New Call for Papers by Quaderni Culturali

Cultural relations between Italy and Latin America from the 1920s to the 1940s

In 1999, the IILA dedicated an exhibition to the painter Giulio Aristide Sartorio, who was the artistic commissioner of the exhibition transported by the ‘Regia Nave Italia’ during its voyage to Latin America, the centenary of which falls in 2024. The ship, laden with Italian industrial and artistic products, touched down in almost all the countries of the continent, and bears witness to how the Italian government of the time saw in this initiative an opportunity to deepen relations with the governments of those territories and with the Italian communities that had emigrated to Latin America, as well as to boost trade. 

This trip was, however, just one of many initiatives, both public and private, that created bridges of communication and exchange between Italian culture and Latin America across all fields of knowledge and artistic endeavour. 

The proposed monographic issue of Quaderni Culturali IILA seeks to investigate the artistic, literary and intellectual exchanges between the Italian peninsula and the Latin American continent through the inter-textual and inter-artistic relationship between works and authors in the decades between 1920 and 1940. It will follow a rich tradition of studies, and will accept proposals on artistic legacies and on the various forms of dialogue between texts and authors, as well as the systemic dimension of transatlantic links. For this reason, analysis of the textual dimension of the proposed works will continue, but the contextual level will also be examined, focusing on the figure of agents, intermediaries, translators and publishers, without forgetting the cultural policies, studies on public reception and editorial trends. 

The ‘triangulation’ between Spain, Italy and Latin America is also relevant, whilst not forgetting other hubs of creation and the spread of transatlantic relations in Europe, particularly Portugal and Brazil, and their relationship with the Latin American and Italian context. In this way, the aim is to broaden research into European and American networks of literary and cultural production, dissemination and importation. 

Another aspect to be explored is the presence of migrant and exophonic writing and art forms, in order to emphasise the intersection between literary and artistic contributions that facilitated the production of new artistic and textual forms in those years, in particular those linked to the avant-garde. 

The proposed areas of research are the following: 

  • Travel literature: from Europe to Latin America and back. 
  • Cross-cultural perspectives and the construction of stereotypes.
  • Latin American nations and their cultural correspondents in Spain, Italy and Portugal.
  • Cultural relations between Italy, Spain, Portugal and Latin America between 1920 and 1940: literary works, events, and places.
  • Transatlantic feminist relations. Proposals for studying intellectual and artistic networks from a gender perspective.
  • Exile, cosmopolitanism and migration from 1920 to 1940.
  • Publishers, translators and intermediaries. Dissemination and circulation of Latin American culture in Europe.
  • Influences, exchanges and interdisciplinary hybridisation in art, music, literature and filmmaking.
  • Writing in the language of the other: self-translations and exophonic writing.
  • Transatlantic relations and archives. 

Articles of no more than 5,000 to 7,000 words shall be submitted by June, 1, 2024. The documents required for submission and the editorial norms of the journal can be found at https://riviste.fupress.net/index.php/iila. 

The languages accepted are Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French and English. 

Download PDF (ENG-ITA-ESP)

Continuità e discontinuità nella digitalizzazione del lavoro, delle organizzazioni e dei mercati

Da sempre, l’innovazione tecnologica si accompagna a visioni e interpretazioni ottimistiche e pessimistiche circa le sue implicazioni dal punto di vista socioeconomico. La tecnologia – dalla robotica al digitale, sino all’Intelligenza Artificiale – è ugualmente additata sia come responsabile della perdita di legami sociali e della disarticolazione dei tessuti produttivi locali, sia come volano di innovazione sociale e di emersione di nuove forme organizzative e di sviluppo economico. Tuttavia, l’innovazione tecnologica non può essere letta solo in un’ottica di discontinuità – dirompente e inedita – perché essa è strettamente incorporata in strutture sociali e politiche in diretta continuità con configurazioni sociali e produttive precedenti.

Per esempio, automazione e digitalizzazione contribuiscono tanto a ridefinire i confini spaziali quanto il senso del lavoro e dei processi organizzativi. Il concetto stesso di platform economy, infatti, vorrebbe indicare non soltanto l’innovazione dell’infrastruttura tecnologica che intermedia gli scambi e le forme di coordinamento, ma una rivoluzione più profonda e paradigmatica. Le tecnologie digitali rappresentano un sistema socio-tecnico che integra modelli organizzativi sempre più complessi ed eterarchici, privi di confini e basati su strategie di esternalizzazione diffusa. Al tempo stesso, se molti processi organizzativi si dematerializzano o diventano meno visibili, molti altri conservano una loro materialità, anche dentro le imprese votate all’innovazione tecnologica e organizzativa. Un esempio in questo senso sono proprio i sistemi di controllo e di valutazione delle performance che, proprio grazie all’automazione e l’intelligenza artificiale, continuano a riprodurre logiche e pratiche tipiche dei modelli fordisti; oppure, i servizi su piattaforma, che inglobano nel sistema di mercato logiche e modelli di produzione informale, basati su una forte integrazione tra spazi produttivi e riproduttivi. Rilevanti in questa direzione sono le intersezioni tra i processi di digitalizzazione, automazione e piattaformizzazione nelle loro articolazioni su territori, lavoro, professioni, consumi e servizi (per esempio quello di welfare nazionale e locale).

Recenti fenomeni quali l’algorithmic management, inoltre, oltre a suscitare l’interesse degli studiosi ansiosi di entrare nella “black box” dell’intelligenza artificiale, si prestano a essere interpretati alla luce del rapporto tra continuità e discontinuità tanto nelle gerarchie organizzative che nelle forme di resistenza e di azione collettiva al controllo impersonale di un “invisibile” boss algoritmico.

Al fine di interrogare i processi di digitalizzazione attraverso le loro dimensioni di continuità e discontinuità, invitiamo a rispondere a questa call con contributi teorici, metodologici ed empirici, anche con una prospettiva transdisciplinare, orientati i seguenti temi:

  • ridefinizione del concetto di lavoro e attribuzione di senso al lavoro;
  • nuove professioni e ridefinizione delle identità professionali tradizionali; 
  • rivisitazione degli spazi e delle gerarchie organizzative (nuovi luoghi di lavoro, nuove concezioni dello spazio e del benessere organizzativo);
  • analisi delle implicazioni degli algoritmi e dei sistemi di intelligenza artificiale nelle pratiche e nelle routine lavorative, con uno sguardo comparativo all’interno di contesti organizzativi differenti;
  • trasformazione della pubblica amministrazione e del welfare state nell’era della transizione digitale;
  • forme di resistenza e azione collettiva dei lavoratori di fronte ai processi di digitalizzazione;
  • impatto della digitalizzazione sul sistema regolativo in un’ottica comparata e transdisciplinare;
  • il ruolo dei processi di digitalizzazione nel rapporto tra smartness, fruizione, accessibilità e consumo dello spazio urbano;
  • sfide teoriche e metodologiche poste dallo studio delle tecnologie digitali e delle intelligenze artificiali.

Tale lista tematica ha valore puramente esemplificativo e possono essere proposti contributi non inclusi nel presente elenco purché in linea con contenuti generali della call.

Le proposte devono essere inviate tramite il sito di CAMBIO: https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/cambio

La decisione sulla pubblicazione dei contributi spetta alla Redazione, sulla base dei pareri raccolti tramite double-blind peer review. I testi inviati devono essere compresi tra le 30.000 e le 60.000 battute e devono essere corredati di: a) abstract in inglese dove si indicheranno in modo chiaro e sintetico i punti salienti dell’articolo; b) alcune parole chiave (da 3 a 6, in chiusura dell’abstract) per richiamare, in estrema sintesi, gli argomenti trattati; c) i nomi degli autori, le affiliazioni istituzionali e un indirizzo e-mail per consentire i contatti. 

Invia il contributo: link Deadline: 30/04/2024 

Diversità e differenze / On diversity and differences

Globalisation and neoliberal practices have worked towards a process of homogenisation both culturally and biologically, flattening cultural diversity and impoverishing our ecosystems. Scholars attest that ‘the reduction of variation and difference .. seems to apply both in the natural and the sociocultural world, often with similar causes and comparable results’ (Hylland Eriksen, 2021). In 2011, the American science journalist Charles Mann coined the term ‘The Homogenocene’ to label the modern world characterised by monocultures, species extinction, biological invasions, language death and ubiquitous consumerism.

However, the daily experience of millions of people is ‘marked by the omnipresence of food, fabrics, raw materials, objects and symbols that originate in the most disparate and hidden corners of the planet’ (Matilde Callari Galli, Mauro Ceruti, Telmo Pievani, 1999). Increasingly intense migratory phenomena and planetary brassage increase the possibility for the planet’s great majority of inhabitants to entertain intercultural (and interspecific) relations at various levels in their everyday lives. The chance of encountering the other, of comparing different and diverse bodies – physical or digital, human and non-human – has now become a constitutive part of the infra-ordinary dimension.

Those interactions with the multiple – desired, unexpected, feared- create and recreate eco-cultural niches that continually invent and embody new forms of social interaction, values, and even new types of spaces and landscapes. In 2017, the anthropologist Steven Vertovec introduced the term super-diversity to describe ‘diversity diversification’ as a useful tool to explore constructive practices of co-habitation in increasingly complex contemporary societies. In light of the various nuances of meaning that diversity and difference can assume in the field of the landscape sciences, this call invites contributors to reinterpret the paradigm of super-diversity with regard to the principles and advancements made in the landscape project’s culture. It invites contributors to reinterpret this concept from a more than a human perspective and as an expression of the entangled relationship between landscapes and all its inhabitants. Drawing on multidisciplinary studies on coexistence, multiplicity, and queer ecology, we encourage contributions on the intricate ways of cohabitation nurturing bio-diversities to strategically design resilient, sustainable and diverse ‘milieux’ welcoming humans and no-human species.

Keywords: Super-diversity; Bio-diversity; Cultural diversity; Eco-systemic complexity; Landscape design and planning.

The call is open until May 31st, 2024.

 

To submit your full paper, please go to our submission platform: https://oaj.fupress.net/ index.php/ri-vista/about/submissions

Registration and login as Author with the Ri-Vista system is required to submit and follow the submission process online. Later, the account is necessary for following the status of your submission. The proposals have to be unpublished and written in Italian or English; the text can be of 20,000 to 30,000 characters, including spaces, title, authors, abstract, keywords, captions and references. The proposals have to include a minimum of 5 — a maximum of 10 pictures with good definition (at least 300 dpi/inch and 25 cm the smallest side) free from publishing obligations or accompanied with the specific permission.

The selected papers will be published in the thematic section of the 2|2024 issue of Ri-Vista.

Download Ri-Vista call for paper 2-2024 PDF

INFO

emanuela.morelli@unifi.it

 

Crafting SEO-friendly titles

However, in today’s ever-expanding landscape of published literature, standing out amidst the sea of content poses a significant challenge. To address this challenge effectively, understanding the principles of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) becomes paramount.

SEO, shorthand for search engine optimization, encompasses a set of strategies aimed at aiding search engines such as Google in comprehending and ranking webpage content. Given that nearly half of all Google searches result in users clicking one of the top three results, optimizing content for search visibility becomes crucial.

Optimizing content for search involves a multifaceted approach. Search engine algorithms assess various factors, including inbound and outbound links, content ratings, and the strategic use of keywords and key phrases. Ensuring the relevance and strategic placement of keywords in titles, body text, and abstracts can significantly enhance a work’s visibility in search engine results.

However, a word of caution is warranted against excessive keyword usage, as it can compromise the integrity of the content and trigger penalties from search engines. Striking a balance between keyword inclusion and maintaining readability for human audiences is key.

Crafting SEO-friendly titles and text involves several key considerations. Titles should succinctly encapsulate the essence of the research or case study while incorporating relevant keywords. Additionally, clarity and brevity are crucial, as excessively long titles may truncate in search results.

Selecting the appropriate keywords and key phrases necessitates a thorough understanding of one’s field and target audience. Anticipating potential search queries and evaluating keyword competition can guide the selection process. It’s essential to utilize descriptive terms that accurately represent the content while avoiding jargon or overly obscure terminology.

Furthermore, recognizing regional variations and alternative terms enhances search relevance across diverse audiences. Utilizing tools such as Google Trends, Answer the Public, and Keyword Explorer can aid in identifying popular search queries and refining keyword selection.

Abstracts play a pivotal role in search engine ranking, serving as a concise summary of the article’s content. Including pertinent keywords in the abstract enhances its visibility and relevance to search queries. Crafting a compelling opening sentence that incorporates strong keywords can further improve search performance.

Additionally, considering supplementary formats such as video abstracts can augment engagement and convey key messages effectively.

By adhering to these principles and leveraging available tools, authors can optimize their content for search visibility, thereby increasing its discoverability and impact.

Premio Lorenzo Bargellini

La famiglia Bargellini con Archivio Il Sessantotto, Fondazione Giovanni Michelucci, Istituto Ernesto de Martino, Cambio. Rivista sulle trasformazioni sociali nel 2019 hanno istituito il Premio “Lorenzo Bargellini”, per tesi di laurea magistrale e di dottorato. A partire dal successo riscontrato, è emanata la quarta edizione del Premio con apertura del bando il 27 Novembre 2023 e chiusura il 28 febbraio 2024, premiazione 4 giugno 2024.

Scarica il Bando del Premio Lorenzo Bargellini Edizione 2023

Lorenzo Bargellini ha rappresentato a Firenze e a livello nazionale, un punto di riferimento per i movimenti di lotta che hanno posto al centro della propria azione la questione abitativa e le disuguaglianze sociali. A questi temi ha dedicato il suo impegno, sempre teso a configurare uno scenario in cui ai gruppi sociali senza casa fossero riconosciuti spazi di vita e possibilità di negoziazione per l’esigibilità dei propri diritti. Lorenzo ha prodotto conoscenza del territorio e dei rapporti sociali innovativi che hanno sorretto il suo impegno politico, culturale e civile. Ha combattuto la povertà e l’esclusione abitativa e favorito l’emersione di pratiche di autodeterminazione sociale. Gruppi sociali impoveriti, immigrati, persone fuori dal mercato della casa e del lavoro hanno potuto agire un’alternativa reale ai vuoti del welfare. Insieme a loro Lorenzo non si è mai sottratto al confronto con le Istituzioni pubbliche sulla risposta ai bisogni sociali delle fasce più deboli e alle emergenze abitative. Lorenzo ha ereditato dalla famiglia un rapporto profondo con la città di Firenze e un senso di responsabilità sociale, che fin dall’adolescenza lo ha visto protagonista di lotte e rivendicazioni politiche. Negli anni ’80 ha intuito come il problema abitativo costituisse sempre di più uno dei nodi irrisolti della questione sociale e delle politiche urbane, fondando con altri un’ampia base collettiva di analisi e intervento, diventato successivamente il Movimento di Lotta per la Casa. I valori e le finalità del Movimento, come le necessità delle persone che in migliaia ne hanno fatto parte nel corso del tempo, hanno rappresentato la strada maestra che Lorenzo ha percorso con coerenza e passione.
Nell’istituzione del Premio, i promotori vedono un riconoscimento del valore del suo pensiero critico, del suo lungo impegno per l’inclusione socio-abitativa e la costruzione di una consapevolezza dei diritti. Vedono altresì un riconoscimento per quell’umanità che da tutti gli veniva attribuita.

Il Premio di questa V edizione intende mettere al centro l’emergere di forme di prefigurazione di modi altri e alternativi rispetto ai modelli di vita e alle dinamiche politiche e istituzionali consuete e dominanti. In particolare, richiama l’attenzione sulle proposte di quei movimenti e quelle realtà di autorganizzazione sociale che elaborano pratiche di resistenza e politiche dal basso, attraverso contro-narrazioni, nuovi saperi, nuovi immaginari e nuove forme organizzative attorno alle questioni del governo del territorio, delle povertà, della crisi ambientale e delle mobilità e migrazioni.

I lavori presentati dovranno quindi esplicitare i meccanismi e i modi con cui si presentano le diverse forme di innovazione sociale e politica, i soggetti che ne sono portatori, i modi con cui concretamente si ridefiniscono ruoli, saperi, azioni, relazioni, interdipendenze di potere, per prefigurare forme sociali, politiche e istituzionali alternative.

Le tesi di Laurea magistrale o dottorale sui temi suddetti, dovranno essere inedite e discusse in un’università italiana o straniera negli ultimi tre anni, ovvero tra il 1 gennaio 2021 e la scadenza del bando al 28 febbraio 2024 e non potranno essere state presentate alle precedenti edizioni del Premio.

Al riconoscimento del Premio è associata una borsa di 1.000 euro finanziata dalla famiglia, dagli Enti promotori e da Cobas Firenze.

La domanda di partecipazione alla V edizione del Premio anno 2023 dovrà pervenire entro e non oltre 28 febbraio 2024. 

I concorrenti dovranno fornire entro tale data la seguente documentazione:

  • domanda di partecipazione su carta libera con:
    • dati anagrafici e fiscali (per i cittadini stranieri, una dichiarazione di domicilio fiscale)
    • informazioni di contatto: indirizzo, e-mail e numero telefonico
    • titolo e breve abstract del lavoro di tesi proposto (max 1000 spazi inclusi)
  • copia della tesi di laurea in formato pdf, in allegato alla mail sino a 10 Mb o se superiore scaricabile tramite link su dropbox o simili.

