International Journal of Cultural Studies
Anthropology (General) | Communication and Media Studies (General) | Cultural Studies (General)
Revitalizing global cultural studies
International Journal of Cultural Studies is a leading venue for scholarship committed to rethinking cultural practices, processes, texts and infrastructures beyond traditional national frameworks and regional biases. Established to revitalize cultural studies against the dangers of parochialism and intellectual ossification, the journal interrogates what culture means, and what culture does, across global and local scales of power and action, diverse technologies and forms of mediation, and multiple dimensions of performance, experience and identity. International Journal of Cultural Studies provides a critical space for theoretical and methodological innovation in global cultural research.
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"From first people's internet to Hong Kong's creative industries, no finer explorers of sweaty nightclubs and cultural policy guide us through the jungles of contemporary culture than the contributors to IJCS" – Sean Cubitt, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
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"IJCS is the place to be when you want to participate in important academic debates on media and culture; it's the international arena of intellectual exchange you cannot afford to miss" – José van Dijck, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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"Drawing on the very finest work by scholars around the globe, IJCS lives up to its billing as the most international journal in the field of cultural studies" – Michael Curtin, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
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“IJCS captures the forefront of advanced critical cultural research, marked by a commitment to transnational inquiry. It is characterized by robust intellectual curiosity, not the usual, dry, and predictable theoretical maneuvers” – John Nguyet Erni, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
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"The IJCS has remained a valuable, interesting, and engaging journal over its career - never boring, never patronising, always keen to open its pages to the new idea and the new researcher" – Graeme Turner, University of Queensland, Australia
All issues of International Journal of Cultural Studies are available to browse online.
International Journal of Cultural Studies is committed to rethinking cultural practices, processes, texts and infrastructures beyond traditional national frameworks and regional biases. The journal publishes theoretical, empirical and historical analyses that interrogate what culture means, and what culture does, across global and local scales of power and action, diverse technologies and forms of mediation, and multiple dimensions of performance, experience and identity. Dedicated to theoretical and methodological innovation in cultural research, the journal is multidisciplinary in outlook, publishing relevant contributions that integrate approaches from the social sciences, humanities, information sciences and more.
International Journal of Cultural Studies publishes original research articles. The journal gives preference to papers that extend existing theory or generate new theory through interpretive engagement with empirical cases. Papers based on single country case-studies should clearly indicate and develop the broader relevance of their analyses for an international readership. The journal does not publish close readings of single texts; but it does consider critical, contextualised readings that similarly indicate and develop the broader relevance of their analyses to the field.
International Journal of Cultural Studies regularly publishes special issues on urgent questions in the field as well as on specific regions, industries and practices.
| Jonathan Gray | University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA |
| Paul Frosh | Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel |
| Anthony Fung | The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| Myria Georgiou | London School of Economics and Political Science, UK |
| Mehita Iqani | Stellenbosch University, South Africa |
| Anna Cristina Pertierra | University of Technology Sydney, Australia |
| Matthew L. Meier | University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA |
| John Hartley | University of Sydney, Australia |
| Giorgia Aiello | University of Milan, Italy |
| Donya Alinejad | Utrecht University, The Netherlands |
| Melissa Aronczyk | Rutgers University, USA |
| Göran Bolin | Södertörn University, Sweden |
| Jean Burgess | Queensland University of Technology, Australia |
| Earvin Charles Cabalquinto | Monash University, Australia |
| Jason Vincent A. Cabañes | Goldsmiths, University of London, UK |
| Bronwyn Carlson | Macquarie University, Australia |
| Andre Cavalcante | University of Virginia, USA |
| Tupur Chatterjee | University College Dublin, Ireland |
| Bertha Chin | Swinburne University, Sarawak, Malaysia |
| Miyase Christensen | KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University, Sweden |
| Laura Guimarães Corrêa | Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil |
| Nick Couldry | London School of Economics and Political Science, UK |
| David Craig | University of Southern California, USA |
| Camilo Díaz Pino | West Chester University, USA |
| Hatim El-Hibri | George Mason University, USA |
| Clifton Evers | Newcastle University, England, UK |
| Nicky Falkof | University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa |
| Gerard Goggin | Western Sydney University, Australia |
| Andreas Hepp | Bremen University, Germany |
| Larissa Hjorth | RMIT, Australia |
| Heather Horst | Western Sydney University, Australia |
| Emma A. Jane | University of New South Wales, Australia |
| Henry Jenkins | University of Southern California, USA |
| Dal Yong Jin | Simon Fraser University, Canada |
| Wen Jin | East China Normal University (Shanghai), China |
| Derek Johnson | University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA |
| Ralina Joseph | University of Washington, USA |
| Lori Kido Lopez | University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA |
| Youna Kim | American University in Paris, France |
| Kate Lacey | University of Sussex, UK |
| Ramon Lobato | RMIT, Australia |
| Amanda Lotz | Queensland University of Technology, Australia |
| Susan Luckman | University of South Australia, Australia |
| Mirca Madianou | Goldsmiths, University of London, UK |
| Alice Marwick | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA |
| Joe Moran | Liverpool John Moores University, UK |
| Yoshitaka Mori | Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan |
| Susan Soomin Noh | Oglethorpe University, USA |
| David C. Oh | Syracuse University, USA |
| Susanna Paasonen | University of Turku, Finland |
| Zizi Papacharissi | University of Illinois Chicago, USA |
| Thao Phan | Monash University, Australia |
| Sandra Ponzanesi | Utrecht University, The Netherlands |
| Devon Powers | University of Michigan, USA |
| Aswin Punathambekar | University of Pennsylvania, USA |
| Kane Race | University of Sydney, Australia |
| Cornel Sandvoss | University of Bristol, UK |
| Adrienne Shaw | Temple University, USA |
| Limor Shifman | Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel |
| Doobo Shim | Sungshin Women’s University, South Korea |
| Lukasz Szulc | University of Manchester, UK |
| Nancy Thumim | University of Leeds, England, UK |
| Yiyi Yin | Beijing Normal University, China |
| Barbie Zelizer | University of Pennsylvania, USA |
Manuscript Submission Guidelines: International Journal of Cultural Studies
Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijocs to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of International Journal of Cultural Studies will be reviewed.
