Focus and Scope

 Ecozon@ is a journal devoted to the relatively new field of literary and cultural criticism called ecocriticism. Ecocriticism can be broadly defined as the study of the representations of nature in cultural texts, and of the relationship between humans with other earth beings and their environment as seen in cultural manifestations. Ecozon@ is one of the very few academic journals specifically devoted to ecocriticism, an exponentially growing field, akin to the more recently developing area of environmental humanities, and the only one to accept submissions in several languages.

Its principal aim is to further the study, knowledge and public awareness of the connections and relationship between literature, culture and the environment. As a virtual space, it provides a site for dialogue between researchers, theorists, creative writers and artists concerned with and by the environment and its degradation. Its pages are open to contributions on all literatures and cultures, but its special mission is to reflect the cultural, linguistic and natural richness and diversity of the European continent.

Research contributions are subject to double-blind peer review, and are accepted in five languages (English, Spanish, French, German and Italian), in order to increase visibility and broaden the participation of scholars who are not part of the English-speaking world. Ecozon@, in addition to publishing original research articles, also publishes book reviews which are peer reviewed and creative writing and visual arts which are reviewed by the editorial board. Publication is open to scholars and creators interested in ecocriticism from around the world. We recommend membership of EASLCE to our contributors and readers, but it is not a requirement for either.

Ecozon@ is currently indexed in MLA, OAI, DOAJ, ERIH PLUS, Latindex, Dialnet, EBSCO, CROSSREF, and EBUAH, the institutional repository of the University of Alcalá.

Section Policies

Articles: General Section

Editors

  • Axel Goodbody
  • Heather Sullivan

Open Submissions      Indexed          Peer Reviewed

The Future of Ecocriticism

Editors

  • Imelda Martin Junquera

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Towards a European and Transnational Ecocriticism

Editors

  • Imelda Martin Junquera

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Creative Writing and Arts

Editors

  • Damiano Benvegnù

Open Submissions      Indexed      Peer Reviewed

Book Reviews

Editors

  • Astrid Bracke
  • Maria Isabel Perez Ramos

Open Submissions      Indexed      Peer Reviewed

Literary Landscapes and the National Imaginary

Editors

  • Imelda Martin Junquera

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Special Focus: Greening across Borders: the Natural Environment in a Globalized World

Editors

  • Imelda Martin Junquera

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Ecospirit: Religion and the Environment

Editors

  • Carmen Flys Junquera
  • Axel Goodbody

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Writing Catastrophes: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Semantics of Natural and Anthropogenic Disasters

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

The Invention of Eco-Futures

Editors

  • Imelda Martin Junquera

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Green Countercultures

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Mediterranean Ecocriticism

Editors

  • Carmen Flys Junquera
  • Axel Goodbody
  • Serenella Iovino
  • Imelda Martin Junquera

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Northern Nature

Editors

  • Carmen Flys Junquera
  • Axel Goodbody
  • Diana Villanueva-Romero

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

European New Nature Writing

Editors

  • Roman Bartosch
  • Carmen Flys Junquera
  • Imelda Martin Junquera

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Translating Environmental Humanities

Editors

  • Carmen Flys Junquera
  • Axel Goodbody
  • Imelda Martin Junquera

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Artistic Ways of Understanding and Interacting with Nature

Editors

  • Roman Bartosch

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Articles: Animal Humanities

Editors

  • Roman Bartosch
  • Imelda Martin Junquera

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Articles: Urban Ecologies

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Articles: South Atlantic Ecocriticism

This section accepts articles specifically addressing the topic announced.

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Articles: Green Computer and Video Games

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Articles: Population, Ecology and the Malthusian Imagination

This section accepts research articles specifically addressing the topic announced.

Editors

  • Hannes Bergthaller

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Articles: Mythology and Ecocriticism: A Natural Encounter

Editors

  • Margot Lauwers
  • Imelda Martin Junquera
  • Francisco Molina-Moreno
  • Christopher Schliephake
  • Louise Squire
  • Adele Tiengo

Open Submissions Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Articles: Toward an Ecopoetics of Randomness and Design

This section accepts research articles specifically addressing the topic announced.

Editors

  • Franca Bellarsi
  • Judith Rauscher

Open Submissions      Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Ecological In(ter)ventions in the Francophone World

Accepts scholarly articles related with the topic specified in the Call for Papers.

Editors

  • Anne Rachel Hermetet
  • Stephanie Posthumus

Open Submissions      Indexed          Peer Reviewed

Cultures of Climate

Editors

  • Eva Horn
  • Solvejg Nitzke

Open Submissions      Indexed          Peer Reviewed

 

Peer Review Process

 The articles found in the special focus and general sections are double blind peer reviewed by international external reviewers. Generally each article is submitted to 2 reviews and often, when in doubt, a third review is requested. Reviewers are asked to evaluate the originality of the argument, its strength, coherency and grasp of previous critical literature on the topic, the methodology used and its clarity, as well adequate referencing. The reviewing process can takes around 3-4 months, in addition to a second round of reviews, if needed. Reviewers are acknowledged in the Autumn issue each year.

Detailed Reviewer Guidelines can be found here.

 

Open Access Policy

Ecozon@ is published according to the Green Open Access scheme, in which both publication and access to full papers is free. We provide immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

 

 Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...

 

Publication Frequency

This journal is published twice a year, in Spring (May 1st) and Autumn (November 1st).

 

Publisher

Ecozon@ is published by the University of Alcalá.

 

Sponsors

Ecozon@ is sponsored by the European Association for the Study of Literature, Culture and Environment (EASLCE), and the Ecocritical Research Group, GIECO and Franklin Institute, both at the University of Alcalá.

 

Journal History

Ecozon@ was founded in 2010 as a joint initiative of GIECO (Ecocritical Research Group in Spain) and EASLCE (European Association for the Study of Literature, Culture and Environment) and is published by the University of Alcalá as of 2014. 2014 also marked a significant change from a small Advisory board, mostly of EASCLE members, to a large internationally reputed and interdisciplinary Advisory Board.

The founding editorial board consisted of Carmen Flys (Editor in chief), Axel Goodbody (Associate Editor), Imelda Martin and Margarita Carretero (Managing Editors), Isabel Hoving (Creative Writing and Arts Editor), Hannes Bergthaller (Book Review Editor) and Irene Sanz (Secretary). In our fifth year, 2014, Margarita Carretero and Isabel Hoving were substituted by Diana Villanueva and Serenella Iovino, respectively. At the same time, Roman Bartosch joined the team as Assistant Editor. At the end of 2016, Imelda Martin and Roman Bartosch stepped down and Lorraine Kerslake came on board as Managing editor. Ecozon@ also expanded the number of assistant editors to four, one for each language: Margot Lauwers, Louise Squire, Christopher Schliephake and Adele Tiengo. In 2018 we welcomed Damiano Benvengu as the new Creative Writing and Arts Editor as Serenella Iovino stepped down. In 2019, Hannes Bergthaller,who has been with Ecozon@ since its founding as Book Review Editor, stepped down and Astrid Bracke and M. Isabel Perez joined the board as the book review editor and assistant editor, respectively. With the Autumn Issue of 2020 Ecozon@ celebrated its tenth anniversary with a special issue of essays and a new  design for the homepage. Coinciding with this anniversary, our founding Associate Editor, Axel H. Goodbody stepped down as well as Managing Editors Diana Villanueva and Lorraine Kerslake and Assitant Editor Christopher Schliephake. Heather Sullivan joined the editorial team as Associate Editor and Gala Arias as Managing Editor.