About the Journal

2i | JOURNAL OF IDENTITY AND INTERMEDIALITY STUDIES

2i Journal is a biannual scientific publication published by the Research Team on Identity(ies) and Intermediality(ies) of the Centre for Humanistic Studies of the University of Minho (Portugal). It is a result of the activity developed by the Team, over several years, within the scope of two domains of knowledge — individual and socio-cultural human Identity Studies, and Intermediality Studies — whose interaction has proved to be particularly fruitful. In addition to disseminating the work developed by the Team, the journal also welcomes the collaboration of specialists, doctoral researchers and postgraduate students, both national and international, in the main fields of study of the publication.

 

DESCRIPTION AND SCOPE

The profound reformulation of aesthetic paradigms, artistic forms and processes to which the historical avant-garde and, after them, post-modern thought gave rise, driving systematic gestures of parody, contamination and hybridity, put an end to an idea of 'purity' in the light of which artistic objects would be describable from endogenous perspectives, within reasonably rigid and closed cartographies of genres. Contemporary creative practices, in fact, increasingly fit into a convergence culture (Jenkins, 2008), marked by permanent dialogues between genres, languages and media, associated with the erudite or popular sphere, the urban or digital space, science or entertainment. If it is true that, intrinsically, "[a]ll media are mixed media", as W.J.T. Mitchell (2002) argued, the proliferation of autonomous and institutionalized different media ensured by technological evolution and the types of reciprocal interference that are associated with it (from simple reference, to co-presence or transposition) require new conceptual and methodological matrices for their analysis. On the other hand, by demanding to be thought in articulation with the agents, the receivers and the historical contexts, such dialogues determine a permanent displacement and instability of territories, borders and artistic canons, making the intermedial perspective a particularly adequate approach to today's cultural products and narratives.

It is also according to intermediate and transversal perspectives to various spheres of human action and thought that the very reflection on the identity of Man — whose presence permeates all artistic and creative experiences — has been drawing, gradually moving it from the traditional individualistic and essentialist paradigms towards theoretical and hermeneutic models of an eminently relational and procedural character. Notions such as intersubjectivity, metamorphosis, turbulence, strength, threshold have become increasingly common in philosophical essayism and in artistic and literary criticism focused on the ontological and identity dilemma, putting into play a new hermeneutic of the 'self' — and, necessarily, a new idea for its image and its representation — in which the fundamental is not what we are, Deleuze would say, but "what we are becoming" (Deleuze, 1996).

These emerging aesthetics of the performative are not unconnected with a genre such as that of the portrait whose historical evolution has led to new representative — if not at the limit of representation — formats and media that allow us to figure humanity's thresholds (the animal, the monster, the machine, the post-human), or that place it under the challenge of shadow and invisuality, or even inscribe it in the flow of time and of the transitory, thus questioning some of the presuppositions of portraiture, secularly associated with the obligations of recognition and the characteristic immobility of the 'arts of space'.

In the epistemological and methodological framework of Comparative Media Studies, the aim of this publication is to promote scientific dialogue and critical debate on human identity — including reflection on the theory and practice of portraiture and other modes of representation the human subject — and on intermediality, considering the possible interactions between literature and other media, according to the following thematic axes:

  • intermediality theory (paradigms, methodologies, nomenclatures...);
  • intermediality practices (involving traditional arts and/or creative practices emerging in new media, such as television series, video games, intermedial and transmedial narratives...);
  • creative industries and intermedial artistic production;
  • conceptualizations, axiologies and identity policies;
  • forms, styles and processes of representating human identity;
  • humanity and its thresholds (animality, monstrosity, post-human);
  • studies on portraiture (portrait theories; portrait as a genre; portrait and visual culture; portrait practices and social networks; literary portrait... ).

The Journal is composed of the following sections: Articles; Varia; Reviews; Interviews. Each issue of the Journal presents a thematic proposal for the Articles Section.

2i Journal publishes two six-monthly issues, in June and December, respectively.