La spedizione deve essere effettuata esclusivamente via e-mail al seguente indirizzo: premiolorenzobargellini@gmail.com

La Commissione giudicatrice del Premio 2023, il cui giudizio insindacabile sarà deliberato entro il 15 maggio 2024, è composta da:

  • Angela Perulli, sociologa, Università di Firenze
  • Corrado Marcetti, architetto, già Direttore della Fondazione Giovanni Michelucci
  • Dimitri D’Andrea, filosofo politico, Università di Firenze
  • Christian De Vito, Bonn Centre for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS), Università di Bonn
  • Donato Bargellini, rappresentante della famiglia

Coordina i lavori per il Premio: Sabrina Tosi Cambini, antropologa, Università di Parma.

Partecipa ai lavori della Commissione Monica Maglia, membro del Consiglio direttivo dell’Ass. Un Tetto sulla Testa

La valutazione da parte della Commissione, che terrà conto anche se trattasi di tesi magistrale o di dottorato, considererà la pertinenza con i temi oggetto del bando, l’ innovazione e originalità, il rigore metodologico, il public engagement e la chiarezza espositiva.

La proclamazione e la consegna del Premio, con una presentazione pubblica da parte dell’autore del lavoro di tesi e una tavola rotonda con i membri della Commissione, del Comitato ed ospiti esterni, si terrà il 4 giugno 2024 a Firenze in sede da definire.

Il Comitato promotore: famiglia Bargellini, Archivio Il Sessantotto, Fondazione Giovanni Michelucci, Istituto Ernesto de Martino, Ass. Un Tetto sulla Testa, Unione Inquilini, Massimo Cervelli, Maurizio Lampronti, Stefano Sbolgi e Giuseppe Cazzato (Confederazione Cobas), Angela Perulli (Università di Firenze) e Sabrina Tosi Cambini (Università di Parma).

Editorial Evolutions: the publication of scientific research between innovation and evaluation

The publication of scientific research between innovation and evaluation A Comparative Analysis of Florence University Press and USiena Press

What opportunities and challenges arise for the academic and scientific publishing sector? This will be the topic of discussion on Monday, December 4th, at 10 a.m. in the Aula Magna, during the event “Editorial Evolutions: the publication of scientific research between innovation and evaluation.”

The initiative stems from the synergy between the university publishers Florence University Press (FUP) and USiena Press, united by a collaboration agreement for the publication of high-quality scientific works under their respective editorial brands.

The meeting, attended by the Rector of Unifi, Alessandra Petrucci, and the Rector of the University of Siena, Roberto Di Pietra, will be divided into two sessions.

The first, dedicated to “Scientific Journals in Transformation: Current Scenarios and Future Perspectives,” will be coordinated by Roberta Mucciarelli of USiena Press and will feature the participation of Andrea Angiolini (Il Mulino), Michele Casalini (Casalini Libri), and Alessandro Pierno (FUP).

The second, a roundtable discussion focused on “Evaluation and Value of Scientific Research: Mechanisms and Effects,” will be coordinated by Dimitri D’Andrea, President of FUP, and will host interventions from the Research Delegate at Unifi, Debora Berti, the Research Delegate of the University of Siena, Michelangelo Vasta, and Menico Rizzi, CoARA Steering Board.

2023: another good year for FUP Journals

The 2022 citation metrics have been released by Clarivate in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), and we’re proud to announce that 16 FUP journals has been awarded their first Impact Factor (IF).

The journals are:

Aestimum
Aisthesis-Pratiche Linguaggi e Saperi dell Estetico
Bio-based and Applied Economics
Cambio-Rivista sulle Trasformazioni Sociali
Journal of Agriculture and Environment for International Development (JAEID)
JLIS.it.Italian journal of Library Science, Archival Science and Information Science.
Journal of Early Modern Studies
LEA-Lingue e Letterature d’Oriente e d’Occidente
Musica Tecnologia
Reti Medievali Rivista
Ri Vista-Ricerche per la Progettazione del Paesaggio
SocietaMutamentoPolitica – Rivista Italiana di Sociologia
Storia delle Donne
Studi irlandesi-A Journal of Irish Studies
Studi Slavistici
Techne-Journal of Technology for Architecture and Environment

 

Furthermore, our journals that were already covered in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) show outstanding performances:

PHYTOPATHOLOGIA MEDITERRANEA: 2022 IF 2.4

Phytopathologia Mediterranea, in the category ‘Agronomy”, is one of the most relevant Open Access journals in the world: it is ranked as the third highest journals among the Open Access journals in its category. According to the Journal Citation Reports®, published by Clarivate in June 2022, the new Impact Factor of Phyto is 2.4. Compared to last year (1.7), the IF has increased by 41,3%.


CARYOLOGIA: 2022 IF 2.1

Compared to last year (0.6), the IF has increased by 250%.


ITALIAN JOURNAL OF AGROMETEOROLOGY: 2022 IF 1.2

Compared to last year (0.9), the IF has increased by 33,3%


This is a noteworthy achievement for our community, and we are proud to share it with you. We understand the importance of Impact Factor to many academics, and we acknowledge its significance in assessing the quality of the research work. We are aware that today is the first day of a new demanding journey for our Journals, and we are excited to join this new challenge.

Journal of Electoral Studies (QOE-IJES) has been evaluated as Class A-Journal (Area 14) and has been accepted for Scopus in November 2023.

Contesti Journal now ranked as Class A-Journal by ANVUR in the latest 2023 official ranking of academic journals set up by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and its evaluation agency ANVUR.

Please download our FUP Metrics Report to check all the citation metrics, bibliometric indicators and IF trend for our Journals.

Our peer reviewed journals are indexed in top level scientific indexing services or directories, such as JOURNAL CITATION REPORT IF (20 journals), SCOPUS Elsevier (26 journals), CLASS A Anvur (33 journals)

Congratulations! Italian Journal of Electoral Studies (QOE-IJES) was accepted for Scopus!

Scopus is used by more than 5,000 academic, government and corporate institutions, including top rankings organizations.

We are pleased to see such excellent progress of our journal this year” said Prof. Silvia Bolgherini and Paolo Bellucci, editors in chief of Italian Journal of Electoral Studies (QOE-IJES) “It is a tribute to the achievements and contributions of our authors, editors and scientific boards. The improvement reflects our ongoing commitment to promote the highest quality content and dissemination in all fields of Electoral Research. We are sincerely grateful to the peer reviewers who put in countless hours to help maintain the outstanding quality of our articles”.

FUP and Italian Journal of Electoral Studies teams are proud of this result and wish to share this announcement with the readers, editors and reviewers of the journal. Without their contributions, it would have been impossible to be accepted by the Scopus CSAB.

We are glad we achieved this new goal and we thank all those who have made their contribution over these years.

Firenze University Press is proud to announce 7 New Journals Coming in 2024

In 2024, Firenze University Press will introduce new publications covering disciplines such as Anthropology, Adult Learning, Business management, Literature, Philosophy of Mathematics, History of the arts and more.

Coverage of all of these disciplines can be found in current and forthcoming publications from FUP.

Listed below are the new titles coming from FUP in 2024:

New Fully Open Access Journals Coming in 2024

  • Archivio per l’Antropologia e la Etnologia
  • Epale Journal on Adult Learning and Continuing Education
  • Journal of Emerging Perspectives. Business management, society and territorial studies
  • Journal for the Philosophy of Mathematics
  • L’Ospite Ingrato
  • LA DIANA | Rivista della Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Storico Artistici dell’Università di Siena
  • Rivista Italiana di Studi sullʼAsia centrale e sul Caucaso

 

Firenze University Press publishes a suite of more than 60 open access academic journals which have a strong impact on the academic community, covering a broad range of topics.

Known for rigorous, fair peer review and fast publication times, each of our journals is published in open access to help ensure the widest possible dissemination for research. The journals are editorially independent, supported by an Editorial Board with specialist expertise in the subject area.

Follow the links above for more information about our Journals List, on the scope and calls for papers announcements for each title. You can also follow the links on the journal homepage  to submit an article, set a journal alert or add to your favorites.

FUP JOURNALS LIST

 

REA Best Paper 2022 Announcement

This paper has been awarded as the most outstanding article published in the volume 77 (2022) under recommendation of the REA International Scientific Committee.

“The economic value of ecosystem services of irrigation: a choice experiment for the monetary evaluation of irrigation canals and fontanili in Lombardy” by MYRIAM RUBERTO, GIACOMO BRANCA, STEFANIA TROIANO AND RAFFAELLA ZUCARO presents a case study of monetary estimation of some ecosystem services of aquatic ecosystems linked to irrigation. The results obtained have some implications in the context of the economic analysis of water uses and the decision-making process within the interventions planning of irrigation efficiency improvement.

You can read the full article here

REA Best Reviewer 2022

We are delighted to assign ex aequo the REA Best Reviewer Award 2022 to Mesele Zegeye (Debre Bertham University, Ethiopia) and to Fabio Gaetano Santeramo (University of Foggia, Italy). The REA Editorial Board has unanimously recommended to award them as reviewers who have offered the most appreciated and qualified cooperation in the selection processes of the papers to be published in the volume 77 (year 2022).

REA Editorial Board

2022 Impact Factors Release for FUP Journals

The 2022 citation metrics have been released by Clarivate in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), and we’re proud to announce that 16 FUP journals has been awarded their first Impact Factor (IF). The journals are:

Aestimum
Aisthesis-Pratiche Linguaggi e Saperi dell Estetico
Bio-based and Applied Economics
Cambio-Rivista sulle Trasformazioni Sociali
Journal of Agriculture and Environment for International Development (JAEID)
JLIS.it
Journal of Early Modern Studies
LEA-Lingue e Letterature d’Oriente e d’Occidente
Musica Tecnologia
Reti Medievali Rivista
Ri Vista-Ricerche per la Progettazione del Paesaggio
SocietaMutamentoPolitica – Rivista Italiana di Sociologia
Storia delle Donne
Studi irlandesi-A Journal of Irish Studies
Studi Slavistici
Techne-Journal of Technology for Architecture and Environment

 

Furthermore, our journals that were already covered in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) show outstanding performances:

Phytopathologia Mediterranea: 2022 IF 2.4

Caryologia: 2022 IF 2.1

Italian Journal of Agrometeorology: 2022 IF 1.2

Acta Herpetologica 2022 IF 0.8

This is a noteworthy achievement for our community, and we are proud to share it with you. We understand the importance of Impact Factor to many academics, and we acknowledge its significance in assessing the quality of the research work. We are aware that today is the first day of a new demanding journey for our Journals, and we are excited to join this new challenge.

Alessandro Pierno, the FUP Journal Manager, says: “This is a significant milestone for our Journals and for our Executive FUP Journals Team, confirming the high-quality work and the tireless efforts of authors, reviewers, editors and scientific boards. A special thanks to our partners for helping us achieve this. It is a tribute to the trustfulness and commitment of the scientific community that shares our vision.”

Please download our FUP Metrics Report to check all the citation metrics, bibliometric indicators and IF trend for our Journals.

For further information send us an email, we will be happy to connect with you:

Alessandro Pierno alessandro.pierno@unifi.it

Duccio Tatini duccio.tatini@unifi.it

 

International Day of Plant Health – May 12, 2023

The Mediterranean Phytopathological Union is dedicated to promoting phytosanitary research in Mediterranean crops and wants to collaborate in promoting the VIDEO CONTEST launched to give visibility to phytosanitary research activities conducted by MSc and PhD students and early career researchers by the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies of Bari (CIHEAM Bari), the Plant Biosecurity Research Initiative (PBRI-Australia) and the Euphresco Network for phytosanitary research coordination and funding (Euphresco).

Please watch the ‘Plant Health TV: Promoting the Importance of Plant Health Research’ initiative.

 

Eleven videos have been submitted to the contest by the CIHEAM Bari’s Alumni Network and the PBRI-Plant Health Student Network. They are available in the following list. By liking your favourite video on You Tube, you will give the video-maker the chance to win a travel grant to participate in a scientific exchange at CIHEAM Bari, Italy!

The videos can be voted until May 31, 2023. The winner will be announced on June 21 in a dedicated event that will be hosted at CIHEAM Bari.

Launch of the Special Issue Co-evolution

Join us on Wednesday, 19 April 2023, for the launch of the Special Issue devoted to Co-Evolution, published in the Ri-Vista. Research for landscape architecture (Vol. 20, n. 02 – 2022). 

How to participate

  • Date: Wednesday, 19 April 2023
  • Time: 10:00 am – 13:30 am
  • Language: Italian
  • Location: Aula 202 Santa Teresa via della Mattonaia 8 – Firenze

The launch will include a discussion with contributions from Guest Editor Lucina Caravaggi, University of Rome La Sapienza, Emanuela Morelli, Editor in Chief of Ri-Vista and the contributors to the journal and special issue.

Ri-Vista deals with the multiple dimensions of landscape planning and design, seen from a rich variety of disciplines, in a scientific and open perspective which is distinctive of landscape architecture. Each issue aims at gathering knowledge and visions around specific topics, promoting innovative and responsible actions for creation, protection, restoration and management of landscapes.

https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/ri-vista

FLYER: PDF

 

FUP Journals Upgraded to OJS 3.3

OJS 3.3 brings several long awaited and exciting changes, including:

  • Improved usability and accessibility
  • Changes to the dashboard and navigation menus
  • Improvements to submission management
  • Changes to review type terminology
  • Enhancements to user management and communication
  • And new features for multilingual journals

Visit the PKP Web Application Library for a complete list of 3.3 changes and major features.

Firenze University Press Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Programme

Firenze University Press Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Programme aims to connect the researchers, authors, editors whoare tackling the world’s toughest challenges with the practitioners  who need those insights to achieve their goals in improving the world, by making our publishing activities more visible to our key communities through our journals.

Explore the Programme: (ENG) (ITA)

 

REA Best Paper 2021 Announcement

This paper has been awarded as the most outstanding article published in the volume 76 (2021) under recommendation of the REA International Scientific Committee.

“The sustainability of social farming: a study through the Social Return on Investment methodology (SROI)” by FRANCESCO BASSET, FRANCESCA GIARÈ aims to study the sustainability of social farming (SF), with attention to practices addressed people suffering from addictions. The study extends both the analysis of SF to people categories only marginally addressed before and the application fields of SROI as assessment methodology. You can read the full article here:

https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/rea/article/view/13096

REA Editorial Board

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT: Associate editor of Bio-Based and Applied Economics (BAE)

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF BIO-BASED AND APPLIED ECONOMICS (BAE) 

(Starting September 2022)

Download the announcement

The Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA) is seeking to appoint one associate editor for the period September 2022 – August 2026. Candidates should be familiar with the agricultural and applied economics profession and have an extensive knowledge of the relevant literature. They should have a good publishing record and reviewing expertise. Additional qualifying features are: 

  • experience as a member of the Editorial Board of a scientific journal; 
  • a stimulating vision regarding the position and development of BAE; 
  • ability to work in a team and to manage deadlines; 
  • good expertise with supporting web applications and dissemination through social media. 

Profile of BAE 

BAE is a free open-access on-line journal promoted by AIEAA. Although mainly devoted to scholars and well-established researchers, BAE also encourages submissions by young researchers, teams involved in ongoing research projects and also relevant actors in the field of bio-economy and related public policies. BAE publishes contributions on the economics of bio-based industries, such as agriculture, forestry, fishery and food, dealing with any related disciplines, such as resource and environmental economics, consumer studies, regional economics, innovation and development economics. BAE is published by Firenze University Press (FUP) and is indexed in many scientific databases, including ISI-Web of Science. In Scopus, BAE is indexed with a Citescore 2020 of 1.7 (60th percentile) (see: https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/bae for further details). 

BAE currently operates with two Editors in chief and four Associate editors, one of which is also Managing editor. The normal term for an Editor in chief is 4 years, which can be increased up to a total of 6 years. 

Editors duties and method of working 

The associate editors are in charge of managing the assigned papers from the choice of the reviewers to the final decision, including proofreading of accepted papers, including contacts with authors if needed. 

FUP provides the following support for the editorial process: on-line software for submissions of papers, including on-line tracking and storage facilities for correspondence and documents; all technical and production services from the point of manuscript acceptance onwards to publication. 

Editor’s remuneration 

The BAE Editors do not receive any remuneration. 

Application process AIEAA – ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA DI ECONOMIA AGRARIA E APPLICATA Sede Legale: c/o Prof. Filippo Arfini, Università degli Studi di Parma, Dip. SEA, Via J.F. Kennedy 6, Parma (PR) Sede Amm.va: c/o Dott. Daniele Curzi, Università degli Studi di Milano, Dip. SEPA, Via Celoria 2 (MI) info@aieaa.org – www.aieaa.org Cod. Fisc. 92063230707 

Applicants are requested to send their application by e-mail before 30 May, 2022 to the AIEAA president Filippo Arfini (Filippo.arfini@unipr.it). 

The application must consist of: 

1) Curriculum Vitae with specific emphasis on the qualifications required for the Editor in chief and for the Associate editors of BAE; 

2) A half-page accompanying e-mail letter, explaining the applicant’s vision for BAE. 

Applications will be evaluated by a committee including the current Editor-in-chief, the AIEAA President and two members appointed by the AIEAA Board. Potential applicants who would like more information before applying are encouraged to contact the current Editors (see journal website). 

How to write an effective, eye-catching abstract for your article

In other words, the abstract is the best advertisement for your research.

For this reason we outlined some simple and effective guidelines which may help you in making your abstract really impressive and reaching the right target.

An abstract is usually around 150–250 words, but there’s often a strict word limit, so make sure to check the requirements of the journal.

