About the Journal
Prototyping Across Disciplines reflects the work of Ruecker and Roberts-Smith (2018) on how design research is situated alongside better-known modes of knowledge production (within the sciences, social sciences, and humanities disciplines). It is also a follow-up to the well-received 2021 collection, Prototyping across the Disciplines: Designing Better Futures (edited by Roberts-Smith, Ruecker, and Radzikowska, Intellect Books, 2022), which showcased prototyping in such diverse fields as:
- Industrial design;
- Post-human design;
- Immersive reality;
- Physical-digital interaction;
- Digital humanities;
- Theater;
- Education;
- Landscape architecture;
- Materials engineering; and
- Arts entrepreneurship.
Submissions
As a multidisciplinary journal, Prototyping Across Disciplines welcomes submissions from researchers who have used prototyping to yield new insight to the knowledge base of their field. Submissions are organised according to research paradigms emergent primarily from:
- Sciences and social sciences—where new knowledge or understanding is constructed in a sequential manner, with new, valid theories either displacing old theories or else filling in their gaps;
- Humanities—where the understanding of an object of study is enriched by making valid examinations of it from different perspectives or lenses;
- Field research: many disciplines have a cohort who are out in the world, finding new things;
- Fine Art: it is difficult to know what constitutes a contribution to expert knowledge, but expressive exploration is often a component.
- Design (and other generative fields, such as engineering and computer science)—relying on creative practices to produce new knowledge.
Publication Frequency
Prototyping Across Disciplines is a peer-reviewed, trans-disciplinary design journal. Our mission is to champion and expand design’s contribution in research, industry, business, education, and not-for-profit sectors by providing readers with awareness and understanding of the use of prototyping in a wide range of fields. While traditionally associated primarily with industrial design, and more recently with software and web development, prototyping is now used as an important tool in areas ranging from materials engineering to landscape architecture to the digital humanities. By learning what is being done in various disciplines, those already involved in prototyping will be better equipped to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration, while those who are not yet active in the use of prototyping in their own fields may find inspiration to begin.
Publication Frequency
Prototyping Across Disciplines publishes articles on a rolling basis—each submitted article is reviewed according to an eight to ten-week timeline. Once accepted, reviewed, and revised, the article is published.
Bottom line: the sooner you submit, the sooner you're likely to be published.
Discrete issues are formed from all manuscripts published within one of the following publishing windows:
- Vol 1 Iss 1 between January 1 and May 31, 2024
- Vol 1 Iss 2 between June 1 and December 31, 2024
Special Issues may be released when appropriate.
Peer Review
Articles undergo thorough peer review and we endorse COPE guidelines for reviewers. In accordance with COPE recommendations on ethical editing for new Editors, Editors will assign any submissions they cannot handle (e.g. if they are the author of an article submitted to their own journal) to a member of the Editorial Board or a guest editor.
- Student Researcher Study Reports and Contextualised prototypes: single-anonymous peer review (also called ‘single-blind peer review’)
- Research Articles: double-anonymous peer review (also called ‘double-blind peer review’)
The details of the comments as well as the overall recommendations by peer reviewers will be considered by the Editor(s) when making a decision, but ultimate responsibility for acceptance or rejection lies with the Editor(s).
It is a requirement to maintain confidentiality and integrity of the peer review and editorial decision-making process at all stages, complying with data protection regulations.
Open Access Policy
Prototyping Across Disciplines is an open access publication. Users may read, download, copy, and redistribute full-text articles for lawful purposes, without seeking permission from the author or publisher. We believe that open access is a public good as it promotes sharing of knowledge. Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of an author's work.
There are no submission fees, publication fees or page charges for this journal.
Copyright
Copyright for articles is retained by the authors, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. Please note that if you are uploading supplemental files, like datasets or survey instruments, these must also be provided under an open license and archived in an open repository. For more information, contact the editors.
Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for any copyrighted material used, including illustrations, and providing documentation to the journal.
Self-Archiving and Preservation
Authors are permitted to share any version of their work in any institutional, disciplinary, or other repository, and on personal websites, immediately upon publication with no embargo period. This includes sharing of the the final publisher version (e.g., journal PDF) and authors' pre- or post-prints. The shared version should include a proper citation and link to the published version appearing on the Prototyping Across Disciplines website, including the DOI.
Prototyping Across Disciplines is archived in the PKP Preservation Network (PN) using the LOCKSS program.