The direction of 2i Journal will assume responsibility for the production and final edition of each of the published numbers. The direction may invite external personalities to (co)edit a thematic issue of the publication as guest editors.

 

OPEN ACCESS POLICY

2i Journal offers immediate free access to its content, following the principle of free availability of scientific knowledge.

The Journal's access to authors who wish to publish their work is also free of charge. No fees are charged for sending, processing and/or publishing the submitted texts.

  

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

The authors who publish in 2i Journal agree with the following terms:

  • The authors maintain the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication. The articles are simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License that allows the sharing of the work with recognition of authorship and the initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are authorized to make available the version of the text published in 2i Journal in institutional repositories or other platforms for distribution of academic works.

 

PEER REVIEW PROCESS

The publication of the contributions in 2i Journal will be subject to prior evaluation, in a double blind peer review, by two evaluators; in case of a favorable and negative opinion, the text will be sent to a third reviewer.

 In order to ensure the anonymity of the review process, the identification of the authorship of the article has to be completely removed from the file and from the 'properties' option in Word. Any other information referring to the authorship of the article should also be removed, namely the references to previous works of the same author(s). In this case, the name(s) of the author(s) cited in the body of the article should be replaced by AUTHOR and the respective reference removed.

Evaluators may accept proposals, reject them or suggest changes to make publication possible. Only accepted texts are published.

All evaluators participating in the volume review process are mentioned in the publication.

All evaluators must declare the absence of conflict of interest and the commitment to anonymous evaluation of the article.

Once accepted by the reviewers, the submissions may still undergo a final selection by the journal's management, when the number of approved articles is significantly higher than the average number of published essays per journal.

The evaluation of articles will consider, according to the evaluation form adopted by the journal:

  • adequacy to the journal’s norms of publication;
  • adequacy of the theme of the article to the theme of the journal’s issue or, in the case of a free theme, to the journal’s scope of studies;
  • originality and interest of the study;
  • scientific accuracy and theoretical framework;
  • relevance of the critical methodology;
  • relevance and up-to-dateness of the bibliographic support;
  • clarity and quality of writing (including the abstract in a foreign language);
  • argumentative consistency and relationship between starting hypotheses and results.

The reviews should include a recommendation regarding possible publication, among the following: publish without any modifications; publish with minor modifications; publish with significant modifications; the article is not suitable for publication.

 It will also be requested the indication of suggestions and their justification, to improve the scientific quality of the article submitted for opinion, to be sent, under anonymity, to the authors.

 After receiving the opinions of the reviewers, the author has 30 days to submit the revised version of the article according to the recommendations of the evaluation, without which the text will not be published. The author should always indicate in the article the changes made and attach a report of all of the changes in accordance with the recommendations of the reviewers.

A final revision of the texts is done by the Journal to verify formal aspects and eliminate any grammatical and / or orthographic lapses, in order to maintain the quality of presentation and writing.

Interviews and Reviews

Interviews and reviews submitted to the Journal will be subject to review by the Editors of the respective issue, who may recommend changes to the text and decide on their acceptance.

The list of interviewees may include writers, artists, critics, researchers or other personalities whose sphere of professional intervention is related to the thematic scope of the publication.

Reviews must refer to literary, artistic or theoretical-critical works within the thematic scope of the publication, published, at most, in the last twelve months, based on the edition of the Journal to which the text is submitted.

 

CODE OF ETHICS

 2i Journal adheres to the COPE code of ethics (Committee on Publication Ethics: https://publicationethics.org/) and the Code of Ethical Conduct of the University of Minho.

Adopting a policy of transparency, editorial integrity and good practices in terms of ethics of publication, which extends to editors, authors and reviewers, 2i Journal rejects any type of unethical conduct, including any form of plagiarism.

All agents in the editorial process are guided by the following duties:

Editors' Duties

1. Professional and scientific responsibility: Publishers are obliged to provide a high quality service and to the best of their abilities and knowledge. Guest editors must collaborate with the Journal's direction in the production process of the issue, providing all the relevant documentation and information for this stage.