The abstract should reflect the structure of your study in its entirety, and include the following points:

  1. Provide a context to your study (i.e. the state-of-the-art, the background, the conception of the central idea)
  2. Point out and emphasize the problem/hypothesis you are addressing
  3. Describe the key message of your research, highlighting its originality and uniqueness
  4. Provide a – very brief – description of the methods and techniques you adopted in your work
  5. Give an overview of your results, focusing accurately on the most important findings
  6. In the last part put the results into a wider perspective: why they are innovative? To whom would they be so relevant? Which are the potential applications?
  7. In general, use a simple and concise style: this is the better way to deliver your message and hit your target audience
  8. Avoid the “cut-and-paste” strategy, as well as the use of abbreviations, references and URLs.
  9. If requested (or recommended), include a Graphical Abstract: this is an excellent opportunity for your research to emerge among similar papers.
  10. Don’t forget the Search Engine Optimization (SEO): include the terms that will be likely used to search papers on the topic you are addressing. Repeat these key terms consistently in your abstract to raise the ranking of your work in the most popular search engines.

Writing the right abstract is a highly technical skill which can be acquired only with practice.

Follow these simple rules, write, assemble, take apart, try again…

Or contact us,  we can help you! The perfect abstract will come!

References:

Nicholas, D., Huntington, P. & Watkinson, A. Digital journals, Big Deals and online searching behaviour: a pilot study. Aslib Proceedings 55, 84–109 (2003).

Nicholas, D., Huntington, P., Jamali, H. R. & Watkinson, A. The information seeking behaviour of the users of digital scholarly journals. Information Processing & Management 42, 1345–1365 (2006).

 

© 2020. A. Pierno, D. Tatini. Science Writing. How to write an effective, eye-catching abstract for your article. Permalink: https://journals.fupress.net/how-to-write-an-…for-your-article/

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Congratulations! Substantia was accepted for Scopus!

Scopus is used by more than 5,000 academic, government and corporate institutions, including top rankings organizations.

We are pleased to see such excellent progress of our journal this year” said Prof. Pierandrea Lo Nostro, editor in chief of Substantia “It is a tribute to the achievements and contributions of our authors, editors and scientific boards. The improvement reflects our ongoing commitment to promote the highest quality content and dissemination in all fields of Chemistry, from current research to historical studies.  We are sincerely grateful to the peer reviewers who put in countless hours to help maintain the outstanding quality of our articles”.

FUP and Substantia teams are proud of this result and wish to share this announcement with the readers, editors and reviewers of the journal. Without their contributions, it would have been impossible to be accepted by the Scopus CSAB.

We are glad we achieved this new goal and we thank all those who have made their contribution over these years.

Congratulations! Italian Review of Agricultural Economics has been accepted for Scopus!

Scopus is used by more than 5,000 academic, government and corporate institutions, including top rankings organizations.

We are proud of this result, and the Editoria Board  wish to share this announcement with the readers, editors and reviewers of the journal. Without their contributions, it would have been impossible to be accepted by the Scopus CSAB

We are glad to have reached this new goal and we thank all those who have made their contribution over these years.

Articolo scientifico: come scrivere un Abstract Efficace

L’abstract è sempre in inglese, è autonomo ed è un surrogato dell’articolo.

Esistono diversi tipi di abstract (descriptive abstract, critical abstract, informative abstract, highlights abstract) ma il più comune è l’abstract informativo che ha una lunghezza media tra 150 e 250 parole al massimo. 

L’abstract deve attrarre l’attenzione del lettore e dare una buona prima impressione. Insomma è fondamentale perché è la vostra pubblicità.

Obiettivi dell’abstract sono:

  • riassumere il contenuto del lavoro
  • fornire una panoramica dell’argomento trattato
  • suscitare l’interesse del lettore
  • dare il massimo di informazioni con il minimo di parole
  • sviluppare un rapporto di fiducia fra il lettore e l’autore

Questa ricerca vale il tempo che spenderò per leggerla?

Per questo motivo abbiamo delineato alcune linee guida semplici che possono aiutarvi a migliorare la qualità dei vostri abstract:

  1. Fornite un contesto ai vostri studi (ad es. Lo stato dell’arte, il background, l’idea centrale).
  2. Sottolineate ed enfatizzate il problema / ipotesi che state affrontando.
  3. Descrivete gli elementi chiave delle vostre ricerche, evidenziandone l’originalità e l’unicità.
  4. Fornite una breve descrizione dei metodi e delle tecniche adottate.
  5. Fornite una panoramica dei risultati, concentrandovi sugli aspetti più importanti.
  6. Nell’ultima parte mettete le prospettive: perché i risultati sono innovativi?

e qualche altro consiglio:

  1. Usate uno stile semplice e conciso. Non iniziate mai un abstract con “In this paper…”.
  2. Evitate di fare “copia e incolla” dall’introduzione, nonché l’uso di abbreviazioni non diffuse, riferimenti, parentesi, citazioni e URL.
  3. Scrivete in terza persona e usate il tempo presente.
  4. Non dimenticate l’ottimizzazione per i motori di ricerca (SEO): includete i termini che verranno probabilmente utilizzati per cercare articoli sull’argomento. Ripetete le keyword  in modo coerente per aumentare la visibilità dei vostri lavori nei motori di ricerca.

Scrivere un buon abstract richiede un’abilità tecnica che può essere acquisita solo con la pratica.

Intanto seguite queste semplici regole: scrivete, montate, smontate, riprovate … in alternativa contattateci 😉 Vi aiuteremo a scrivere l’abstract perfetto!

 

References:

Nicholas, D., Huntington, P. & Watkinson, A. Digital journals, Big Deals and online searching behaviour: a pilot study. Aslib Proceedings 55, 84–109 (2003).

Nicholas, D., Huntington, P., Jamali, H. R. & Watkinson, A. The information seeking behaviour of the users of digital scholarly journals. Information Processing & Management 42, 1345–1365 (2006).

 

© 2020. A. Pierno, D. Tatini. Science Writing. How to write an effective, eye-catching abstract for your article. Permalink: https://journals.fupress.net/how-to-write-an-…for-your-article/

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Webinar: Covid Pandemic in an Unequal world

ON THE OCCASION OF PUBLICATION OF THE SPECIAL ISSUE

Monday, December 14, starting at 18 (Italy)
Webinar

Covid Pandemic in an Unequal world

Participants:
Francesco Gervasi, Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, Messico (Chair)
Alicia Barabas, INAH, Messico
Veronica Bossio Blanco, Universidad de Barranquilla, Colombia
Ana de Anquín, Universidad de Salta, Argentina
Theodoros Fouskas, University of West Attica, Grecia
Maurizio Geri, Euro-Gulf Information Centre, Belgio
Maria Rita Mancaniello, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italia
Catalina Maroselli, writer, Francia
José Manuel Romero Tenorio, Universidad de Barranquilla,Colombia
Alessandro Tolomelli, Università degli Studi di Bologna, Italia

CUBA: VIDEO MESSAGE

Concepcion Sunamis Fabelo
Lixandra Esthephany Diaz Portuondo Universidad de La Habana, Cuba

DISCUSSION
Giovanna Campani e Antonio Raimondo di Grigoli (Editor)

XIX International Congress of AIFREF

XIX International Congress of AIFREF

30 JUNE – 2 JULY 2021

Add to Calendar

Inclusion in the Cities of Education
Challenges, Cultures and Resources

International Association for Training and Research in Family Education

The Congress has received the prestigious patronage of SIPeS (“Italian Society of Special Pedagogy”). It is a unique opportunity to meet all those involved in studies, research and projects on the theme of inclusion, especially in the areas of co-education, (in)abilities, special educational needs, socio-cultural marginality, ethics, media, sustainable development, organization.

Online Participation

AIFREF 2021 will also be online.

Register and follow the event in live streaming from wherever you are.

25th September: European Bioeconomy Strategy. A multidisciplinary conference

Iscrivendosi sarà possibile seguire l’evento in streaming

VENERDI’ 25 SETTEMBRE

PROGRAMMA

9:30 – 10:00

Accoglienza e registrazione

10:00 – 10:45

Saluti e apertura dei lavori. Claudio Cerreti, Presidente della Società Geografica Italiana

Introduzione

Massimo Blonda, Biologo, IRSA-CNR

Margherita Ciervo. Geografa, Università di Foggia

Daniela Poli, Urbanista, Università di Firenze

La Strategia di Bioeconomia in Italia. Rappresentante del Coordinamento della “Strategia Italiana per la Bioeconomia” promossa dalla Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri (invitato)

10:45 – 12:45 Prima sessione

Inquadramento della Strategia di Bioeconomia e scenari

1. La Bioeconomia. Inquadramento storico ed evoluzione concettuale, Alida Clemente, Storica, Università di Foggia

2. La Strategia di Bioeconomia e gli scenari geopolitici, Margherita Ciervo, Geografa, Università di Foggia

3. La Strategia di Bioeconomia: opportunità o rischio globale per le economie locali?, Giuseppe Celi, Economista, Università di Foggia

4. La Strategia di Bioeconomia, paesaggio e patrimoni territoriali: quali scenari?, Daniela Poli, Urbanista, Università di Firenze, Comitato Scientifico Società dei territorialisti e delle territorialiste

5. Le conseguenze costituzionali della Strategia di Bioeconomia, Michele Carducci, Costituzionalista, Università del Salento, Coordinatore CEDEUAM-RED CLACSO

14:30-17:00 Seconda sessione

Strategia di Bioeconomia: impatti su matrici vitali, salute e comunità territoriali

1. I cicli biogeochimici come riferimento per le valutazioni di sostenibilità, Gianni Tamino, Biologo, Comitato Scientifico di ISDE, International Society of Doctors for Environment

2. Impatti sulla biodiversità, Giovanni Damiani, Biologo, Presidente Gruppo Unitario per la Difesa delle Foreste Italiane, già Direttore Generale ANPA e Direttore Tecnico ARTA

3. Impatti sulle risorse acqua e suolo, Angelantonio Calabrese, Biologo IRSA-CNR 4. Impatto sulle foreste: Bartolomeo Schirone, Biologo forestale, Università della Tuscia, Società Italiana di Restauro Forestale

5. Impatti sul clima e del clima, Massimo Blonda, Biologo IRSA-CNR, già Direttore Scientifico ARPA Puglia, Fondazione di partecipazione delle Buone Pratiche

6. Impatti sui sistemi agro-alimentari e sulle comunità locali, Fabio Parascandolo, Geografo, Università di Cagliari

7. Impatti sulla salute, Patrizia Gentilini, Oncologa, ISDE, International Society of Doctors for Environment

17:00-17:30 – Dibattito

17:30-17:45 – Conclusioni, Massimo Blonda, Biologo, IRSA-CNR, Margherita Ciervo, Geografa, Università di Foggia, Daniela Poli, Urbanista, Università di Firenze.

PER PARTECIPARE:

va inviata richiesta di accredito al seguente indirizzo: conferenza.bioeconomia2020.roma@gmail.com.

Nel rispetto delle vigenti regole sulla distanza di sicurezza la Società Geografica italiana ha previsto di mettere a disposizione quaranta posti per seguire in presenza i lavori. Pertanto, una volta raggiunto il numero massimo non sarà più possibile accettare altre prenotazioni.

Per seguire, invece, l’evento in modalità di collegamento telematico, basterà collegarsi al sito della Società Geografica Italiana (www.societageografica.it ) e cliccare sul link indicato.

A new course for QOE – Italian Journal of Electoral Studies

As new Editors of the Journal Quaderni dell’Osservatorio elettorale (QOE) – Italian Journal of Electoral Studies (IJES), it is our pleasure to announce that the first issue (1/2020) is now published online.
We want to thank the Società Italiana di Studi Elettorali (SISE), its President Fulvio Venturino, and the SISE Scientific Committee for having appointed us as Editors; and the Regione Toscana for having supported this journal  since its founding, and for continuing doing it.
QOE-IJES is released in its new version, with an English title flanking the Italian one, a new lively publisher – Firenze University Press (FUP), new Editors and editorial committee, and a renewed international advisory board.

The publication frequency is six-monthly. After a rigorous double-blind peer-review, the papers will be published online-first as soon as they are accepted, and tagged with a DOI code (before technical editing, formatting for publication, and author proofing).

The journal is free of charge, both for authors (who retain the copyright) and for readers. The articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY-4.0) terms.

A warm thank goes to those who supported and made all these changes possible.  Much work has still to be done. We will do our best to face the challenges ahead.
We want to wish QOE-IJES a positive future and to us all good work.
Paolo Bellucci and Silvia Bolgherini
Editors in Chief

Form@re Call for Papers – Artificial Intelligence and Education: New Research Perspectives

Moreover, one additional field of study of particular relevance is that of AI related to digital citizenship, which focuses on how to achieve adequate AI education through actions and specific tools to reach an ethic analysis about algorithms and technologies used. This research area leads to important and urgent reflections on the conscious use of AI models in our society.

In relation to these areas, the call aims to describe the state of the art on theoretical studies and experiments carried out to contribute to a research able to define innovative perspectives connected to AI applications in education.

In short, the main topics:

Artificial Intelligence and educational research

  • AI for teaching/training
  • Learning with AI Systems
  • Architectures for AI-based Educational Systems
  • Learning analytics systems
  • AI and augmented reality technologies
  • Adaptive Educational Systems
  • Theories and methodologies of AI in cultural heritage

Artificial intelligence and knowledge

  • Knowledge representation
  • Big data and machine learning for education
  • Big data and cultural heritage
  • Robot Intelligence
  • Social Network Analysis
  • Change management

Artificial intelligence and ethics

  • AI based social/moral and ethical learning
  • Socio-cultural effects
  • Ethical approaches and normative constraints
  • Policies on AI in Instruction
  • AI and digital citizenship

Guest editors: Chiara Panciroli (Università di Bologna), Olaf Zawacki-Richter (Università di Oldenburg, Germania), Pier Cesare Rivoltella (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano, Italia), Maurizio Gabbrielli (Università di Bologna).

Language: English, Italian, French

Deadline: papers must arrive by August 31, 2020.

Issue publication date: December 2020.

For further details please check the full Call for Papers here

MED Special Issue May 2021 – Cyberconnection as media culture. Social networking sites, media competence and citizenship

Therefore, this special issue intends to highlight the transformations that are taking place, both in the forms of communication as well as in participation and education, as a result of cyber-connection. It also aims to explain the implications of these scenarios and the necessary training in media competencies for citizen empowerment.

Descriptors

  1. Prosumers and influencers. The new citizens of the digital world.
  2. Social networking sites as educational scenarios.
  3. Citizen participation in a cyberconnected world.
  4. Media literacy in teacher training.
  5. Critical and responsible cyber-consumption in the age of digital capitalism. Towards a more engaged society.
  6. Alternative media for a new world.
  7. Social media and artificial intelligence.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES

December 31, 2020: Articles submission deadline

February 15, 2021: Notification of article acceptance

April 15, 2021: Final article due

May 31, 2021: Publication of the issue

GUEST EDITORS: Dr. Ignacio Aguaded and Dr. Águeda Delgado-Ponce, University of Huelva, Spain

See the full Call for Papers here

Cambio: Call for Papers – Number 20/ December 2020

On the occasion of the centenary of his demise, Cambio intends to promote a Call on two distinct thematic lines, both with an explicit interdisciplinary orientation:

  • A reinterpretation of Weber’s work from a contemporary sensibility allowing to enhance unexplored aspects or overlooked themes of Weber’s vast corpus. Besides, the substantial conclusion of the critical edition (Max Weber Gesamtausgabe) profoundly reframed the profile of Weberian reflection, returning to the state of unedited materials most of the texts of Economy and Society, thus opening the possibility of their critical revision.
  • An investigation of themes of our current form of social life upon which to measure “what is still alive” of Weber’s thought. In this perspective Weber represents a benchmark, a resource for the understanding of the present, but also something that has to be, inevitably, overstepped.

The monographic section will host both theoretical essays and essays from empirical research experiences in which Weberian analytical categories have been revisited and questioned.

The Editorial Board is also interested in evaluating contributions for other sections of the Journal:

  • Open Essays and Researches: the section is aimed at scientific contributions, either theoretical or empirical, submitted to the journal not related to the active Calls for Papers.
  • Eliasian Themes: With this section, Cambio aims to promote the understanding of Norbert Elias’ work and the critical discussion of the concepts of processual sociology.

Reviews and profiles of books, essays and scientific events are also appreciated. The initiative is addressed to researchers in all social science areas, with no particular emphasis on specific methodological or theoretical approaches.

Texts must be unpublished and not submitted at the same time to other Journals. Contributions intended for the monographic section, have to be sent by the 04/10/20.

Please, submit your paper directly on our website:

https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/cambio

Decisions on the publication of articles are carried out by the Editorial Board, on the basis of the advice collected through double-blind peer review. The submitted texts have to be between 30,000 and 50,000 characters and provided with: a) an English abstracts, with the major points of the article; b) some keywords (from 3 to 6) to recall the main topics.

See the full Call for Papers here.

Landscape Representation Skills

Representation is a powerful tool for landscape understanding and spreading. The new issue of Ri-Vista, in continuity with the previous two, intends to explore topics related to the European Landscape Convention during the year we celebrate its twentieth anniversary. We represent what we see, but what we see depends not only on physical perceptual abilities but also on mental and cultural superstructures. We represent what we understand. According to the German poet Novalis the artist had the task of representing the unrepresentable and seeing the invisible, perhaps the challenge of the contemporary designer lies also in this? The theme of representation underlines two different levels of investigation that Landscape Representation Skills intends to explore. The first relates to the object itself, that is, the multiple forms, techniques, methods used for representation, therefore the iconographic language as an expressive tool. In the present era, we have improved representation techniques with the use of computer programs, but has it produced a new way of seeing the landscape? The second concerns interpretation, i.e. the mental models underlying the representation, which is also preparatory to the identification and evaluation of landscapes required by the Convention. Today the representation has increasingly acquired the function of an active device, therefore a descriptive-narrative tool, not exclusively aimed at cognitive but design purposes: representing to measure, to evaluate transformations, to prefigure scenarios, etc. This issue of Ri-Vista aims to collect contributions that highlight innovative ways of reading, communicating the project and interpreting the landscape underlying ‘different’ ways of representing the landscape, also linked to “other” – geographical views, sociological, economic, etc – and capable of grasping its relational and perceptual dimension. Landscape Representation Skills is dedicated to all those interventions aimed at investigating the ability of representation to become a design tool.

