Submission Guidelines

Polyfora welcomes diverse perspectives on the specific theme covered in each issue, including non-academic voices. We invite both research and artistic submissions from the Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Interdisciplinary work (Cross-domain Research, Hybrid Methodologies, collaborations, etc.). 

Submissions should not be previously published or under consideration by another journal. Translations of previously published works are accepted on the condition that required permissions from the original author and publisher are acquired. 

There is no fee for publishing with Polyfora.

We accept the following types of contributions:

  • Research Articles (Peer Reviewed): Detailed studies of an experimental, critical, or theoretical nature based on new research.
  • Artistic Works: Creative pieces in text (narrative work, prose, poetry), visual art, audio, or multimedia formats.
  • Essays, Reviews, Comments: Thought-provoking essays, opinions, reviews, and commentary on issue themes or speculative futures.

For all other submission types, please consult the editors-in-chief: journal@cofutures.org

Submission Types

    Peer Reviewed Articles

    Each submitted work will be first reviewed by the editorial board or the editor(s) of the special issue. Submissions that pass the initial editorial review will follow the relevant review track depending on the submission type. The editors-in-chief (or guest editors) and reviewers must be able to read and write in the language of each submission. 

    Each submitted research article will undergo a double-blind review process by 2 reviewers, ensuring that every publication meets the highest standards of originality, quality, and scholarly integrity. To ensure a fair peer-review process, please remove all identifying personal data and metadata (i.e., author name) from the manuscript and the file.

      • 6000-8000 words
      • Endnotes in Chicago Style (link)
      • Order the manuscript as follows: title, text, acknowledgements (if any), endnotes, and works cited. For research articles, include an abstract (max. 1,000 characters with spaces) and 3–6 suggested keywords in the appropriate fields when submitting the article.
      • Each submitted research article will undergo a double-blind review process by 2 reviewers, ensuring that every publication meets the highest standards of originality, quality, and scholarly integrity. To ensure a fair peer-review process, please remove all identifying personal data and metadata (i.e., author name) from the manuscript and the file.

    Other submissions
    These are reviewed by the editorial team including guest editors.

      • Essays: up to 5000 words
      • Review, comment: 1500 words
      • Others: email the editors

    In general, we prefer US English spellings. For text submissions: We strongly prefer files in either .doc or .docx format. .odt and .rtf files are also acceptable.

    Media policy

      • Original pieces of work
      • Creators must be able to demonstrate proof of ownership of copyrights for illustrations, audio/visual contributions, or permissions from relevant copyright holders. 
      • Formats
          • Image: .jpg – smallest dimension should be greater than 800 px, large images will be reduced in web view.
          • Audio/Video: .wav, .mp3,.mp4, .mov, are preferred.

    Language Policy

    In order to welcome a diversity of perspectives, Polyfora accepts submissions in many languages. However, in order to ensure appropriate editorial oversight, the editorial board or guest editor must be able to read the language of submission, or will endeavour to find an impartial reader. In addition, machine translation must be available for the chosen language, or the author must be willing to translate the submission themselves. If you have any questions regarding the language policy, please contact the editors-in-chief.  

    All submissions will be published in the original language and with machine translation enabled for a global audience.

    Copyright Notice

    Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.

    Provided they are the owners of the copyright to their work, authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository, in a journal or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.

     

    AI Policy

    The editorial team does not accept AI-produced content, we are interested in the power of human imagination, and in understanding speculation as a core dimension of the human experience. Our position is that present AI models present many problems to an ethical scholarship, including but not limited to the stolen human labour to train them by using copyrighted and otherwise illegally obtained works of text, audio, image, and video made by human creators, as well as the vast amounts of energy expended in the process. We acknowledge there may be legitimate use cases to include AI-produced/augmented content within the journal, and so exceptions to the AI policy can be made on a case-by-case basis, pending deliberation by the editorial team.

    Privacy Statement

    The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.