[Commlist] Communication and Society Journal Special Issue | Call for papers : Scientific Publication and Academic Capitalism

The Communication and Society Journal  Special Issue call for papers 
with the theme ‘Scientific Publication and Academic Capitalism’ is open 
from April 20, 2026 to September 30, 2026

In a context marked by the hegemony of Big Tech and the rapid spread of 
artificial intelligence, which are reshaping information flows, power 
relations and the ways in which knowledge is produced and disseminated, 
it is essential to reflect on the status, nature and practices of 
scientific publication.

In recent decades, the way in which the role of scientific knowledge is 
viewed has been influenced by a set of institutional pressures that 
manifest themselves in competition for funding, the creation of internal 
and external evaluation systems within universities and research centres 
that incentivise productivity, the transformation of the reputation and 
quality of scientific work into the quantification of bibliometric 
indicators dictated by multinational publishers, in academic careers 
tied to these very measurement systems, endemic rivalry, and precarious 
working conditions. Added to these dynamics is the rise of academic 
capitalism, which tends to subordinate research to agendas of 
innovation, impact and immediate ‘utility’, reducing intellectual 
autonomy and reinforcing dependence on public and private funders.
In this context, the four journals represented here, published by public 
universities – Comunicação e Sociedade, Estudos em Comunicação, Media & 
Jornalismo, Observatorio (OBS*) – have decided to jointly launch a 
special issue with the aim of prompting reflection on the policies and 
rationales underpinning the sharing of scientific knowledge. In 
peer-reviewed journals, over a million articles are published each year, 
with an average of 1.5 readers per article. Against this backdrop, 
debates on alternative publishing models – such as those proposed by the 
San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) – have gained 
prominence, challenging the centrality of bibliometric metrics and 
publishing oligopolies.

This initiative stems from a critical reflection by the editors of these 
four journals, who share a common assessment of concerns associated with 
the dynamics of periodical publishing. The growing volume of 
submissions, the difficulty of peer-review processes, the expectation of 
rapid publication, editorial competition and, in general terms, the 
acceleration of scientific production and communication practices are 
fuelling a debate on the relevance and impact of scientific literature.
With the aim of charting a counter-trend course, we seek to encourage 
the submission of papers that interrogate the material and institutional 
conditions for conducting research in communication, including the role 
of digital platforms in the circulation of knowledge, the limits and 
potential of open access, and the tensions between quantitative 
evaluation and the substantive quality of reflection and critical thinking.

Possible topics
·         The commodification of science and academic capitalism;
·         Academic freedom and university autonomy;
·         Forms of cultural and organisational resistance;
·         The nature and reconfiguration of the concept of scientific 
reputation;
·         Science and language policies;
·         Academic and scientific rankings;
·         Oligopolies and scientific publishing;
·         Metrics, quantification and impact;
·         Open access and repository policies;
·         The impact of AI on scientific writing and peer review;
·         Invisibility, bias and inequality in scientific citations
·         Big Tech, platformisation and publishing ecosystems;
·         Algorithmic regimes of visibility and classification;
·         Research independence and innovation agendas; · Research 
evaluation, DORA and alternatives.

Submission guidelines
Articles may be submitted in English, Spanish or Portuguese, in the form 
of a full manuscript. Submissions must be made via the dedicated form 
(Submission of manuscripts for the dossier SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATION AND 
ACADEMIC CAPITALISM – Fill in the form) or, alternatively, via the email 
address: (pub.interrevistas /at/ gmail.com) If submitting by email, the 
author(s) must send, separately, the manuscript file in Word (file 
without author identification or metadata; max. 8,000 words) and the 
file containing the authors’ details (name, affiliated institution, 
email, ORCID, institutional address and a biography of approximately 
100–150 words).

Submissions will be handled by an inter-journal editorial team, which 
will assess and review the manuscripts and assign them to one of the 
four publications involved. Suitability to the theme of the special 
section, formal adherence to academic standards and compliance with APA 
guidelines, as well as the relevance, significance and originality of 
the approach, are the criteria for selecting articles for review.
It is part of the spirit of this joint initiative to emphasise the 
importance of sharing critical knowledge, setting aside concerns 
regarding the different (and fluctuating) rankings/quartiles of the 
journals in which the articles will be published.
All four journals are indexed in Scopus.

Bibliographic references must follow APA style.

Key dates
Deadline for article submission: 20 April to 30 September 2026
Publication period: 1st semester of 2027

No payment from the authors will be required

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