Deadline to submit contributions is 7th September 2020.

See all the details here: https://journals.fupress.net/call-for-paper/landscape-representation-skills/

Download the PDF (ita/eng)

To submit your full paper, please go to our submission platform: https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/ri-vista/about/submissions

Registration and login as Author with the Ri-Vista system is required to submit and follow the submission process online. Later, the account is necessary for following the status of your submission. The proposals have to be unpublished and written in Italian or English; the text can be of 20,000 to 30,000 characters, including spaces, title, authors, abstract, keywords, captions and references. The proposals have to include a minimum of 5 — a maximum of 10 pictures with good definition (at least 300 dpi/inch and 25 cm the smallest side) free from publishing obligations or accompanied with the specific permission.

The selected papers will be published in the thematic section of the 2|2020 issue of Ri-Vista.

INFO: emanuela.morelli@unifi.it

https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/ri-vista

How to intrigue and captivate your audience: the importance of the Title in your academic article

 

These provocative words were pronounced by the English novelist and Nobel Prize laureate John Galsworthy in his famous book “End of the Chapter” (1933). Although they refer to the common practice in newspaper to overemphasize the impact of an article in the title, the key concept behind them should be extended – in a positive way – to academic writing and, especially, scientific publications. Every day on the web, TV, social networks we drown in a sea of thunderous titles and slogans: the aim is to impress us and influence our habits. Well, as an academic author you should consider the title of your article like “the slogan” of your research work. The title is the most important element: it will be indexed and fully available in all the major search engines and databases. It must be clear, captivating and it must summarize the key aspects of your work. The fundamental, elementary principles behind an effective title can be summed up as follows:

  • The title must be descriptive
  • It must be closely related to the article content
  • It must reflect the style and the essence of the article
  • It must include the key words that will be likely used to search your paper in search engines

A large part of the academic community disregards the importance of the title, considering it the cherry on the top, or, even worse, a minor requirement prior to the final submission. Your title needs dedication, time and effort in order to be catchy and effective. To accomplish this task we suggest to organize your research answering these simple questions:

  1. Which is the focus of my research?
  2. Which are the instruments/methods I used?
  3. What do I analyze in my study?
  4. Which are the main results/outcomes?

Once you figure out all these aspects, you will have all the elements to write a great title. Try to outline a very first, tentative title, then progressively refine it by eliminating all the unnecessary words. According to several studies, articles with short titles are more often viewed and cited by others.1,2

We recap all the basic guidelines that will help you in writing your high-impact title:

  • Write the title once the article is concluded
  • Try to obtain a simple and concise title (8-15 words)
  • Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, as well as too technical terms
  • Place the key words at the beginning and/or the end of the title
  • Question marks and exclamation points must be avoided
  • Eliminate superfluous expressions, like “Study of…”, “Analysis of…”
  • Try to disclose the structure of the article
  • Check the titles of previously published article in the journal you selected for your research

Keep in mind these simple points, and don’t underestimate the importance of your article title. Dedicate time and effort to composing your title, and if you need assistance CONTACT US!

 

References:

  1. Paiva, C. E., Lima, J. P. da S. N. & Paiva, B. S. R. Articles with short titles describing the results are cited more often. Clinics 67, 509–513 (2012).
  2. Deng, B. Papers with shorter titles get more citations. Nat. News (2015) doi:10.1038/nature.2015.18246.

© 2020. A. Pierno, D. Tatini. Science Writing. How to intrigue and captivate your audience: the importance of the Title in your academic article. Permalink: https://journals.fupress.net/how-to-intrigue-and-captivate-your-audience-the-importance-of-the-title-in-your-academic-article

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Aesthetics in Times of Contagion

There is no emphasis in stating that the wildfire-like spreading of the COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly changed every aspect of human social life as we know it. Habits, models of organization, socio-political dynamics and economic assets are portrayed in all their frailty within an ever-new shape of «fear», whose overcoming strategy translates into a call to safety and unity paradoxically demanding for distance and separation.

Back in 2016, in Vol. 9(1), Aisthesis focused on the “Aesthetics of streaming”, unknowingly – yet not unconsciously – anticipating one of the main topics at stake these days, that is distal interaction, transmission, fruition and creation. This aspect, eminently brought to evidence in the context of pandemic contagion, leads to a reorganization of fundamental categories of the aesthetic experience: contact, proximity and distance.

The present call for papers aims at gazing towards the hiatus between these new kinds of human interactions and the expectations linked to communicative habits. Consequently, it aims at catching the pandemic’s implications on communication, modes of intellectual transmission, art, proxemics and circulation of ideas.

The main topics of interest would be:

– The relationship between aesthetics and memetics: what impact social restrictions have made with regard to viral circulation of ideas and feelings, what was predicted by the paradigms of evolutionary aesthetics and how could they hold convincingly through the aftermath. Which consequences – if any – shall we expect about viral circulation both assumed under its bio-pathological sense and as a paradigm of cultural transmission?

– Implications on Aloïs Riegl’s distinction (made in his 1901’s masterpiece Late Roman Art Industry) between optic and haptic. Now that the tactile becomes optic, do we not see a reversal of the situation predicted by Walter Benjamin with the interpenetration of optical and tactile in the era of technical reproducibility towards a dilation of the optical with regard to the tactile?

– Aesthetics of proximity and distance: drawing from the aforementioned «optic-haptic» couple, what should we legitimately expect from each path? Could our whole aesthetic experience be re-configured according to a distal, disembodied approach?

– Embodied cognition: is such paradigm as a whole about to encounter its ultimate benchmark? How would contemporary aesthetics translate within the framing of limitations of movement and physical aggregation such as the quarantine measures imposed by national governments? Perhaps radical limitations to this model are up to come?

– Having surely created new habits in everyday life, could it be said that the pandemic might have generated unedited practices in aesthetics too? And if so, how do they relate with the categories of distance, proximity and contact?

– Which kinds of art and artworks should we expect in such context?

– Hito Steyerl’s defense of the poor image within webcasts and in light of “lo-fi” art: in 2009, the German artist Hito Steyerl claimed compressed, low-resolution and multi-reworked images should be awarded their own status as pictorial means vindicating accessibility over quality. The downgrading of audio-visual resolution during the pandemic has allowed a wider availability of data albeit often resulting in still images, pixelated screenshots, fractured speeches and awkward backgrounds. Could this have given to the hidden path of “lo-fi” art its ultimate spin in the direction of “iconicity”?

– Furthermore, to what extent could it be said that the act of freezing otherwise fleeting and unnoticeable facial and gestural expressions elevates such shots to the category of actual photography? Would this strengthen once more Walter Benjamin’s views while also becoming witness of truth in the displaying of moods often significantly different from those elicited in the real-time conversation?

– About the recognition of new forms of artistic communication, entertainment and spectacularization (from theatres to home shows): for paradoxical as it might sound, could it be that the prohibitions of leaving home may have resulted in an opening of the interiors? How does the perception of the relationship between outside and inside change at the times of Corona Virus?

Submissions should be made through the usual mask at: https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/aisthesis/about/submissions .

See all the details here: https://journals.fupress.net/call-for-paper/aesthetics-in-time-of-contagion/

Given the daily updates on the evolution of the pandemic’s implications, the selected contributions will be subjected to a special and faster peer review process and will be published online as Just Accepted articles after the completion of the revision processes.

Opus Incertum: Illness, distancing/confinement, places of treatment

There exist other forms of distancing for disease containment, perhaps less well-known, but equally worthy of interest. An example of this was the hospital for incurables, an institution typical of the early modern age, where patients suffering from severe diseases, primarily syphilis, were confined. In more recent times, sanatoriums and psychiatric hospitals offer other important examples to consider and study. In each case, furthermore, distancing required by disease is linked to other forms of separation, regulated by sex, age, wealth, and religion.

We can cite, on this topic, the infirmaries of monasteries, confessional hospitals, or forensic psychiatric hospitals.

Even before this, social confinement tied to illness has to do with shifting the place of treatment, interpreted as a domestic space of individual health to a collective space, made increasingly specialized and defined, until it becomes, in the contemporary world, a citadel of health, an independent urban organism, separate from the ordinary city.

The impact of disease on the organization of the city represents a further piece of the overall picture. In Italy, the so-called “Legge di Napoli” (Naples law) of 1885 that governs the rehabilitation of urban centers was created as a legislative response to the cholera epidemic that hit the Campanian city in 1884. The urban renovation work carried out after this and other measures of similar tenor resulted in the introduction of a sort of social distancing that translated into lower residential density and larger public spaces — distancing that becomes established in Italy, a few decades later, with the theory of Gustavo Giovannoni on the thinning-out of the urban fabric (“teoria del diradamento”).

The call is, therefore, directed at stimulating contributions that investigate the relationship between sickness (not necessarily infectious disease), the concept of distancing or confinement, and the place and methods of treatment or prevention, beginning with the broad thematic horizon and without chronological or geographical limits, clarifying the way in which architecture and the use of architectonic spaces are put in service to social and health ideologies. It also seems interesting to reflect on whether the crises caused by illnesses with strong social impacts create interruptions in the planning and interpretation of urban and architectural spaces or if there are comparative differences in the architectural response to these crises between the Western world (or, more specifically, European) and other cultures: colonial, Islamic, Asian, etc.

The contributions in response to this call should be submitted to the journal by 31 July 2020, using the platform dedicated to this on the Opus Incertum website.

The accepted papers will be included in an issue of the journal in 2021.

I contributi in risposta alla call devono essere sottoposti alla rivista entro il 31 luglio 2020, usando la piattaforma appositamente predisposta sul sito web di Opus Incertum.

I contributi accettati confluiranno in un numero della rivista del 2021.

Scarica la Call in italiano in formato PDF

The Lazzaretto of Ancona (Luigi Vanvitelli, first half of the 18th century).

Gender and the Coronavirus Crisis. In collaboration with Research Network 33

 Call for contributions on

“Gender and the Coronavirus Crisis” 

in collaboration with Research Network 33 ‘Women and Gender Studies’ 

European Sociological Association 

DOWNLOAD PDF

Cambio (OpenLab on Covid-19) and ESA RN33 “Women’s and Gender Studies” welcome contributions (articles, blogs, reflections, commentary pieces) specifically focused on “Gender and the Coronavirus Crisis”. 

We welcome contributions focusing on the following and related fields: care-and housework, informal/formal child care and elder care, gender identities and roles, social distancing, self-isolation at home, emotions and feelings, work, economic aspects, technology, digitalization of social relations, mortality rates, medical and welfare institutions, women’s resilience and agency. 

Women and men are affected in different ways by the Coronavirus pandemic. 

More men die of Covid-19 than women but the fact that women are disproportionally represented in the health and social services sectors substantially increases their risk of exposure to the disease. Moreover, gender inequalities can be exacerbated in the context of health emergencies: it is likely that women (and particularly some groups of women) will carry a much higher economic cost than men. Different sources underline the fact that: women are more likely to lose their jobs than men because women’s participation in the labour market is often in the form of temporary employment; the pandemic is increasing women’s burden of unpaid care work; the pandemic can make it more difficult for women and girls to receive treatment and health care; women and girls are at greater risk of experiencing racialized and gender-based violence and abuse due to the fact that mobility is restricted, people are confined and protection systems weakened. 

Women are also crucial actors in tackling the coronavirus crisis, because they comprise most of the frontline healthcare workers globally and because they do the majority of unpaid care work in households. 

The multiple challenges posed by the pandemic highlight the need to address its gendered impacts and to develop a gender-responsive approach to avoid reproducing or accentuating existing gender inequalities. There is also a need to address the unique needs of women and girls during COVID-19 and to include both women and women’s organizations at the heart of the COVID-19 global response (UN, 2020). Some further issues emerged as needing additional research are, for instance: if and how the gendered divisions of house-and care-work have been affected by the policy response to the pandemic (curfew, quarantine, self-isolation, closure of schools and care systems, mobility restrictions, social distancing shopping limits…); the impact on men’s identities; the changes in parent-child relationships; the situation of migrant domestic workers; how technology can support women, men, families. 

Comparative Cultural Studies: The role of religions and religiosities against the new challenges of global risk societies: the case of Covid19

Monothematic issue: 

THE ROLE OF RELIGIONS AND RELIGIOSITIES AGAINST THE NEW CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL RISK SOCIETIES: THE CASE OF COVID19 

n.12/2021 

Coordinated by: 

Francesco Gervasi (Facultad de Ciencias de la Comunicación, Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, México) 

Simona Scotti (Editor-in-chief of the Journal Religioni e Società and expert in Sociology of religions at the University of Florence) 

DOWNLOAD FULL CALL FOR PAPERS (ITA -ENG – SPA)

Similar to the previous one is the idea of Parsons, who maintained that religion, in contemporary societies, has the role of keeping the social system in balance, especially on those occasions in which dramatic events such as death, illness and Injustices in general put this balance at risk. In other words, according to Parsons, religion offers an explanation of these events, thus making them understandable and acceptable. Focusing attention on popular religiosity, de Martino maintained that magical-religious rituals served people (mainly the most humble and vulnerable) to overcome the critical moments of existence by updating (through rituals) those practices that, in the meta-history (in a mythical age), allowed to overcome the same critical moment that, at the present moment, they have to face.

In light of the above, some of the thematic axes of this single issue are: 

  • What are the responses taken by institutional, individual and popular religions to face the problem of covid19? 
  • How are institutional religions organized and how do the behaviors of believers change in the face of the impossibility (or risk) of attending religious practices in their churches, groups, movements, etc.? 
  • What meanings do religious institutions and people attribute to covid19? 
  • How do religious people manage the sense of uncertainty that living with covid19 implies? 
  • In what way do some religious leaders take advantage of the fear felt by their faithful, believers and devotees, in front of the covid19? 
  • Using the techniques of discourse analysis and content analysis, what is the public discourse (media and not) used by institutional religious leaders and figures (or not) in the face of this pandemic? 
  • With respect to lived religion, how are the behaviors (experiences, practices, beliefs) of religious people modified as a result of covid19? 
  • With regard to popular religiosity, what kind of requests do religious people make to their saints, to “overcome” the problem of covid19 (to manage fear, to accept the death of loved ones, to ward off risk, etc. .)? 
  • With regard to popular religiosity, what kind of practices (pilgrimages, etc.) do devotees do to “overcome” as a consequence of the covid19? 

Research articles, essays and book reviews will be received that focus on these thematic axes or others that are directly related to the general theme on which the journal focuses. 

General considerations 

We will receive proposals under the following categories: 

  1. Research papers: As the result of an empirical approach, should have the following sections: a) Introduction, with the presentation of the object of investigation and a justification, b) Literature review, c) Method, d) Results, and e) Conclusion. 
  2. Essay: Academic original argumentation around one of the themes considered for this monothematic issue, with these sections: a) Introduction, with the presentation of the main argument, b) Body, with the development of premises that supports the main idea, and c) Conclusion. 
  3. Book review: Brief academic discussion about a recently published work, related to this monothematic issue. 

Formal considerations: 

  • We will receive proposals in English, Spanish and Italian.
  • Title (text centered and bold font), Abstract (justified paragraph alignment) and Keywords (justified paragraph alignment) in the original language and in English. 
  • Body of text should be in justified paragraph alignment. 
  • Times New Roman font, size 12, double line spacing. 
  • Citation based on American Psychological Association Style Guide, 6th edition. 
  • In both papers and essays, total length should be between 35,000 – 40,000 characters (including spaces), counted from the Title, to the end of References. In book reviews, extension should be between 20,000 – 25,000 characters (including spaces). 
  • If Tables are used, they should be pasted in the body of text as objects (not as images), so they can be edited. 

Dates: 

  • Reception of proposals: until September 29, 2020. 
  • Process of peer review: From September 30 to December 31, 2020. 
  • Accepted proposals proofing: From January 1 to February 15, 2021. 
  • Estimated issue publication date: May 15, 2021. 

Sending of proposals: 

  • Proposals should be sent to Francesco Gervasi (francescogervasi@uadec.edu.mx) and Simona Scotti (simonascotti@inwind.it). 
  • Proposals should be sent in two different files: anonymous and complete. Anonymous files should not contain author´s name anywhere in the body of text, self-citations should be marked as (AUTHOR CITATION) and such works should not be listed in References; Author and Institution fields should be removed from file´s metadata. Complete files should include full author name, in the next line after the Title, with institution belonging and email, in a footnote. Any institutional mention or credit to any funding from which the work is derived, should be placed at the bottom of the page, from the title. 

SocietàMutamentoPolitica (SMP): Sociological Imagination: Beyond the Lockdown

The Covid-19 Pandemia poses an unprecedented challenge to the social sciences. Through empirical and immediate speculation, ‘pandemic sociology’ goes beyond the narrow findings of common sense. Sociological imagination is a kind of knowledge that combines forecast analysis and innovative planning with a critical awareness rooted in the tradition of democratic thought.

Imagining a new social world beyond lockdown means exposing and curbing the perverse effects of globalization contributing to a process of resilience to stimolate a new model of development.

