About the Journal

Culture Unbound is an independent, academic-led, diamond open-access peer-reviewed journal that publishes emergent perspectives on media, society and digital culture. We seek to publish rigorous, accessible research, creating space for innovative and experimental ways of understanding the systems, stories, images, technologies, and institutions that shape contemporary life. We hope that the journal can be a meeting place across media and internet studies, STS, and many other vibrant “studies” that are developing research, methods, and scholarly conversations on these issues. 

We are also thinking about the journal as a meaningful publishing environment. We do not charge authors any processing or publication fees. At a time when academic publishing models are becoming increasingly unsustainable, and scholarly work is increasingly treated as fodder for AI systems, we want to foster something more nurturing and relational: a space for genuine intellectual exchange, with fewer impersonal systems and automated layers separating authors, reviewers, and editors.

We remain deeply committed to peer review as a cornerstone of academic practice. Sustaining it, however, also requires acknowledging the labour it involves. This means publishing at a deliberate and manageable pace, rather than simply maximizing outputs. We look forward to sharing more about these ambitions as the relaunch develops.

For now, we only accept submissions as part of special issues, as well as pitches and proposals for special issues that generatively take the notion of "unbound" as part of their approach, writing, format, or style and fit within the new focus of the journal. For inquiries and special issue suggestions, please contact the lead editor. Note that at present we do not accept submissions of standalone articles. 

Who owns the journal?

 Culture Unbound is owned by the Department of Culture and Society at Linköping University, and published by Linköping University Electronic Press. 

The journal is financially supported by Linköping University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, LiU Humanities, and the Swedish Research Council. 

History

The journal was launched in 2009 with the aim to be an a accessible home for cutting-edge cultural research. Since its inception it has had an interest in promoting innovative and experimental academic publishing methods and genres. Since 2026 the journal has a new editorial team and a more specific focus on media, society and digital culture.

Peer Review Process

Culture Unbound uses double-blind peer review. 

Archiving

The articles published by the journal are archived by the National Library of Sweden.