased and competent review by securing the double blindness of the review process, assigning submissions to reviewers based on matching the research areas to those of the submissions, and providing active solutions to potential conflicts during the reviewers and authors while keeping each other’s identity undisclosed to its counterpart.
Plagiarism Screening
All submitted articles are screened using iThenticate plagiarism checking software.