The SMP Symposium aims to investigate the changes in social and political bonds during the lockdown, the new inequalities and involutional effects deriving from it, and the new social representations connected with the pandemic risk and its perception. 

Scienze del Territorio (SdT): From pandemic confinement new forms of living: a world of cooperating bioregions to overcome the global urbanization of the planet

From pandemic confinement new forms of living: a world of cooperating bioregions to overcome the global urbanization of the planet 

SCIENZE DEL TERRITORIO WEBSITE

Full details of the launch of the call will be announced soon

I più autorevoli studi scientifici sono concordi nello stabilire le cause delle pandemie contemporanee negli squilibri indotti negli ecosistemi della biosfera attraverso le deforestazioni, il commercio di animali selvatici, gli allevamenti industriali di grande scala, le urbanizzazioni selvagge fino alle megalopoli nel nord e le megacity nel sud est del mondo e i relativi flussi globali di merci, persone, animali. Le stesse cause che stanno accelerando gli effetti della crisi climatica.

D’altra parte le condizioni di “reclusione in casa ” imposte agli abitanti della terra per rallentare  l’attuale pandemia, stanno accentuando la consapevolezza della crisi della bassa qualità dell’abitare (quale “casa”?) negli agglomerati periferici delle metropoli, e nelle mega-urbanizzazioni regionali di megacity; tutto ciò favorirà la crescita della domanda di nuove tipologie dell’insediamento umano, fondate sul recupero di relazioni di prossimità, di piccole e medie città in rete, di relazioni sinergiche con l’ambiente, di patti fra città e campagna  per la produzione di cibo sano e servizi ecosistemici, di forme di autogoverno locale  comunitario, riducendo fortemente il ruolo delle concentrazioni metropolitane in favore di un ritorno al territorio (alla campagna, alla urbanità, alla montagna, ai sistemi economici locali, fondati sulla valorizzazione del territorio come bene comune). A breve uscirà una call su questa prospettiva eco-territorialista, progettata e praticata con  modelli bioregionalisti di insediamento umano, sui quali la Società dei territorialisti lavora da tempo, come testimoniano i primi nove numeri della Rivista.

Media Education: Media and education in the pandemic age of COVID-19

    • Science communication and misinformation in the pandemic age of COVID-19: the pandemic shows the importance of producing and accessing quality scientific dissemination and information for maintaining “healthy” democracies. In this direction, for example, the World Health Organization has launched the programme EPI-WIN to ensure the veracity of the official information conveyed to the public and contrast the “infodemic” about COVID-19, i.e., the overload of unreliable information rapidly spreading through the population. Uncertainty, distrust, social discontent, xenophobia are among the worst consequences of it. Without a minimum scientific knowledge, citizens are more vulnerable to believing fake news posed as scientific facts. In the absence of adequate information, citizens are also unaware of the impact that this misinformation has on their lives, and thus do not have the appropriate tools to put pressure on their governments and exercise fundamental rights for consolidated democracies. Furthermore, rigorous and yet accessible science communication is key to re-legitimize the social function of science and re-establish public trust in scientists as a barrier to the pseudo-scientific discourses wide-spreading in the social web.

 

    • Democracy, surveillance and digital capitalism in the pandemic age of COVID-19: In an effort to contain the spread of the virus, governments from all over the world are quickly adopting various systems of monitoring and surveillance enforced by “emergency” powers and legislation. Will public authorities renounce to them with the same rapidity when the emergency will be over? These systems are provided by data-mining companies who are certainly going to gain from the pandemic, not only by signing profitable contracts but also, and more importantly, by legitimizing their role thus getting public acceptance. How is this going to affect democracy? Will this lead to further normalization of digital surveillance and data mining as a way to gather and monetize people’s data? Is this normalization going to make “unpopular” any argument against the risks of digital surveillance in undermining individual rights (privacy, freedom of speech, labour rights, discrimination, etc.) and threatening the very existence of democratic institutions and practices?

 

  • Distance education, remote teaching, smart working: one of the first activities that have been suspended due to the pandemic has been face-to-face teaching at all levels of the educational systems. The sudden and immediate shift towards distance education and remote teaching has shown the several limitations of our systems in terms of digital learning. We discovered how the digital divide was spread out in our nations, preventing millions of students from accessing basic education. We also found out how far we are from being prepared to deliver online education according to active and collaborative methodologies. We realised that extensive online teaching entails different times when compared to face-to-face education: the relationship between personal everyday life and smart working looks like a seamless experience with an increase of workload. Somehow, it seems that we are not prepared yet to be full-time online teachers! At the same time, we observed how screens may unite us allowing teachers and students to keep on the educational and relational continuity beyond our expectations. We also meet colleagues willing to take the opportunity to redesign their teaching and reshape their practices. In this rich scenario, what have been the main challenges and opportunities that schools and universities faced during the pandemic and what are the main lessons learnt? How have students experienced this unplanned shift to distance learning, and how have their parents reacted? Besides teaching, what was the COVID-19 impact on the other educational services such as libraries, centres for teaching and learning, research laboratories, and what can we learn for the future?

Important dates

  • August 30, 2020: Articles submission deadline
  • October 15, 2017: Notification of article acceptance (with any requested changes)
  • November 15, 2020: Final article due (with any changes)
  • December 20, 2020: Publication of the issue

Visit our website for more info

Cromohs – Contagion, a Podcast Series: Circulation and Pandemic Threats Throughout History

CROMOHS WEBSITE

CONTAGION PODCAST SERIES

Contagion is a podcast series on circulation and pandemic threats throughout history jointly promoted by Cromohs and the Cost Action CA18140 ‘People in Motion: Entangled Histories of Displacement across the Mediterranean (1492’1923)’, or PIMo

The Covid-19 pandemic crisis forced all of us to re-organize our scientific activity. It impacts our social and academic life. It also invited historians and social scientists to share their work, to publicize their multiple insights on the current crisis, and to look at it into the light of different historical experiences. Contagion askes how individuals, groups, societies and states reacted to pandemics. Doing so it explores the economic, social, political, and cultural dimensions of pandemics as well as their impact on the evolution of societies. It is equally a matter of better understanding how the pandemic risk has been assessed, managed, and anticipated in ordinary times by communities and public actors.

Pandemics must be seen as an integral part of global history. Viruses are proteins; they do not circulate per se but are carried by living beings, both humans and animals. The spread of a virus can be considered a risk associated with all forms of circulation. It is up to each society to be aware of this and to assess this risk according to its own expectations. The history of a pandemic is therefore linked to the history of trade, navigation, colonization and travel, but also to the history of science and the constitution and dissemination of knowledge. In the 16th century, the introduction of smallpox in the Caribbean and then in the Americas by European sailors, soldiers and missionaries led to the extinction of 90% of the native populations; they had not developed antibodies to a disease they had never encountered. The crew of Christopher Columbus, on the other hand, brought syphilis back to the Mediterranean, and the wars in Italy then spread it throughout Europe.

Epidemics and pandemics can indeed be the result of wars. The virus can still be a biological weapon. In 1346, the Mongols of the Golden Horde catapulted contaminated bodies over the walls of the Genoese colony of Caffà, whose merchants brought the ‘Black Death’ to Europe. A virus spread all the more easily as the organisms were weakened. 17th-century European Catholic societies associated the plague with famine and war in their prayers. The first Sino-Japanese war of 1894 increased the risk of the spread of the plague first contained in China, which very quickly affected the entire Asian Pacific coast as well as India. And the ‘Spanish flu’ of 1918 could be considered intrinsically linked to war because of the weakened societies and the circulation of soldiers, in and through which it was spread. The spread of ebola in the province of North Kivu in 2019 was another obvious evidence of the close and complex link between an infectious disease and a war that has been going on since 2004.

Societies could respond to pandemics in radically different ways, generate a variety of emotions. In the 16th-century Aztec Empire as in the 17th-century the Holy Roman Empire, an eschatology developed with the effects of diseases that significantly amplified respectively the deaths of the Spanish conquest and the Thirty Years War.  The diary of Sam Pepys is an exceptional source on the perception of the effects of the ‘Great Plague’ in 1665 London. Pepys, like the rest of the gentry, perceived the plague as an urban threat. As the first districts were quarantined, he described the departure of London’s elite to the countryside, spreading the disease even further. He himself sent his mother and wife to Woolwich but stayed in town to ensure the supply of London. He staged his indifference in front of the bodies piling up in the streets and a sort of acceptance of the banality of death. The summer heatwave seemed to him heavier than the plague. Medicine and society could also clash in the interpretation of the necessary measures to be taken during a time of crisis. While during the ‘Black death’ in Granada, Ibn Katima introduced a first typology of plagues, explained how they spread, and recommended social distancing, in Florence Giovanni Boccaccio denounced the selfishness of his contemporaries who turned away from the sick and left them to die alone, rather than accompanying them if not trying to cure them. Pandemics can indeed generate stigmatization and social marginalization of infected people and, like the AIDS epidemics of the 1980s and 1990s, this stigmatization can be more devastating than the disease itself.

Despite their global dimension, pandemics were also part of the history of states and state-building. ‘Exclusion’ and ‘surveillance’ were according to Michel Foucault the two pillars of biopolitics. It is certainly no coincidence that Thomas Hobbes, the theorist of the social contract in England, was also the translator of Thucydides’ The Plague in Athens. The biological protection of the social body becomes an imperative for the State, whose legitimacy rested on the existence of this body. Bad policy led in Athens to the death of the state itself, embodied here by that of Pericles and the numerous religious desecrations. Then epidemics and pandemics were occasions for the development of the institutions through which the State informed itself and imposed social control over the governed populations. Closing borders, restricting freedom of movement and expression, distrust of foreigners and the temporary or permanent exclusion from society of certain groups identified as vulnerable, are measures specific to biopolitics. In this sense, infectious diseases also constitute a risk for today democracies.

It is all of these themes that Contagion proposes to tackle with the participation of historians from different periods and disciplines working throughout the world.

 

David Do Paço
Sciences Po, CHSP
Contagion Podcast series editor
david.dopaco@sciencespo.fr

 

For any further information on the COST Action PIMo, including opportunities to be involved, we invite interested scholars to contact Giovanni Tarantino, Chair of the Action and Scientific Coordinator of the Contagion series (giovanni.tarantino@unifi.it)

Journal of Early Modern Studies (JEMS): Plagues in Early Modern Europe: History, Models, Representations and Metaphors

JEMS WEBSITE

CALL FOR PAPERS PDF

The Black Death which struck all the countries of Western Europe so harshly in the mid-fourteenth century determined deep social and economic changes. The huge mortality it caused led to a drastic reduction in the supply of manpower and governments tried to prevent rises in the cost of labour by means of legislation forcibly keeping down wages. The English laws on beggary and those on wage restrictions are what Karl Marx called ‘the bloody legislation’. David Herlihy has noticed the ‘social fissures’ which followed epidemics, and argued that the Black Death ‘in the long run, threatened the quality and continuity of cultural traditions’; while Marc Bloch characterized the plague as a psychological event, one whose ‘moral effects are to be explained only by the peculiar propensities of collective sensibilities’.

In narratives of epidemics, a number of patterns recur. The spatial models determined by pestilence are especially interesting for the symbolic issues they raise. In the first place, plagues are never thought to originate among ‘us’, ‘us’ being opposed not only to the geographically distant, but also to the socially extraneous. Contagion comes always from beyond the confines of our physical and cultural world, usually an undefined ‘east’, and has been brought to ‘our’ community by strangers. On the other hand, the perception of the traditional symbolic meaning of space is reversed: the ‘inside’, which is naturally, as well as culturally, considered the safe space, as opposed to the unknown and menacing ‘outside’, becomes itself threatening: once it explodes, the plague reigns within the confines of the city or village, and is especially alarming inside closed houses, where the presence of any sick person condemns the others to die by contagion. It should also be noted that narrative models of plague epidemics usually employ a mixed form, oscillating between truth and fiction, between document and anecdote. In Boccaccio’s Decameron, true facts (although interspersed with fiction and superstitions) are the occasion and framework for the creation of one of the most famous story books ever written; while Defoe, in his Journal of the Plague Year, presents the chronicle of a real plague, but intersperses the narration with fictional characters and events. Religious causes, medical theory, actual observation of symptoms and invention of remedies are among the other paradigms governing plague reports.

Other modelling features concern the envisaged aftermath of the pestilence. That the plague would change our behaviour and ways of life for the better is usually anticipated while the contagion is raging, but writers have often noted that, once spent, people return to their usual, morally confused modes of behaviour.

The metaphorical uses of the plague, usually dictated by moral evaluations, are endless and particularly creative in the early modern cultural context. Certain categories of people (strangers, prostitutes, Jews, mendicants, players, sodomites, the insane, etc.) were thought to be both morally and epidemiologically responsible for the disease: they were themselves ‘plagues’ to be removed from the society of good people. Accordingly, rituals of confinement and exclusion and many provisions for moral cleansing were devised to protect the social ambience from the socially extraneous, the deviant and non-conforming. In addition, certain activities were assimilated to pestilence: one of these was the theatre which, in Elizabethan England, generated the alliterative equation ‘plays-plague’.

In the popular mind awareness of the lack of any medical cure led to the devising of all sorts of remedies and healing practices meant to at least alleviate some of the plague’s symptoms, but first and foremost among remedies was repentance and prayer: well into the eighteenth century, plagues were thought to be the Lord’s punishment for sins. Many passages in the Bible threaten with plague and diseases those who will not hear the voice of the Lord, or forsake observance of the law of God (see for example, Leviticus 26:21; Deuteronomy 28:58-63, 29:22-26; Exodus 9:15; Numbers 16:46; 2 Samuel 24:15), and many early modern Christians manifested repentance of their sins and sought forgiveness by mortifying their flesh, as in the Flagellants movement.

The circumstances we are now experiencing as a result of the spread of Coronavirus all over the world, motivate us to publish a volume devoted to the cultural impact and significance of epidemics in early modern Europe. The Journal of Early Modern Studies is therefore calling for contributions and reflections on this topic and related issues. The range of kinds of text dealing with the plague is immense, and so are the perspectives from which the topic can be viewed: theoretical, historical, literary, religious, sociological, anthropological, psychological, medical, symbolic, popular, linguistic, economic, demographic, and so on. We welcome contributions from all these as well as other perspectives, encouraging special attention to the impact of epidemics on the culture(s) of early modern Europe.

This project will be developed as an open laboratory or ‘work in progress’ with contributions shared and promoted promptly and a special peer review process devised in order to speed up publication.

In order to speed up the whole process, we have set three different deadlines for submission

and publication.

First deadline

31 May 2020: submission of proposals and working titles to the editors

(donatella.pallotti@unifi.it, paola.pugliatti@gmail.com)

3 June 2020: notification of proposal acceptance

30 June 2020: submission of articles to the editors

30 July 2020: publication of articles online.

Second deadline

2 August 2020: submission of proposals and working titles to the editors

(donatella.pallotti@unifi, paola.pugliatti@gmail.com)

6 August 2020: notification of proposal acceptance

30 August 2020: submission of articles to the editors

2 October 2020: publication of articles online.

Third deadline

4 October 2020: submission of proposals and working titles to the editors

(donatella.pallotti@unifi, paola.pugliatti@gmail.com)

8 October 2020: notification of proposal acceptance

2 November 2020: submission of articles to the editors

30 November 2020: publication of articles online.

 

The articles accepted and published according to the deadlines will be then collected in a supplement of JEMS (Quaderni di JEMS), edited by Donatella Pallotti and Paola Pugliatti, which will be published online at the beginning of 2022.

Donatella Pallotti
Paola Pugliatti

Editors in Chief

Rivista Italiana di Educazione Familiare (RIEF): Family relations and parenting in a time of Covid-19

Download full call for papers HERE

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND PARENTING IN A TIME OF COVID-19

(RIEF WEBSITE)

Covid-19 has upset our habits of life and, with them, the whole sphere of relationships, introducing on the one hand an excess of proximity of intimate relationships, on the other a drastic and unprecedented general thinning, leading to dramatic results, such as their permanent interruption with the death of one or more family members.

Many have compared this health crisis to a war; to a catastrophic event destined to change the scenario of the current era, also advancing the idea that our individual and social habits, once they have passed the most critical phase we are experiencing today, will not be able to go back to being like “before”.

To respond to the emergency, the world of education and training has rapidly implemented teaching/learning /assessment, and distance education and didactics support methods.

A further task, for all the scientific community – including pedagogists – and equally important for facing this historical moment, is that one to reflect on what is happening, and on the effects that the pandemic is producing: immediately, and in the future.

The «Italian Journal of Family Education» («Rivista italiana di educazione familiare» – RIEF) therefore proposes itself as a space for reflection, hence urging the pedagogical community and the world of education to reflect on the present, investigating both the impact of the rules aimed at containing the spread of Covid-19 on family life, especially concerning “stay at home” orders, and the effects of Covid-19 on our families. A virus so tiny, but powerful enough to reach every corner of the globe in such a short time, suspending, subverting, or even breaking, family ties.

For some types of families and parenting styles, the health crisis has having particularly harsh and disorienting consequences, so as to overwhelm intra-family relationships that make up the precious “plot” of our society: let’s think for example of separated/divorced couples’ children and their parents, who could be unable to look after them because the restrictions on mobility, or of single-parent families, deprived of childcare and in the need to work; think also of grandparents and grandchildren, and of elderly children and parents facing with the difficulties of maintaining intergenerational relationships;  or, again, let’s think about parents who practice a profession that exposes them to the risk of contagion and, with them, their family members, including children.

