Focus and Scope
Transformative Works and Cultures (TWC) is a Gold Open Access international peer-reviewed journal published by the Organization for Transformative Works.
TWC publishes articles about popular media, fan communities, and transformative works, broadly conceived. We invite papers on all related topics, including but not limited to fan fiction, fan vids, mashups, machinima, film, TV, anime, comic books, video games, and any and all aspects of the communities of practice that surround them. TWC's aim is twofold: to provide a publishing outlet that welcomes fan-related topics, and to promote dialogue between the academic community and the fan community.
We encourage innovative works that situate these topics within contemporary culture via a variety of critical approaches, including but not limited to feminism, queer theory, critical race studies, political economy, ethnography, reception theory, literary criticism, film studies, and media studies. We also encourage authors to consider writing personal essays integrated with scholarship, hypertext articles, or other forms that embrace the technical possibilities of the Web and test the limits of the genre of academic writing.
Because Theory and Praxis are peer reviewed and articles published within may be used when applying for tenure or promotion, we expect content to be submitted and published under professional names, not fan pseudonyms. Peer review is blind, so the reviewer is unaware of the identity of the writer. Review and Symposium essays are reviewed by the journal editors. All decisions regarding content are made by an independent editorial board.
Transformative Works and Cultures is supported by the Organization for Transformative Works, and its editors may be, but need not be, members. Journal content remains editorially independent.
Peer Review Process
Contributions to TWC are first scanned by the editor to ensure that the content is appropriate for the journal. If it is not, it is rejected. All papers are read by two peer reviewers. If one recommends acceptance and the other rejection, it goes to a tie-breaking third reviewer. Most manuscripts will require revision before acceptance.
Reviewers, who are all scholars in media studies, fan studies, English, communication, and related fields, are asked to examine the essay for appropriateness of theoretical application; relevance for TWC's audience; and importance of the contribution to the field. Further, comments are solicited from the reviewer that will help the author improve the manuscript during revision. If a submission falls outside the realm of expertise for the peer reviewers, additional scholars in an appropriate field will be solicited.
The time for review varies, but TWC's commitment to timely scholarship means that a decision will be reached in no longer than 6 months.
Publication Frequency
TWC comes out twice a year, on March 15 and September 15. Close dates for receipt of essays are September 1 for the March issue and March 1 for the September issue. Any essays received after these dates will be queued for the next issue.
The journal appears online only. There is no hard-copy component, such as a printed and bound version, or PDFs.
Open Access Policy
TWC provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
TWC is an online-only Gold Open Access journal, allowing postprint archiving according to the standards established by the Bethesda Meeting on Open Access Publishing. TWC endorses Bethesda's definition of open access:
1. The author(s) and copyright holder(s) grant(s) to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship,[1] as well as the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal use.
2. A complete version of the work and all supplemental materials, including a copy of the permission as stated above, in a suitable standard electronic format is deposited immediately upon initial publication in at least one online repository that is supported by an academic institution, scholarly society, government agency, or other well-established organization that seeks to enable open access, unrestricted distribution, interoperability, and long-term archiving.
Note
[1] Community standards, rather than copyright law, will continue to provide the mechanism for enforcement of proper attribution and responsible use of the published work, as they do now.
About TWC
Transformative Works and Cultures (TWC) is an online-only Gold Open Access international peer-reviewed journal published by the Organization for Transformative Works.
TWC publishes articles about popular media, fan communities, and transformative works, broadly conceived.
(TWC), ISSN 1941-2258, is an online-only Gold Open Access publication of the nonprofit
Organization for Transformative Works copyrighted under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. Contact the
Editor with questions.
Transformative Works and Cultures
Open Submissions
Indexed