ISSN

n/a (PRINT)
3005-2130 (ONLINE)

Focus and scope

The Journal of Media and Rights (JMR) aims to provide an innovative and diverse platform for the presentation and discussion of original research linking media scholarship with rights-based scholarship. This unique linkage is explored in various sociopolitical and cultural contexts in the quest for intellectual understanding of the positive and/or negative impact that evolving media approaches have on the expression and realisation of rights. A core element of JMR is the exploration of rights (human or otherwise) via the close analysis of media texts such as films, television, radio, podcasts, and other forms of online media. In this way, JMR includes cutting-edge discussions on the semiotics, narrative and contextual meaning that can be derived by analysing media texts from a rights-based perspective and vice versa. JMR also examines rights-related concerns connected to the media industries themselves. This includes, for instance, assessing the media industries from a rights-based perspective in order to scrutinise working practices and industry structures. The intention is to in this way contribute to the improvement and development of approaches to producing media that have human rights, sustainability, and conservation messaging as central concerns. Significantly, the scope of the journal’s critical engagement with media discourses on rights includes a platform for practice-based as well as practice-led researchers. Exhibiting such research artefacts alongside critical reflections on those artefacts provides a unique outlet for innovative approaches in media and rights research. JMR thus adds a novel dimension to traditional scholarship in this area while also participating actively in the contemporary media landscape. Moreover, JMR serves an important function in addressing contemporary realities where rights are deliberately restricted – often also with the help of different forms of media. Globally, the sociocultural moment in which we currently live is characterised by the rise of populism, factionalism and deliberate attacks on facts and truth. In several instances, media are being politicised and even weaponised as part of a widespread attack on rights (e.g., reproductive rights, workers’ rights, climate change, indigenous rights, to name but a few). JMR addresses a pressing need to draw attention to these developments and, in so doing, serves as a crucial reminder that media creators and scholars occupy an important position in offsetting those who would see the rights of humans, animals and the environment denied.

JMR is therefore interdisciplinary and welcomes papers that investigate the linkages between media and rights from a variety of perspectives. These may include, but are not limited to, perspectives coming from:

• film studies
• television studies
• communication studies
• journalism
• memory studies
• political science
• international relations
• human rights law
• philosophy
• psychology
• anthropology
• sociology
• cultural studies
• theology.

The thematic scope of JMR is thus broad in so far as contributions consider a form (or multiple forms) of media within the interdisciplinary confines of the PANEL principles of rights-based approaches:

• Participation
• Accountability
• Non-Discrimination and Equality
• Empowerment
• Legality.

Historical data

The inspiration for JMR is quite simply that such a concentrated focus on media and rights is needed. Not only is its mission to shine a light on the linkages between media and rights, but it also aims to provide a platform for a diverse range of scholars in an area where their perspectives interface – including practice-based and practice-led research.

There are several places where scholars publish on this topic, but the opportunities are scattered and often difficult to locate. JMR is a one-stop-shop where scholars can access articles, artefacts, reviews, case studies, and discussions from Global South as well as Global North perspectives. JMR is, therefore, more than a journal, it is a global network where like-minded scholars and practitioners can find an opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary reflection about the linkages between media and rights. These exchanges may take place purely from a theoretical vantage point or through considering the impact of practical artefacts and industry outputs.

Publication frequency

The journal publishes one issue annually. Articles are published online when ready for publication and then printed in an end-of-year compilation. Additional issues may be published for special events (e.g. conferences) and when special themes are addressed.

Types of articles published

Read full details on the submissions guidelines page.

Open access

This is an open access journal, which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access. Learn more about the journal copyright, licensing and publishing rights.

Review process

The journal has a double-blinded peer review process. Manuscripts are initially examined by the editorial staff and are sent by the Editor-in-Chief to two independent expert reviewers, either directly or by a Section Editor. Read our full peer review process.

Marketing

AOSIS has a number of ways in which we promote publications. Learn more here.

Membership

AOSIS is a member and/or subscribes to the standards and code of practice of several leading industry organisations. This includes the Directory of Open Access Journals, Ithenticate, Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, CrossRef, Portico and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Learn more here.

All articles published in the journal are included in:

• GALE, CENGAGE Learning

We are working closely with relevant indexing services to ensure that articles published in the journal will be available in their databases when appropriate.

The full text of the journal articles is deposited in the following archives to guarantee long-term preservation:

• AOSIS Library
• Portico
• SA ePublications, Sabinet
• South African Government Libraries

AOSIS is also a participant in the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) initiative. LOCKSS will enable any library to maintain their own archive of content from AOSIS and other publishers, with minimal technical effort and using cheaply available hardware. The URL to the LOCKSS Publisher Manifest for the journal is, https://journalmediarights.org/index.php/jmr/gateway/lockss. Please inform us if you are using our manifest as we would like to add your name to the list above.

A journal's Impact Factor was originally designed in 1963 as a tool for libraries to compare journals, and identify the most popular ones to subscribe to. It was never intended to measure the quality of journals, and definitely not the quality of individual articles.

The Impact Factor is a journal-level measurement reflecting the yearly average number of citations of recent articles published in that journal. It is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field; journals with higher Impact Factors are often deemed to be more important than those with lower ones. Therefore, the more often articles in the journal are cited, the higher its Impact Factor.

The Impact Factor is highly discipline-dependent due to the speed with which articles get cited in each field and the related citation practices. The percentage of total citations occurring in the first two years after publication varies highly amongst disciplines. Accordingly, one cannot compare journals across disciplines based on their relative Impact Factors.

We provide several citation-based measurements for each of our journals, if available. We caution our authors, readers and researchers that they should assess the quality of the content of individual articles, and not judge the quality of articles by the reputation of the journal in which they are published.