If we look at a world-wide scale, the consequences of this situation are potentially devastating: let’s think about children and families of the poorest areas of the planet, in which economic recession caused by the pandemic and the fragility of social and health protection systems is going to expose them hunger and violence, therefore jeopardizing their right to education and training; a ground, this last one, on which positive progress has been made just in recent decades.

To a global problem, global answers must therefore be given: hence RIEF’s request to the international pedagogical community, to contribute with reflection, narration of experiences, and witnesses on the forms of unease and resilience, caused by the pandemic. These interventions (from a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 5 folders) will be hosted on RIEF e’s website, in a special section under construction. In the event that the relative Authors, in the following months, will want to give their interventions a scientific profile congruent with the standards of the journal, their contributions will form a RIEF special issue, coming out in the first half of 2021.

Florence, April 7, 2020                                                                                       The Editor-in-Chief

Diciottesimo Secolo: The health emergencies of the 18th century: political, social and cultural reflections

DICIOTTESIMO SECOLO WEBSITE

Se le epidemie hanno segnato il corso di ogni civiltà, ci sono società o epoche che, a uno sguardo d’insieme, sembrano aver sofferto meno di altre gli effetti della diffusione di agenti patogeni, o che addirittura si sono illuse di poter debellare definitivamente o controllare le malattie infettive, grazie ai progressi delle conoscenze mediche e delle pratiche sanitarie.

Confrontato con i tre-quattro secoli precedenti – durante i quali l’Europa fu sconvolta per larghi tratti da molteplici epidemie, spesso virulente e capaci di colpire in una stessa ondata territori molto distanti, decimandone la popolazione – il secolo XVIII sembra caratterizzato da un progressivo esaurimento delle grandi ondate epidemiche, dall’accensione di focolai localizzati che le autorità riuscirono a contenere, dalla diffusione di morbi meno letali o contagiosi.

Nondimeno il fantasma della peste e di altre malattie infettive continuò ad aleggiare sull’Europa del Settecento, così come su altre aree del mondo, talora materializzandosi in crisi sanitarie che localmente produssero elevata mortalità, come avvenne ad esempio in Provenza, a Messina e in diverse aree del Mediterraneo orientale. E d’altra parte, mentre i saperi medici e naturalistici sviluppavano conoscenze e trattamenti che in alcuni casi si rivelarono efficaci nel contrasto al contagio, le istituzioni pubbliche di diversi Stati si mostrarono capaci di controllare tali esplosioni attraverso l’affinamento di pratiche sanitarie preventive e di contenimento; nel corso del secolo fu prodotta una legislazione sempre più articolata, pervasiva ancorché spesso ridondante e intricata, affidata a magistrature centrali e locali, per mettere al riparo i movimenti di uomini e merci dal rischio di contagio, mentre le reti informative s’infittirono e s’irrobustirono al fine di captare i segnali di possibili minacce alla pubblica salute.

Insomma, anche nel secolo dei Lumi il rischio di crisi epidemiche e le loro occasionali manifestazioni influenzarono pesantemente la vita politica, sociale, economica e culturale delle società europee ed extraeuropee.

Diciottesimo secolo invita gli studiosi a riflettere sulle conseguenze che le esplosioni epidemiche, o la necessità di contenerne il rischio, hanno avuto sullo sviluppo delle istituzioni politiche e le relazioni sociali, sulla produzione normativa e le attività di controllo, sull’andamento dei commerci, sui rapporti di forza tra potenze concorrenti, sui progressi delle teorie e delle pratiche mediche, sul pensiero scientifico e filosofico, sulla pianificazione urbana e la progettazione architettonica, sulla vita religiosa e le pratiche devozionali, nonché sulle forme in cui esse furono rappresentate nelle diverse sfere della produzione artistica, dalla narrativa alla poesia, dalle rappresentazioni teatrali e musicali alle arti figurative, in Europa così come in altre aree del globo.

Comparative Cultural Studies: An Unequal World Facing the Covid-19 Pandemic

Comparative Cultural Studies WEBSITE

The first victim of the war is the truth (Aeschylus)

The coronavirus crisis is a huge challenge for humankind. The media say that economic globalization will be wiped out by the pandemic caused by the coronavirus … borders closed, states imposingspecial measures on populations, limiting freedom of movement and privacy … Those same media who conceived of a pandemic in a “global village” … If  capitalism will die, will networks survive and become stronger?  Will telework be the norm? Will a better and more supportive world be born, as foreshadowed by some commentators? Or does an Orwellian universe await us, under the control of Big Brother, prefigured by the “lock-downs to which so many populations are subjected even in democratic countries (Harari, 2020)?

What appears evident is that the coronavirus emergency or the “state of exception” (Agamben, 2020) is clearly highlighting the inadequacy of the decision-making apparatus (national and international) and the latent injustices of “global” society.

An analysis of the current situation and the foreshadowing of the future cannot be separated from some data from the present:

a) inequalities between countries and, within countries, between social classes in 21st century capitalism. The issue of inequalities (Piketty, 2019) was crucial in the political debate before the outbreak of the pandemic;

b) the relationship between neo-liberalism and the crisis of health systems, particularly in developed countries;

c) differences in political systems – liberal, more or less mature, parliamentary, presidential, authoritarian governments,

d) the current world political order, in particular with respect to the articulation between national states and transnational bodies – in its various forms, from the European Union (in crisis), to the International Monetary Fund, to United Nations agencies such as the WHO;

e) anthropological and cultural differences between countries with respect to disease, health and death, as well as the relationship between individual and collective good.

Starting from these data, the comparative approach of the Journal “Comparative Cultural Studies” opens up a wide reflection on the impact of the pandemic in different contexts from a political, sociological, anthropological point of view, through a comparison between European countries and the Latin American ones …

Our point of view is that, to analyse complex phenomena such as pandemics, it is necessary to make experts from different disciplines work together, not only mathematicians and epidemiologists, but also sociologists, urban planners, migration experts, anthropologists, gender scholars … Some questions are more urgent than others. What are the risks to democracy? What are the economic consequences of the pandemic?

How can a democratic and community response to the global health challenge be articulated, other than by a blank delegation to technical committees? Are there “positive” examples of collective reaction?

The term “war” used by various politicians is not a good omen for clear and transparent information transfer (the first victim of war is truth wrote Aeschylus), justifying measures that now seem the most rational from a scientific point of view and which, in two hundred years, will seem just as medieval to us as those used for the Marseille plague of 1720 (not very different from the current ones).

Comparing the multiplicity of voices from both sides of the ocean will help identify some directions for the future, based on holistic and articulated analyses and not based on partial  solutions inspired by  procedures little supported by reliable data.

Download the full pdf version (English – Italian – Spanish): PDF

Contesti: Beyond the Covid-19 pandemic. Rethinking cities and territories for a civilisation of care

“The facts are hard-headed,” and the problems within an unsustainable development model, whose ongoing damages to the environment of life some people may imagine they can either underestimate or ignore. But eventually may find out differently, That on behalf of  many credited  observers,  there is a significant echo in their reflections on the consequences of the pandemic and the social or economic fragilities upon which the pandemic sheds new light.

The overcoming of liminal – not only functional – boundaries between anthropization and natural spaces, processes of “planetary urbanization,” unsustainable mobility of goods and people, are necessary outcomes of “extractive” economies.  They involve processes of destruction of regional productive know-how and cultures, consequences on greenhouse gas emissions and human health, plus the unfair distribution of resources and social imbalances. Each of these key factors, which not only trigger this crisis but also shall determine the weight of its consequences.

All this, obviously, forces a questioning not only addressing the domain of physical planning. In addition the debate certainly concerns new ways of conceiving and managing cities and territories  involving their relationships with models of development and economies, with social practices, with the forms and requirements of a possible “wise” proximity of life. One that is suitable to support and entail care of ecosystems, places and people. We also refer to a need for governance models at different scales, especially in terms of a meaningful  demand for “return” to regional and local empowerment which seems to rise up in importance from this framework.

It is certainly too early for hypotheses and structured arguments that would require adequate decantation and observation times. Notwithstanding that, it is still perhaps a good time to call for necessary, open, and transversal reflections. Both on a thematic and disciplinary level, at a time when our urgency perhaps makes us more sensitive, free and creative in grasping new ideas with potentially dramatic contradictions, but also with potential for the future.

A question for a first account and urgent criticism, therefore, with respect to which Contesti  Journal opens a call that intends to collect a set of contributions, reflections, and solicitations. Focused on topics that, although in the obligatory contingency, can constitute an initial map, made up of different and pluralist languages, to guide our scientific community towards a direction of more organized further explorations.

Finally, although the call has a dedaline, it is issued as “open” and with a “streamlined” revision process, in such a way interested authors have the opportunity to publish swifltly their articles in “just accepted” form, according to the demand for an up-to-date and timely communication best fitting to the ongoing debate.

CONTESTI WEBSITE

Download Call for Papers (PDF)

RI-Vista: Landscape and Covid-19

Ri-VISTA Website

Landscape and coronavirus

DOWNLOAD Ri-Vista call for papers (ita/eng)

The current circumstances that we are experiencing, with the massive spreading of Coronavirus all over the world, especially in the most densely populated urban areas motivate us to publish a special issue of Ri-Vista dedicated to the relationship between landscape and Covid-19 epidemic, that is questioning current ways of living and producing.

The reasons are:

  1. Encouraging a debate and publishing significant scientific contributions on this topic.
  2. Reaffirming the central role of the landscape as a common ground, suitable for reading and understanding the systemic implications of the pandemic on our contemporary model of living.
  3. Reaffirming our views in terms of Open Access, Open Data, free circulation of ideas and results.
  4. Opposing real scientific facts to fake news.

Concretely, our project is to publish one special issue on different topics such as:

  • The relationship between open spaces and spread of the epidemic;
  • Landscape and refuge: the role of architecture in emergencies;
  • Landscape and isolation;
  • In and out: individual and collective percepetion of landscape between domestic and public sphere;
  • The urban community re-descovers its essence;
  • Ways of living, producing, housing: resize our habits, transform our imprint;
  • Nature takes possession of the spaces the man left;
  • Epidemic and landscape transformations: an historical survey;
  • Climate changes and Covid-19 spread.

As the situation changes very quickly, we will create an “open stream” section of Ri-Vista to speed up the publication. Shorter contributions such as preprints and editorials will be particularly appreciated (.doc extension with pictures attached).

THE CALL IS NOW OPEN

Phytopathologia Mediterranea and Covid-19

Phytopathologia Mediterranea WEBSITE

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The world COVID-19 pandemic is affecting us all. Those closely associated with Phytopathologia Mediterranea and Firenze University Press express our very best wishes to everyone in this challenging time. The plant pathology community stands in solidarity with medical staff and researchers, who are treating patients and searching for scientific solutions to this global medical threat. As researchers and citizens around the world we work together to slow the spread of COVID-19. People closely associated with the journal are working remotely.

Nevertheless, we are processing submissions and communications as normal, and will continue to deliver information resources across our platform. This involves continued support for authors, reviewers, and volunteer editors, with additional flexibility and extended deadlines if needed. We are all in this together, and look forward to solutions to the current situation over the coming weeks and months.

Laura Mugnai (Editor in Chief), Richard Edwin Falloon (Co-Editor in Chief), Giuseppe Surico (Journal Director), Alessandro Pierno (Journals Manager at FUP)

Cambio: Open Lab on Covid-19

CAMBIO WEBSITE

DOWNLOAD THE CALL OPEN LAB ON COVID-19

The current circumstances that we are experiencing, with the massive spreading of Covid-19 from the Far East to Europe, to the US and to the rest of the world, motivate us to promote a special issue of Cambio dedicated to theoretical question of return to social life, and empirical study of its contemporary configurations in the actual pandemic situation.

In order to:

  • Promote a space of confrontation within the social sciences and with other forms of knowledge
  • Reaffirm our views in terms of Open Access, Open Data, free circulation of ideas and results.
  • Oppose scientific knowledge to fake news.

Cambio intends to provide its own tools and organization in order to collect and share, in one ongoing Virtual Issue, contributions (in English or Italian) as articles, preprints, editorials, comments, reviews .

Concretely, our project is to publish on different subjects such as:

  • social/economic consequences of epidemics
  • social inequalities and power imbalances
  • persistence and changes in everyday life
  • science, communicating science
  • solidarity and social cohesion
  • new and old social conflicts
  • work (smart, dangerous, challenging)
  • globalization and health
  • care for the environment
  • emotions and feelings
  • local and global
  • interstate relations and relations between continents
  • communication and public space
  • practices and common sense
  • looking for safety
  • times and spaces
  • emergency and innovative teaching
  • politics and policies about the contemporary biological vulnerabilities
  • gender
  • aging and elderly
  • the life in quarantine of childhood and adolescent
  • sociability/loneliness
  • relevance of open data instant exchange for a fastmoving society
  • doing research and fieldwork in pandemic

As the situation changes very quickly, we will create an Open lab section of Cambio to speed up the publication. Please, use this section to submit your contributions on our website (https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/cambio/about/submissions)

This project will be a work in progress for the entire duration of the Covid-19 emergency.

THE CALL IS NOW OPEN!

Substantia: Open Stream on the Covid-19 Emergency

SUBSTANTIA WEBSITE

Download the full PDF version:  ENGLISH

The current circumstances that we are experiencing, with the massive spreading of Covid-19 from the Far East to Europe, to the US and to the rest of the world, motivate us to publish a special issue of Substantia dedicated to the coronavirus epidemic that is ravaging our societies. The reasons are:

  1. Publish significant scientific contributions on this topic.
  2. Reaffirm our views in terms of Open Access, Open Data, free circulation of ideas and results.
  3. Oppose real scientific facts to fake news.

Concretely, our project is to publish one special volume on different subjects such as:

  • Up-to-date review(s) on coronavirus research
  • The Chemistry of antiviral drugs
  • The history and perspectives of Immunochemistry, from vaccines to monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies
  • Social/economic consequences of epidemics
  • The responsibility of humans in the spreading of epidemics
  • Historical insights from previous epidemics (plagues, Spanish flu, etc.)
  • Relevance of open data instant exchange for a fast moving society

As the situation changes very quickly, we will create an “Open Stream” section of Substantia to speed up the publication. Shorter contributions such as preprints and editorials will be particularly appreciated.

This project will be an open lab, work in progress for the entire duration of the Covid-19 emergency.

Authors are encouraged to submit their contributions under the dedicated section “Covid-19 Emergency Open Stream Contribution” in the Substantia editorial system, by following the link:

https://riviste.fupress.net/index.php/subs/about/submissions

The contributions will be promptly shared and promoted. Because of the fast running spread of the epidemic with continuous updates and new information, in order to avoid delays and expedite the publication, the contributions will be subjected to a special peer review process.

After peer-review and revision each contribution will be published online as Just Accepted article. The DOI code and descriptive metadata will be immediately available for download and quotation.

Once the Open Stream is closed, the contributions that are published as Just Accepted version will be edited and published in the final version. The DOI code will not change until the final registration of the publication record.

Languages: all the contributions must be in American or UK English.

The Author Guidelines are available here:

https://riviste.fupress.net/index.php/subs/about/submissions

For further information please contact us (substantia@unifi.it) or visit our website www.substantia.net

Caryologia in first line against the COVID-19

Particular attention will be given to research results about viruses in general, including also COVID-19. Scientific articles about these topics will be subjected to a light (but rigorous as always) peer review process in order to make scientific novelties available to the whole scientific community in this difficult moment.

Alessio Papini, Editor-in-chief of Caryologia

Form@re: Research and practices to learn how to reach a sustainable and healthy economic and social recovery post Covid-19

Form@re Journal – Open journal for Networked Learning wants to provide its own tools and organisation in order to collect in one Dossier the existing know-how on Covid-19 management. We propose Researchers to produce a Dossier where they can collect all kinds of contributions dealing with the Covid-19 management from different perspectives and disciplines. The Dossier will be open from now until December 2020. It will guarantee the prompt publication of resources collected (texts, videos, slides). Resources will be organised for each of the items listed above. Moreover for each of them a research team will be set up in charge of validation and editing of each of the resources submitted.

Download full call for papers:  ENGLISH ITALIAN

    1.  In some months, hopefully few months, reconstruction in first instance and recovery as a second step will start worldwide.
    2.  In the past several crisis and wars were followed by – often epochal – redefinition processes of conditions and ways of living of citizens.
    3. Replanning and redesign processes of life in our cities and territories is something both institutions and citizens are concerned about. Nonetheless in order to be successful and based on knowledgeable and illuminated decisions such processes have to be supported by research activities and findings.
    4. Pandemic showed that the main problems were caused by the lack of preparation of services as well as infrastructures of any kind, but also by the difficulties for citizens to understand what was happening around them and to adopt individual behaviours in workplaces, public spaces, services where they were leaving in.
    5. Financial incentives and emergency management can mitigate pain and instill hope. But it will not be enough in order to ensure a quick exit from economic and social recession and downturn.
    6. In order to take on reconstruction and then recovery a more reinforced management of both interdependency among all populations in the world and their life conditions is necessary. More specifically, decision makers as well as professionals will benefit from the set of knowledge and experiences that have been accumulated by the research as these will help them facing new challenges in diverse contexts they work and live in:

a. cities and local communities had to face the community engagement challenge and the diffusion of sustainable services and life styles. Cities and local communities are required to identify learning devices that can promote and disseminate the culture of economic and social recovery;

b. around cities and workplaces it will be necessary to develop levels of safety and security culture among citizens as well as among health workers;

c. within workplaces – including manufacturing and, much more challenging and complex, services – it will be necessary to deal with any kind of crisis that are connected to human resources management but also to the management and production of new knowledge about market and products by all kinds of workers as this is the knowledge that is needed to cope with recovery;

d. the justice system and in particular the penitentiary system needs to be revised in order to change its inconsistencies as emerged during the pandemic. Specifically, it showed not to be adequate to manage re-educational activities and pathways for inmates under security conditions both for penitentiary staff and citizens;

e. education and training systems will be no longer places of infection and disease but will become open systems where youngsters and adults are trained not only in classrooms;

f. communication systems and social networks showed their potentialities in terms of supporting dialogue but also persuading people, sustaining productive activities and monitoring by institutions. New challenges are related to privacy defense and the right of answer by the civil society;

g. new possibilities to access and use cultural consumptions were explored trying to overcome cultural barriers that isolate cultural infrastructures from the wide public;

h. networks among families, associations, friends showed to be key and crucial for educational survival of youngsters and adults. Reinforcement and increase of the quality of networks can be the most effective answer to the challenges for the future;

i. migrations management can represent the most complex challenge for the impact Covid-19 can have on migration flows and integration into the labour market where demand is and will be weak;

j. history of pandemic and the related lessons learnt can provide lessons for facing the future.