2. Publication decision: Based on the reviewers' recommendations, editors can accept, reject, or request modifications to the article. The editors will publish all articles accepted for publication, except in cases where gross errors or reprehensible ethical conduct (plagiarism or other gross practice) are detected after acceptance.

3. Confidentiality:  The editors ensure the confidentiality of the double-blind peer review process, as well as the anonymity of authors and reviewers. In case of detection of plagiarism or other gross practice, editors will follow COPE guidelines (see flowchart for plagiarism practices at https://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts).

4. Fair play: The editors will always evaluate the texts submitted to the Journal regarding their intellectual content, as long as their topic fits the journal's theme. Editorial decisions are not influenced by the origins of the manuscript, including the authors' nationality, gender, ethnicity, political beliefs, race or religion.                                                                 

5. Transparency and conflicts of interest: Materials contained in a submitted text may not be used in the investigation of the editor or any other member of the editorial team, without the express written consent of the author(s) of the text.

6. Respect for human rights, dignity and diversity: Although the content and language of articles are the responsibility of the authors, editors will not allow texts with content or language that is discriminatory and/or offensive to a particular social group to enter the process of evaluation, rejecting them in advance.

 

Authors' Duties

1. Scientific and academic responsibility: The authors must ensure that the submitted text constitutes a relevant contribution to the areas of knowledge of the Journal.

2. Integrity: The authors do not falsify or manufacture data, sources, results, conclusions or credentials, ensuring the protection of information confidentiality, namely information of a sensitive nature obtained during the investigation.

3. Text authorship: Text authorship should be limited to authors who have provided a substantive contribution to the conception, design, execution and interpretation of the reported research. The responsible author of the article must ensure that all co-authors are aware of the final version of the article to be submitted and that they agree with its publication, as well as with its inclusion as co-authors of that article.

4. Originality: Authors must ensure that they have produced a fully original text and that any work or words by other authors have been properly accredited and referenced.

5. Ethical approval: The authors undertake to obtain informed consent, oral or written, from research participants or their legal representatives, whenever ethically recommended.

6. Acknowledgment of sources: Acknowledgment of the work of other authors must appear in any manuscript. Authors should always cite publications that have been preponderant in the work being reported.

7. Financial conflicts and conflicts of interest: Authors must disclose financial or other conflicts of interest in their text that may be taken as a factor influencing the results or the interpretation of the data reported therein. All sources of funding for the research carried out must also be disclosed in the text.

8. Significant errors in published works: Whenever an author discovers a significant error in an article, it is his/her obligation to immediately notify the journal editor and provide the necessary information for its correction. The editor will insert a correction note in the published article.

9. Respect for human rights, dignity and diversity: The authors undertake not to use offensive, discriminatory or abusive language, namely with regard to: ethnicity; culture; national origin; gender; sexual orientation; age; religion; tongue; health conditions; socioeconomic status.

 

Reviewers' Duties

1. Scientific and academic responsibility: By accepting to review texts submitted to 2i Journal, reviewers undertake to provide a high quality service to the best of their abilities and knowledge.

2. Confidentiality: Any text received for review must be treated by the reviewer as a confidential document.

3. Indication of sources: Reviewers must ensure that authors have identified all sources used in their investigation. A reviewer should also call the journal editor's attention if he notices any similarity or overlap between a text under review and any other published article of which he is aware.

4. Objectivity: Manuscript reviews must be conducted objectively and observations must be clearly formulated and based on arguments that support them.

5. Acceptance of the review: Any reviewer who cannot guarantee that their review will be sent within the stipulated period must report this fact to the editor, so that the manuscript can eventually be sent to another reviewer.

6. Conflicts of interest: Any of the following situations is considered a conflict and should be avoided: having co-authored publications together with at least one of the authors in the last three years; to be/have been supervisor of the author(s) PhD or to be/have been supervised by the author(s); receive professional or personal benefits following the review in question; have a personal relationship (namely, family or friendship) with the author(s); have a direct or indirect interest in the article under review.