mediastudies.press is an open-access publisher for the media, communication, and film studies fields. Launched in 2019, the press is nonprofit and scholar-led. We publish living works, with iterative updates stitched into our process. And we encourage multi-modal submissions that reflect the mediated environments our authors study.
Publishing with mediastudies.press is free on principle. Our aim is to demonstrate, on a small scale, an open-access publishing model supported by libraries rather than author fees. Open access for readers, we believe, should not be traded for new barriers to authorship.
mediastudies.press publishes singles—standalone works like monographs—as well as serials. All our published works are rigorously peer-reviewed, and receive unusual editorial attention. We prioritize discoverability through careful metadata, library records, and directory listings. As a scholar-run operation, our publicity outreach is uncommonly informed by the fields’ intellectual contours.
If these values and commitments match your own, please consider publishing with us. The first step is to reach out.
open access
all our works are freely available on the open web, under author-selected licenses
nonprofit
we are proudly nonprofit and mission-driven, in conscious contrast to the prevailing oligopoly
scholar-led
we’re run by academics in the field, with the aim to spread research among scholars and to the public
multi-modal
we support (and encourage) video, audio, image, and interactive elements, in line with the fields’ multiple objects of study
singles
we publish standalone works of any length and form, on the open-source PubPub platform—with formatted PDF and other download options
serials
our new journal, History of Media Studies, accepts original submissions and re-publishes openly licensed works, on the open source PubPub platform
versioning
we make it easy for authors to release iterative, citable updates—a nod to the kinetic worlds that media scholars study
no author fees
partnerships with academic libraries, rather than author fees, cover our modest costs–so inability to pay is no barrier
publicity
as scholars in these fields, we identify journal editors, post to listservs, and help our authors publish excerpts in popular outlets
peer review
our works undergo vigorous peer review: double-blind by default, as well as more open modes at authors’ discretion
discoverability
we ensure that our works have machine-readable metadata, and are indexed by relevant directories, Google Scholar, and libraries
mediastudies.press is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation in Pennsylvania, USA. The press’s co-directors are Dave Park, professor of communication at Lake Forest College, and Jeff Pooley, professor of media and communication at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, USA.