7. Form@re Journal – Open journal for Networked Learning wants to provide its own tools and organisation in order to collect in one Dossier the existing know-how on Covid-19 management. We propose Researchers to produce a Dossier where they can collect all kinds of contributions dealing with the Covid-19 management from different perspectives and disciplines. The Dossier will be open from now until December 2020. It will guarantee the prompt publication of resources collected (texts, videos, slides). Resources will be organised for each of the items listed above. Moreover for each of them a research team will be set up in charge of validation and editing of each of the resources submitted.

8. Researchers and Authors will be encouraged to publish the preprint version of their contributons (of any kind as stated above) under the dedicated section of the Form@re Journal web site. Thus resources will be shared and promoted quickly. The scientific review of the preprint versions will be ready shortly thanks to the Form@re Editorial Team that will provide Authors and Researchers with a prompt feedback before publication. Authors and Researchers will submit their contributions in the “DOSSIER” section of the online Journal. Digital platform will be the only way for publication: https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/formare/about/submissions

9.Instructions will be available for everybody who is interested in submitting proposals for publication.

10.Every preprint documents will be assigned a DOI code and descriptive metadata as to make them immediately available and ready for download and quotation.

11.Once the Dossier will be closed, contributions that are published as preprint version will be reviewed once more (single blind review) and published in the final version. So preprint versions can be amended and updated until the publication of the whole Dossier. DOI code will not change until the final registration of the publication record.

12. Languages: contributions can be submitted in all languages and possibly in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish always equipped with an English abstract and keywords (no more than five).

Executive Committee:

Francesco De Maria (University of Firenze); Giovanna Del Gobbo (University of Firenze) Paolo Federighi (Director of the Form@re. Open Journal for Networked Learning Journal), Laura Menichetti (University of Firenze),Francesca Torlone (University of Siena)

Studi Slavistici and Covid-19

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The global COVID-19 (corona virus) pandemic is deeply changing our daily lives and our understanding of the world. The editorial board and the publisher of «Studi Slavistici» express their solidarity with anyone who may be affected by the virus. Our deepest gratitude goes to all the health care workers — doctors, nurses, technicians, medical staff, administrators – taking care of those affected by the pandemic and to the researchers working under challenging conditions to bring this outbreak to a close. As the global research community is affected by this pandemic, we wanted to update you on how we are dealing with the situation at Studi Slavistici and to provide the following clarifications to our authors, reviewers, and readers:

For our authors: If you have a paper in process at Studi Slavistici, it is being processed as normal. However, we are flexible regarding turnaround times for revisions during this stressful time. Please keep in touch with us if you need any extensions.

For our reviewers: If you have agreed to do a review for Studi Slavistici but need extra time, please just let us know. In light of the now-limited resources for bibliographical research due to closed libraries and archives, we encourage you to carefully consider the need for additional bibliographical data in revision requests.

For our readers: Thank you for the constant attention you draw to our journal. Please note that all our contents remain openly available.

To all of you: we are conscious of the challenges that many of you are facing during this crisis. We hope that effective solutions will soon be found to slow the pandemic spread and that the return to normal life will not have a dramatic impact on our lives and societies.

We believe that mutual support and cooperation are the only ways of coping with the challenges of these uncertain times.

Tackling COVID-19. FUP Journals contribution to the global effort against the pandemic

The journals published by Firenze University Press are announcing several special calls for the quick production of articles that are relevant to all aspects related to Covid-19 in any field, including biology, chemistry, education, sociology, economics, history, and so forth.

The first scope is to offer a powerful and free tool for advancing research on Covid-19 and for understanding our current time.

Because of the fast running spread of the epidemic with continuous updates and new information, in order to avoid delays and expedite the publication, the contributions will be subjected to a special and rigorous peer-review process and to maximise the accessibility all article processing charges for these submissions are waived.

To ensure that high quality protocols can be achieved as swiftly as possible, several journals will strive to complete the review within 7 days from the submission.

This form of rapid review is unprecedented for Firenze University Press.

After the peer-review process, each contribution will be published online as a Just Accepted article.  The DOI code and descriptive metadata will be immediately available for download and citation. All articles are published open access (CC-BY). The contributions will be promptly shared and promoted.

We do not know whether our societies will come out of the pandemic with a stronger sense of awareness, solidarity and sustainable development.

These special calls are our attempt to contribute and freely disseminate results, ideas, facts that can help others.

We need your help!

OUR CALLS FOR PAPERS ARE OPEN HERE

OUR COVID 19 CALL FOR PAPERS CATALOGUE IS HERE

Affrontare il COVID-19. Le riviste della Firenze University Press (FUP) provano a contribuire allo sforzo globale

Le riviste della FUP annunciano unite una serie di speciali Call for Papers per la rapida produzione di articoli rilevanti su tutti gli aspetti legati all’emergenza Covid-19 in tutti i campi: dalla biologia, alla chimica, alla pedagogia, alla sociologia, all’economia, alla storia, e così via.

Lo scopo è quello di offrire strumenti efficaci e gratuiti per far progredire la ricerca su Covid-19 e per comprendere meglio la situazione attuale.

Tutti gli articoli sono pubblicati ad accesso aperto (CC-BY). I contributi saranno prontamente condivisi e promossi dal nostro ufficio stampa.

A causa della rapida diffusione dell’epidemia, ai continui aggiornamenti e nuove informazioni, per evitare ritardi e accelerare la pubblicazione, i contributi saranno sottoposti a uno speciale processo di peer review e per garantire che i livelli di qualità siano raggiunti il più rapidamente possibile, le riviste cercheranno di completare la revisione entro pochi giorni dall’arrivo della proposte.

Questa forma di revisione rapida è senza precedenti per la Firenze University Press.

Dopo la revisione, ogni contributo sarà pubblicato sul sito della rivista come articolo Just Accepted.  Il codice DOI e i metadati descrittivi saranno immediatamente disponibili per il download e la citazione.

Non sappiamo se la nostra società uscirà da questa pandemia con un più forte senso di consapevolezza, solidarietà e sviluppo sostenibile, ma queste call for papers sono il nostro tentativo di contribuire e di diffondere liberamente risultati, idee, riflessioni e proposte che possano aiutare gli altri.

Potete consultare le nostre CALL FOR PAPERS QUI

Maria Montessori, her times and our years. History, vitality and perspectives of an innovative pedagogy

This call aims to propose a critical and historical reflection on the many variables that feature the practical and theoretical achievements of Maria Montessori’s Pedagogy and Movement from the end of the XIX century to our years, by highlighting the human, professional and cultural relations between her, her thought and some significant institutions, educators and thinkers in Italy and in foreign Countries.

Maria Montessori, her theories, her method and her schools have always been at the center of a broad debate that involves both educational elements, and historical, cultural or political aspects.

Reconstructing the figure and commitment of Maria Montessori, as well as the spread of her method in Italy from its beginning to the present day, is a difficult but essential work not only to understand a very important and diffused educational practice, but also in order to promote and encourage new pedagogical approaches. Furthermore, by examining Italian origins of the concrete settings and theoretical fundaments of Maria Montessori’s method, it will be scientifically possible both return the Italian identity of this educational way, and offer cultural resources for a renewed restart of the Montessori challenge in our Country.

This CFP originates from the PRIN 2017 Project “Maria Montessori from the past to the present. Reception and implementation of her educational method in Italy on the 150th anniversary of her birth”.

Articles of this CfP are expected in Italian or English.

This issue will include a minimum of 5 to a maximum of 12 articles.

Main thematic areas:

The influence of Montessori’s pedagogy on Italian educational thought in the 20th century with particular regard to the relationships between the Montessori movement and “Umanitaria” Society, catholic educational institutions, academic researches on pedagogy and theosophical movement.

The historical reconstruction – through archival and editorial materials – of the manuscripts and publications of Maria Montessori and her early followers (pedagogical and didactic texts, periodicals, reports, letters and memoirs).

The history of Maria Montessori’s method in Italy: its achievements, its diffusion and evolution over time (from kindergartens to subsequent scholastic grades), its relationships with other contemporary educational movements (outdoor schools, Agazzi method, fascist and post-fascist schools, contemporary educational movements).

The history of Montessori educators and teachers training, starting from the first course held by Montessori herself in 1909, passing through Opera Nazionale Montessori, Centro Internazionale Studi Montessoriani, Association Montessori Internationale, Centro Nascita Montessori, etc.

The historical evolution and diffusion of Montessori furniture and materials, also in relation to the architectural peculiarities suggested and stimulated by the educational method in question.

Calendar:

From February 19th, 2020 to April 19th, 2020 authors should be invited to submit an extended abstract (up to 1.000 words), in which the authors should outline their contributions according to the contents of the special issue such as: Introduction & Topic; Theoretical framework, extant and relevant literature; Methodology; References. Authors are invited to include a biographical note (up to 75 words);

The special issue’s Editors identify the abstracts in accordance with the Call for Paper requests. Editors can use anonymous experts.

Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by May 20th, 2020 and will then be invited to submit the full paper to editor within January 10th, 2021. Manuscripts should be no more than 8.000 words (about 45.000 characters with spaces, including notes and bibliographical references). Manuscripts should conform to the editorial conventions set by RSE – Rivista di Storia dell’educazione:

In Italian: https://new.cirse.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/07/Norme-editoriali-RSE-open-access-FIN-IT.pdf

In English: https://new.cirse.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/07/Editorial-guidelines-RSE-open-access-FIN-EN.pdf

All papers will be subject to anonymous peer review. The process of peer reviewing presumably will end March 30th 2021.

After peer reviewing, authors will have about more than one month to correct articles. The definitive version of paper should be submitted by May 20th, 2021.

Launch of the Special issue in November/December, 2021.

Editors of the Special Issue and e-mail for submissions (Please Note: each communication must be sent to all the editors):

– Prof. Fulvio De Giorgi fulvio.degiorgi@unimore.it

– Prof.ssa Paola Trabalzini p.trabalzini@lumsa.it

– Prof. William Grandi william.grandi@unibo.it

CC: Prof. Pietro Causarano segreteria@cirse.it

RSE Home page: https://www.rivistadistoriadelleducazione.it/index.php/RSE

New journal: Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography (Webbia)

Riccardo Maria Baldini, the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography (Webbia) talks about the journal.

Prof. Riccardo Baldini

Webbia is going back home

After 6 years of intense and fruitful collaboration with Taylor & Francis, Webbia – Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography changes its Publisher and lands with Florence University Press, the Publisher of the University of Florence.

We can say that “Webbia is going back home“, but definitely enriched by an experience editorial internationalization, thanks to the prestigious English Publisher Taylor & Francis.

Back “home” does not mean turn in on themselves! Quite the contrary, it assumes a significant importance due to the increased responsibilities acquired in recent years. When Webbia began its adventure with Taylor & Francis in 2013, it was facing the evident and relentless international competition, and after six years we can say that we have won the initial challenge, although there is still a long way to go.

Webbia was born in 1905,  and from its beginnings it revealed its international vocation thanks to milestones of scientific production in Plant Taxonomy and Geography like the contributions of Tropical Botany by Ugolino Martelli — its founder— and by Odoardo Beccari — whose centenary of death is being celebrated this year — which are still admired by specialists of Pandanaceae and Arecaceae. Despite a short period of “scientific provincialism”, in recent years Webbia has regained its initial pride by rediscovering its initial vocation, i.e., to be a medium of international scientific communication.

Now a new chapter begins in Webbia’s life: trying to consolidate international visibility, competing with other prestigious magazines, maintaining a high level of scientific contents are the goals. It is not an easy task, indeed a very difficult one. We are aware that the frenzy, or rather compulsive desire to speed up publication of scientific works and the search for bibliometric evaluations affects the scientific research also in the field of Plant Taxonomy, often establishing an uncontrolled competition at the expense of the quality of the scientific message. For this reason, the experience that is about to begin makes us aware of the responsibility we are taking on. Hence the need to pay even greater attention to the quality of the Peer Review Process in order to obtain mutual benefits.

With this new chapter, Webbia, Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography, expands its editorial offer, publishing not only articles, but also introducing specific sections dedicated to Points of Views, Reviews, Letters, Communications, in addition to the possibility of hosting files dedicated to Congresses, Symposia, and celebratory events in general. The aim is to enlarge Webbia’s audience and to stimulate the new generation of Plant Taxonomists.

Moreover, with the new Publisher Webbia becomes Open Access. Authors will be asked for a charge, which is nonetheless modest compared with the charge requested by other open access magazines. Indeed, Florence University Press is a non-profit publisher, among whose declared goals is to make scientific dissemination easy and cheap.

In conclusion, taking into account its history in the botanical publishing scene worldwide, its previous and current diffusion, what awaits Webbia is an increasingly demanding task that, we hope, can be fulfilled thanks to the attention of those who have supported it so far and those who will join it from now on. Therefore, thanks to Taylor & Francis, who allowed us to start our challenge in the twenty-first century and improve our expectations and skills, and to those who have believed in us in recent years, showing interest and trust. We are confident that with the professionalism of Florence University Press we will be able to do even better, and improve the role of Webbia in the international scenario of Plant Taxonomy and Geography. A new era is coming up!!!

Riccardo M. Baldini

Editor in Chief

Visit Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography

BAE Editors Vacancy Announcement

Candidates should be familiar with the agricultural and applied economics profession, and have an extensive knowledge of the relevant literature.

They should have a good publishing record and reviewing expertise. Additional qualifying features are:

• experience as a member of the Editorial Board of a scientific journal;
• a stimulating vision regarding the position and development of BAE;
• ability to work in a team and to manage deadlines;
• good expertise with supporting web applications and dissemination through social media.

Profile of BAE

BAE is a free open-access on-line journal promoted by AIEAA.

Although mainly devoted to scholars and well established researchers, BAE also encourages submissions by young researchers, teams involved in ongoing research projects and also relevant actors in the field of bio-economy and related public policies. BAE publishes contributions on the economics of bio-based industries, such as agriculture, forestry, fishery and food, dealing with any related disciplines, such as resource and environmental economics, consumer studies, regional economics, innovation and development economics. BAE is published by Firenze University Press (FUP) and is indexed in many scientific databases, including ISI-Web of Science.

In Scopus, BAE is indexed with a Citescore 2018 of 1.14 (66th percentile, +32% compared to 2017) (see: https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/bae for further details). BAE currently operates with two Editors in chief and four Associate editors, one of which is also Managing editor. The normal term for an Editor in chief is 4 years, which can be increased up to a total of 6 years.

Editors duties and method of working

The main duty of the Editor in chief is to provide the publisher with material for publication in the Journal that is of good scientific and presentational quality, selected according to BAE submission and peer-review protocols. The Editor in chief is responsible for organising the work of the associate editors. The associate editors are in charge of managing the assigned papers from the choice of the reviewers to the final decision, including proofreading of accepted papers, including contacts with authors if needed. FUP provides the following support for the editorial process: on-line software for submissions of papers, including on-line tracking and storage facilities for correspondence and documents; all technical and production services from the point of manuscript acceptance onwards to publication.

Editor’s remuneration

The BAE Editors do not receive any remuneration.

Application process

Applicants are requested to send their application by e-mail before 31 January, 2020 to the AIEAA president Davide Viaggi (davide.viaggi@unibo.it).
The application must consist of:

1) Curriculum Vitae with specific emphasis on the qualifications required for the Editor in chief and for the Associate editors of BAE;

2) A half-page accompanying e-mail letter, explaining the applicant’s vision for BAE. Applications will be evaluated by a committee including the current Editor-in-chief, the AIEAA President and two members appointed by the AIEAA Board. Potential applicants who would like more information before applying are encouraged to contact the current Editors (see journal website).

New International FUP Journals

These new journals are significant additions to our well-known and respected portfolio of 50 open access journals.

All articles will be published under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY) enabling authors to retain copyright.

Firenze University Press is a department of the University of Florence. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Firenze University Press is an open, nonprofit and collaborative publisher.


Wine Economics and Policy WEP (previous publisher Elsevier)

Wine Economics and Policy WEP is an international, interdisciplinary journal currently run by University of Florence. Studies and researches applied to wine sector, as well as the management skills needed for the competitive development of wine companies, require an increasing international approach. The mission of this journal is to bring together academic researchers and business professionals interested in the economics and politics of wine around the world, and bring about a worldwide opinion on the current issues that the wine sector faces.


Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography Webbia (previous publisher Taylor & Francis)

Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography Webbia is a peer-reviewed journal on Plant Systematics, Nomenclature, Phylogeny, Phytogeography and Paleobotany. Most of the contributions deal with the Vascular Plants, but sometime contributions on Briophytes, Lichenes, Fungi and Algae are encouraged.  It aims to allow research in botanical topics such as taxonomy, systematics, speciation, morphometrics, molecular phylogeny, conservation, biogeography, and methods.

In the future, we would also like to expand the journal’s reach and impact globally, not only to broaden the academic conversation, but also to ensure our journal remains a shared vehicle for multiple world views.


Media Education MED (previous publisher Erickson)

Media Education MED aims to provide resources associated with the education and employment of students in various media fields to encourage dialogue between the sectors and between media educators from different countries, in order to facilitate the transfer of critical, empirical, action and discursive research into the complexity of media education.

MED adopts an inter-disciplinary approach  to promote innovative, creative, and unconventional ways to investigate and resolve issues in media education literacy & media culture and to familiarize the public with the findings of research into issues in this areas, trends and regular patterns in its development from the perspective.


Journal of History of Education RSE (previous publisher ETS)

Journal of History of Education RSE  is an international, peer-reviewed and open-access journal focused on the global significance and impact of history of education. It covers all aspects of history education theory and practice, scholarship and applied research. It is the official journal of the CIRSE (Italian Center for History of Education),  field’s leading scientific society in Italy, and has been published since 2014 (but since 1982 with another title)

The journal is half-yearly and  publishes both special and miscellaneous issues. It encourages submissions from a range of intersecting sub-fields in intellectual, social, political, economic,, and cultural history including (but not limited to): sociology of knowledge, history of childhood and youth, public and urban history,  cultural and comparative history, history of ideas, history of emotions

The Periodic Table: our Legacy for Current Challenges (IYPT 2019)

This is an excellent occasion to commemorate the work and the genius of several chemists who devoted their lives to the progress of chemistry. It is also a great occasion to ponder about some of most important topics and challenges, and envisage future developments and applications.
Our contribution is based on the certainty that the historical aspects of scientific discoveries, the cultural milieus in which scientists lived and their personalities intersect and participate in the development of science.

Substantia proudly celebrates the 2019 International Year of the Periodic Table with the International Symposium

 

“The Periodic Table. Our Legacy for Current Challenges”

 

that will take place November 27 at 10 AM in the Salone Brunelleschi (Spedale degli Innocenti), Piazza Santissima Annunziata, Firenze (Italy). The event program is:

  • Greetings and Introduction – Luigi Dei | President of the University of Florence
  • The celebration of the Periodic Table – Pierandrea Lo Nostro | Editor-in-Chief of Substantia
  • Overlook on Substantia – Duccio Tatini | University of Florence
  • Sending light on the Periodic Table – Vincenzo Balzani | University of Bologna
  • International Year of the Periodic Table. The art of commemorating and what history of science can do for scientists – Brigitte Van Tiggelen | Science History Institute, Paris
  • The Women Behind the Periodic System and What These Stories Can Teach us About Science? – Annette Lykknes | Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim

During the event we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the International Periodic Table and will launch the six special issues of Substantia dedicated to energy and sustainability, water, open science, and the periodic table.

We do believe that knowing our past is necessary for the present challenges and even more for a future of prosperity, sustainability and awareness. This is the spirit that guides us in our mission.

Continue reading “The Periodic Table: our Legacy for Current Challenges (IYPT 2019)”

Sguardo territorialista di Leonardo

Il Convegno multidisciplinare promosso dal DIDA “Lo sguardo territorialista di Leonardo. Il cartografo, l’ingegnere idraulico, il progettista di città e territori” è stato incluso fra gli eventi  delle Celebrazioni nazionali per i 500 anni della morte di Leonardo (MIBAC).

Il Convegno si terrà ad Empoli nella giornata del 15-16 novembre.

E’ stata pubblicata una call for paper (scaricabile qui).

La dead line per l’invio degli abstract è il 30 di giugno 2019

I paper  saranno pubblicati nella Collana Editoriale SDT edizioni.

Inaugurazione 14 novembre

Convegno 15 novembre

Atelier 16 novembre

Materiali per i relatori

Inaugurazione 14 novembre (locandina)

Sede dei corsi di laurea, via Paladini 40

ex-convento degli Agostiniani, via de’ Neri

ore 17,00 – Inaugurazione

coordina Roberta Barsanti (Direttrice del Museo Leonardiano di Vinci)

Convegno 15 novembre (locandina e programma)

Cenacolo degli Agostiniani, via de’ Neri

 

ore 9,00 – Sessione mattutina

coordina Anna Guarducci (Università di Siena)

 

Saluti

Saverio Mecca, Direttore del Dipartimento Architettura dell’Università di Firenze

Vittorio Bugli, Assessore Rapporti Istituzionali, Regione Toscana

Brenda Barnini, Sindaca del Comune di Empoli

 

Apertura dei lavori

Luigi Dei, Rettore dell’Università di Firenze

Relazioni introduttive

  • Il tempo di Leonardo fra territorio e modernità (Rossano Pazzagli, Università del Molise, Istituto di Ricerca sul Territorio e l’Ambiente “Leonardo”, Pisa)
  • Lo sguardo territorialista di Leonardo (Daniela Poli, Università di Firenze)

pausa caffè

Relazioni generali:

  • Il disegno leonardiano del territorio: visione olistica e restituzione selettiva dei fenomeni, Andrea Cantile (Università di Firenze)
  • Leonardo e l’acqua, fra natura, esperienza e cultura tecnica, Francesco Di Teodoro (Politecnico di Torino), Emanuela Ferretti (Università di Firenze)
  • Rappresentazioni transcalari, misure e rilievo dello spazio urbano in Leonardo, Claudio Saragosa, Carla G. Romby (Università di Firenze)

 

Pausa buffet

14,30 – Sessione pomeridiana

Coordina Gianluca Belli (università di Firenze)

 

APPROFONDIMENTI TEMATICI

Leonardo Cartografo

  • La cartografia italiana al tempo di Leonardo: fra cultura umanistica e progetto territoriale, Leonardo Rombai (Università di Firenze)
  • Il paesaggio di Leonardo. Fonti cartografiche, iconografiche e archeologiche, Margherita Azzari (Università di Firenze), Fabio Lucchesi (Università di Firenze)

Leonardo Ingegnere idraulico

  • Leonardo e il Naviglio della Martesana, Giovanni Cislaghi (Politecnico di Milano)
  • Leonardo e l’Arno tra ingegneria idraulica e la visione territoriale da Firenze al mare, Michela Chiti (Università di Firenze), Stefano Pagliara (Università di Pisa)

Leonardo Progettista di città e territori

  • Studi e progetti di Leonardo per Milano, Claudia Candia (Politecnico di Milano)
  • Leonardo, la mappa di Imola e i disegni per le fortificazioni di Cesena e Urbino, Francesco Ceccarelli, Pino Montalti (Università di Bologna)
  • Leonardo da Vinci a Piombino: progetti di ammodernamento delle fortificazioni del litorale toscano, Stefano Bertocci e Matteo Bigongiari (Università di Firenze).

17,30 Conclusioni Alberto Magnaghi (Università di Firenze)

Atelier 16 novembre (programma)

Sede dei corsi di laurea, via Paladini 40

Leonardo Cartografo (coord. Maria Rita Gisotti, Marco Mancino)

Daniele Pascale Guidotti Magnani (Università di Bologna), Leonardo a Faenza? Precisazioni e ipotesi a margine della spedizione borgiana in Romagna; Elena Gianasso (Politecnico di Torino), Leonardo negli studi ottocenteschi sulla cartografia delle Alpi; Veronica Fontanini, Tiffany Geti, Eni Nurihana, Ilaria Zaffoni (Università di Firenze), Leonardo cartografo: tra visione e rappresentazione della Toscana rinascimentale; Valentina Burgassi (Politecnico di Torino), Con l’occhio di Leonardo. Città fortificate e scenari possibili: paesaggio, cartografia e architettura militare; Elisa Butelli, Stela Gjyzelaj (Università di Firenze), Porti e navi lungo l’Arno al tempo di Leonardo: un patrimonio da riscoprire e riattualizzare.

Leonardo progettista di sistemi idraulici e territoriali (coord. David Fanfani, Monica Bolognesi)

Claudia Candia (Politecnico di Milano), I Navigli di Milano al tempo di Leonardo; Marco Prusicki (Politecnico di Milano)“Il canto dell’acqua”: Leonardo nel progetto dei nuovi Navigli milanesi; Ilaria Nieri, Stefano Pagliara, Michele Palermo (Università di Pisa), Leonardo da vinci e il lago di Serravalle; Emanuela Ferretti, Tania Salvi (Università di Firenze), L’Arno al tempo di Leonardo, fra geologia, geografia storica e fonti documentarie; Emanuela Ferretti, Michela Chiti (Università di Firenze), Il corso dell’Arno da Firenze al mare nella cartografia Leonardiana fra rilievo, progetto e proiezioni immaginifiche. Nuovi approcci metodologici per una effettiva multidisciplinarietà; Maria Vittoria Cattaneo (Politecnico di Milano), Il Naviglio di Ivrea da Leonardo a oggi. Storia, tecnica e territorio; Daniela Poli, Michela Chiti (Università di Firenze), Il grande progetto territoriale di Leonardo: un canale attrezzato multifunzionale che rafforza il policentrismo della piana Firenze-Prato-Pistoia. Riflessioni urbanistiche fra visioni territorialiste e progetto funzionalista; Enrica Caporali, Ignazio Becchi, Matteo Isola, Nicodemo Parrilla, Tiziana Pileggi (Università di Firenze), Un naviglio per rilanciare l’economia Toscana: considerazioni sul progetto di Leonardo di deviazione del corso dell’Arno.

Leonardo progettista urbano (coord. Iacopo Zetti, Giulia Fiorentini)

Daniela Smalzi (Università di Firenze), I disegni leonardiani di architettura del Ms. B: processo ricostruttivo fra ricerca storica e modellazione virtuale; Giampiero Lombardini, Marco Folin, Angela Celeste Taramasso (Università di Genova), La città e le sue acque. Anticipazioni leonardiane di metabolismo bioregionale; Patrizia Ferri (Università di Roma “La Sapienza”), Leonardo, il geniale pioniere di una città come opera collettiva; Concetta Fallanca (Università di Reggio Calabria), La pianificazione integrale di Leonardo da Vinci. Implicazioni etiche, politiche e sociali; Edoardo Colonna di Paliano, Giorgio Frassine (Politecnico di Milano), Terre d’acqua terre d’argine: accordanze leonardesche. La “fisiognomica” del territorio come risorsa di buon governo.

Materiali per i relatori

 Layout Presentazione Convegno

 Layout Presentazione Atelier

 Mappa dei luoghi della mostra e del convegno

ultimo aggiornamento: 11-Nov-2019

16th Congress of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union

The upcoming Congress of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union entitled “Safeguarding Mediterranean Plant Health” will be held in Limassol, Cyprus, on 23rd – 27th March , 2020. The meeting promotes dissemination of the latest scientific advances and encourages dialogue and collaboration between researchers interested in all aspects of Phytopathology. The conference language is English.

The year 2020 is announced by FAO as Plant Health Year and we plan a large event to showcase the role of Mediterranean Agriculture and Phytopathology, in safeguarding our food, traditions in Mediterranean Diet as well as food security for the whole planet. Plenary, concurrent and poster sessions will be held on key topics such as Genome Analysis; Invasive Emerging Pathogens; Integrated Disease Management; Food Safety; New Tools in Diagnostics and Management; Molecular Pathogen-Host Interactions; Impact of Climate Change; Biocontrol, Natural Compounds and Plant Stimulants; Epidemiology and Modelling and Microbiomes In Plant Health. This conference will also have a session for Abiotic Stresses and in particular drought and salinity stress as well as methods to mitigate these stresses. The meeting proceedings will be published in the international journal Phytopathologia Mediterranea.

Seminario: Fare e comunicare sociologia: il ruolo delle riviste

Il Seminario, organizzato dal Coordinamento delle riviste di Sociologia (CRIS) intende discutere del ruolo delle riviste di sociologia, e più generalmente della pubblicistica italiana, nel particolare periodo storico in cui i tanti cambiamenti, dapprima nell’offerta formativa e ora nelle modalità con cui si valutano le attività accademiche e si definiscono i percorsi di carriera, si riflettono sul modo in cui si fa sociologia, sul ruolo del sociologo e su quanto siano riconosciute e apprezzate le sue competenze dall’opinione pubblica italiana.

Al centro ci sarà il ruolo delle riviste e la loro capacità di coniugare le esigenze di chi vi pubblica e di chi le legge con il senso della loro missione: diffondere la conoscenza sociologica.

Il CRIS promuove, valorizza e stimola la qualità scientifica delle riviste di sociologia italiane e con esse la qualità della produzione sociologica in Italia.

PROGRAMMA

Primo Seminario CRIS

Fare e comunicare sociologia: il ruolo delle riviste

Venerdì 20 settembre 2019

Campus delle Scienze Sociali, Firenze

Edificio D15 – Aula 004, Piazza Ugo di Toscana

Ore 10-13

Chair person: Carlo Sorrentino (Università degli Studi di Firenze)

Ambrogio Santambrogio (Università degli Studi di Perugia, coordinatore CRIS), Ripensare le riviste. Fare sociologia al tempo dell’ANVUR

Carmen Leccardi (Università Milano-Bicocca, membro del gruppo Anvur per le riviste dell’area 14), Comunicare il lavoro accademico in epoca neo-liberista

Coffee break

Discussione

Ore 15 -18 

Tavola rotonda: Nuove frontiere editoriali per le riviste di Sociologia

Presiede Paola Borgna (Università degli Studi di Torino)

Interventi di:

Ilaria Angeli, Franco Angeli Editore

Lorenzo Armando, Rosenberg & Sellier

Antonella Fabbrini, Casalini Libri

Alessandro Pierno, Firenze University Press

Discussione

Peer Review Week 2019: Quality in Peer Review

What is Peer Review Week?

Peer Review Week is an annual global event celebrating the critical role peer review plays in academic publishing. Every year, during this event, researchers and scholarly publishing professionals across the globe come together to discuss various aspects of peer review.

Why Peer Review Week??

  • To emphasize the central role peer review plays is scholarly communication
  • To showcase the work of editors and reviewers
  • To share research and advance best practices
  • To highlight the latest innovation and applications

SUBSTANTIA Award for a Young Scientist

ECIS and the Department of Chemistry of the University of Florence agreed upon the creation of the ECIS-Substantia Award for a Young Scientist to acknowledge the top level scientific activity of young researchers in the field of colloid and interface science.

The prize is awarded annually. The award, consisting in € 500,00, is offered by Substantia. An International Journal of the History of Chemistry.

Applicants must possess a M.Sc degree and must have been actively engaged in scientific research for a period of time shorter than the PhD plus 1 year.

The applicants will declare their intention to compete for the award along with the submission of the abstract of their contribution to the annual meeting of ECIS.
The decision will be taken during the annual meeting by a special Jury nominated by the Chair of the Conference, and comprising:

  • one representative of the Journal’s Editorial Board
  • one representative of the ECIS Board
  • one member of the local organizing Committee
  • two representatives selected from the plenary speakers and the International Committee of the annual meeting.

2018 Impact Factor Released for Phytopathologia Mediterranea – 1.974

We are pleased to inform you that the new Impact Factor of Phytopathologia
Mediterranea has been released. According to the Journal Citation Reports®,
published by Clarivate Analytics in June 2019, the new Impact Factor of
Phytopathologia Mediterranea is 1.974, and the 5-Year Impact Factor is
1.819.

Compared to last year, the Impact Factor has increased by 37% and the 5-Year
Impact Factor has increased by 11%.

More details of evolution of Impact Factor and Citations for Phytopathologia
Mediterranea here: https://bit.ly/2ZBjFK0

2019 Impact Factor released for Italian Journal of Agrometeorology – 1.182

We are proud to announce that, compared to last year, the Impact Factor of Italian Journal of Agrometeorology has increased by 26,68% % and the 5-Year Impact Factor has increased by 11,20%. This is the journal’s 5th consecutive increase in impact factor year-over-year.

We are pleased to see such excellent progress in the impact factor of our journal this year” said Simone Orlandini, editor in chief of Italian journal of Agrometeorology. “It is a tribute to the achievements and contributions of our authors, editors and editorial boards. T
he Italian Journal of Agrometeorology’ s continued rise in rankings and impact reflects our ongoing commitment to deliver the highest quality content to increase the knowledge of agrometeorology and agroclimatology, both in the agricultural sector and outside of it.  We are most thankful to the peer reviewers who put in countless hours to help maintain the outstanding quality of articles”.

Prof. S. Orlandini, Editor in Chief

Prof. S. Orlandini


The 2019 Journal Impact Factor measures a journal’s relevance to the scholarly publishing community. It is calculated by dividing the number of citations by the total number of articles published in the previous two years

IJAM is the official Journal of The Italian Association of Agrometeorology (AIAM) founded in 1997.  The Association aims to promote and encourage researches on relevant agrometeorological themes, both at the farm and territorial level.

2018 Impact Factor Released for Caryologia – 1.174

We are pleased to inform you that the new Impact Factor of Caryologia has been released.

According to the Journal Citation Reports, published by Clarivate Analytics in June 2019, the new Impact Factor of Caryologia is 1.174, and the 5-Year Impact Factor is 1.147. 

Compared to last year (IF 0.608) , the Impact Factor has increased by 93% and the 5-Year Impact Factor has increased by 70%.
More details of evolution of Impact Factor and Citations for Caryologia here: https://bit.ly/2ZxMAOU