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.
If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal
- What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper - Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests - Publishing policies
3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving
3.4 Using AI - Preparing your manuscript
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplementary material
4.4 Reference style
4.5 English language editing services - Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions - On acceptance and publication
6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article - Further information
Before submitting your manuscript to International Journal of Cultural Studies, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.
International Journal of Cultural Studies publishes original research articles. The journal gives preference to papers that extend existing theory or generate new theory through interpretive engagement with empirical cases. Papers based on single country case-studies should clearly indicate and develop the broader relevance of their analyses for an international readership. The journal does not publish close readings of single texts; but it does consider critical, contextualised readings that similarly indicate and develop the broader relevance of their analyses to the field.
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online
The International Journal of Cultural Studies adheres to a rigorous double-anonymize reviewing policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties. Decisions on manuscripts will be taken as rapidly as possible. Authors should expect to have reviewer’s comments within approximately 6-8 weeks. However, authors should be mindful that it may take some time to secure appropriate referees, and therefore that the total time between submission and decision may be extended. In general, Editors will seek advice from two or more expert reviewers about the scholarly content and presentation of submitted articles.
All manuscripts are reviewed initially by the Editors and only those papers that meet the editorial standards of the journal, and fit within the aims and scope of the journal, will be sent for outside review. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two referees. All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible, and an editorial decision is reached as soon as reviewers’ reports are received.
All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.
Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
If absolutely necessary, the journal will accept short acknowledgements of up to 50 words.
International Journal of Cultural Studies requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
International Journal of Cultural Studies encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway
3.1.1 Plagiarism
International Journal of Cultural Studies and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
3.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway
3.3 Open access and author archiving
International Journal of Cultural Studies offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.
Following Sage’s guidelines and requirements for using generative AI in writing submissions, International Journal of Cultural Studies requires that any and all use of AI must be declared upon submission, and the use must be described in detail in a cover letter.
4. Preparing your manuscript for submission
The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines
Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.
This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files
International Journal of Cultural Studies adheres to the Sage Harvard reference style. View the Sage Harvard guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.
If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the Sage Harvard EndNote output file.
4.5 English language editing services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
International Journal of Cultural Studies is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijocs to login and submit your article online.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
All papers must be submitted via the online system. If you would like to discuss your paper prior to submission, please contact the Chief Editor, Jonathan Gray: ijcs@commarts.wisc.edu
Manuscripts should contain:
Title page with full title and subtitle (if any). For the purposes of anonymize refereeing, full name of each author with current affiliation and full address/phone/fax/email details plus short biographical note should be supplied in a separate file. Please ensure that you have anonymised the script throughout, deleting self-references until after the review process is complete.
Abstract of 100-150 words
Up to 10 key words
Main text and word count: Submissions must be no less than 6,500 words and no more than a grand total of 8,000 words, including abstract, main text, notes, all references and author bio. Text to be clearly organised, with a clear hierarchy of headings and subheadings and quotations exceeding 40 words displayed, indented, in the text.
The journal uses notes where necessary. Historical, documentary or archival sources should be cited in endnotes. Limited discursive endnotes are also allowed. Endnotes are signalled in the text by superscript numbers.
The journal does not allow acknowledgements. Only funding sources can be acknowledged.
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.
The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.
If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway
6. On acceptance and publication
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.
6.3 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the International Journal of Cultural Studies editorial office at ijcs@commarts.wisc.edu