Journal History
Origins and development
Teknokultura Revista de Cultura Digital y Movimientos Sociales [Teknokulture Journal of Social Movements and Digital Culture] (e-ISSN 1549-2230, https://dx.doi.org/10.5209/TEKN), hereafter Teknokultura, was first published in 2001 and, until 2008, was run from the University of San Juan de Puerto Rico under the editorial direction of Prof. Heidi Figueroa-Sarriera. Subsequently, lack of financial resources meant that the journal was not published for a further three years.
Due to an affinity of research interests and subject matter, in 2011, the Cibersomosaguas Digital Culture and Social Movements Research Group, based at the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), took over the editing and management of the journal, although under a new title and with a distinct editorial policy.
Currently, Teknokultura is a bilingual digital journal (Spanish and English) with an online first publication model. It follows an open peer review system. The journal is published with a periodicity of two issues per year: January-June and July-December. Teknokultura is an open-access and free journal with no article processing charges (APC) for authors.
In terms of disciplines, the journal’s primary field is Social Science with a focus on the subfields of Sociology and Political Sciences, Social Sciences (Miscellaneous) and Communication. More precisely, the editorial direction of Teknokultura centers on a critical view of technology in the contexts of communication and social mobilization, examining how it can shape social, economic, political, and cultural life.
The journal combines articles of empirical research and works of rigorous intellectual reflection that have become a reference point in academic settings, most notably in Ibero-American academic settings, although with significant growth in English-speaking countries.
New resources, systems and editorial improvements
During the first years of the journal’s redevelopment, from 2011-2014, Cibersomosaguas had almost no economic or institutional support. Our only assets were the involvement of a group of respected national and international scholars that were members of or collaborated with the Cibersomosaguas Research Group.
Since 2015, however, a number of important changes have taken place. Firstly, the journal was accepted for inclusion on the UCM’s database of scientific journal [Revistas Científicas Complutenses]. This was a highly important step that marked the beginning of the third phase of development. Apart from being an indicator of quality, it also provides the journal with specialist support for publishing, design and dissemination. In addition, the journal now receives financial support from TRANSOC (Complutense Institute of Sociology for the Study of Contemporary Social Transformations) and additional funding from the Methodology and Theory department of the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology (UCM). The work to improve the journal resulted in a successful application to the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology’s (FECYT) [Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología] for their Seal of Quality for Editorial and Scientific Quality in Scientific Journals. Teknokultura’s successful application in the 6th biennial call in 2019 was followed by a renewal of the Seal of Quality following the 7th (2021) call.
Putting these institutional resources in place has given the journal a more solid footing and freed up editorial time to concentrate on other areas, in particular content management and ensuring that published articles are scientifically rigorous and of a consistent high standard. The use of OJS ensures the proper management and transparency of the publication process and our double-blind peer review system. To guarantee complete transparency, peer reviews are published alongside articles (open peer review), while reviewers’ identities remain anonymous. The journal’s list of reviewers is published annually on the journal’s website.
