A Brief History
2013
Founded as Exchanges: The Warwick Research Journal with a seven-member Editorial Board. The team is led by the first Senior Editor Hannah Grainger-Clemson, with Board members all drawn from Warwick’s Institute of Advanced Study’s (IAS) Early Career Fellows programme. The IAS operates as the title’s sponsor and publisher, on behalf of the University.
The Inaugural Issue 1(1) is published in October with as Oliver Sacks the featured cover star.
2014
Issue 1(2) is published in April, under an editorial collective without a definitive lead. This would continue for the next few issues. The photo themed covers continued with Mona Siddiqui appearing.
Issue 2(1) is published in October, and the final photo cover star was Eric Foner.
2015
Issue 2(2) is published in April, and introduced a new blue cover colour design surmounted with a multicoloured image. This ‘rainbow themed’ cover idea continues to the present day, albeit with various modified elements.
Issue 3(1) is published in October, with Naomi Pullin listed as the new Senior Editor
2016
Issue 3(2) is published in April, with Yuexi Liu stepping in as the third Senior Editor, a position they will occupy through to early 2018.
Issue 4(1) is published in October.
2017
Issue 4(2) is published in April.
The appointment of a new Director for the IAS, with the ultimate responsibility for journal under their remit, heralds a period of re-examination and adjustment of the title’s purpose and aspirations.
Issue 5(1) is published in October and welcomes aboard the first Monash University members of the editorial Board.
2018
New leading editor, Gareth J Johnson is appointed with two major revisions to the title soon follow. Firstly, it is renamed as Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, to indicate the increasingly international aspirations of its board and contributors. Moreover, the lead editor role is rebranded as the Managing Editor-in-Chief to better reflect the post’s broadening remit and ambitions.
In April as part of a greater drive towards transparency and openness, a new editorial blog is launched, as is a twitter account for the journal.
Issue 5(2) representing the tenth issue overall is published in June. The small publication delay due to the changeover in personnel behind the scenes. It is also the first to bear the new title suffix.
Issue 6(1) is published in November, and welcomes aboard the first editors based at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China onto the Board.
2019
Early this year discussions concerning two disciplinary areas – Cannibalism and Climate Fiction (cli-fi) - lead to preparations for Exchanges first themed special issues. Allied with these moves, are efforts to welcome the first associate editors aboard the team to specifically support the production of these issues, in concert with the Editors Board members. The experiences on these two issues would serve to shape the pragmatics behind future special issue projects.
Issue 6(2) is published in May is the last issue to utilise the exact cover template first adopted in 2015. In this issue the journal welcomes more new international Board members, drawn from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
The Editor-in-Chief visits Italy and the International Conference of the Utopian Studies Society-Europe to promote contributions for the Climate Fiction special issue.
Issue 7(1) is published in October and introduces a light updating of the cover design with a new circular central image and lighter background colour. The rainbow theme of the central image persists although the journal’s banner title font is updated to include a dropped shadow.
Towards the end of the year, an approach from former contributors to the journal sees the initiation of third special issue project – dedicated this time to papers concerned with Nerd Culture around the world.
2020
January witnessed a meeting to discuss and initiate a fourth special issue project, related to the Faculty of Art at Warwick’s research project and exhibition – Then & Now - involving students from all levels. Recruitment and training of more associate editors for this and the Nerds issue followed in the subsequent months.
Issue 7(2), the first special issue and one dedicated to papers on and relating to Cannibalism is successfully published almost a year to the day from its initiation.
The Exchanges Discourse podcast is launched, with some episodes featuring a mix of information about the journal and publishing, and others devoted to interviews with authors and other contributors.
Issue 7(3) is published in June, representing the first third issue in a single volume for the journal. The issue also welcomes new Editorial Board members based at the Université de Cergy-Pontoise, France.
Issue 8(1) is published in October. Alongside the issue discussions had begun in planning the fifth special issue project. This special issue would be practically linked to a British Academy funded series of writing workshops for early career researchers and thematically associated with the Anthropocene.
2021
Issue 8(2) is published in February, just over two years since the project began, and represents the second special issue of the title to be published successfully. The issue is dedicated to papers deriving from or inspired by the 20th International Conference of the Utopian Studies Society on the subject of climate-fiction.
March sees a successful two-day online workshop drawing together scholars as part of the preparations for the Cultural Representations of Nerds special issue. Speakers are all invited to contribute to the special issue.
Issue 8(3) is published in May.
Issue 8(4) is published in August and is the journal’s third special issue, incorporating contributions linked to the Then & Now: Arts at Warwick project and exhibition. This issue appeared some eighteen months after preparations first began.
September saw the first of two online writing workshops hosted by the Editor-in-Chief as part of the Anthropocene special issue preparations. All workshop delegates would be subsequently invited to participate as authors and associate editors for the special issue.
Issue 9(1) published in October, sees a further update to the cover template alongside celebrations of the journal’s twentieth issue overall. Shifting to a green palate, the central rainbow themed image now includes a subtle reflection effect. The banner title font also removes its dropped shadow to increase clarity of the journal’s name.
Also in October is the call for contributions to our sixth special issue project went live. This time the theme was around Translation and Plurality.
The final Anthropocene special issue workshop was led by the Editor-in-Chief. Recruitment and training of new associate editors launched at this point too for both this and the Translation special issue.
2022
January saw the activation of altmetrics for each article in the journal, providing a measure beyond raw downloads on engagement with each piece.
Issue 9(2) is published in April. Alongside it is a call for contributions for the tenth anniversary issue of the journal, tentatively scheduled for publication in October 2023.
Issue 9(3), the fourth special issue, focussing on Nerd Culture is published in August. This bumper issue was met with strong acclaim in the social media sphere, and marked the end of a three year collaboration with the universities of Oxford and SOAS.
Issue 10(1) is published on schedule at the end of October as normal. The issue’s publication marked the ninth birthday of Exchanges, and the start of its tenth year of operations.
In November seven new members of the Editorial Board were welcomed to the journal’s team. Coming from a range of different universities, they represented a significant broadening of the Board’s fields of expertise.
In December the final episodes of the Exchanges Discourse podcast season 3 appeared, bringing the total produced in 2022 to 17 - a marked improvement on the previous two years.
2023
January saw the regular announcement of the most accessed podcast episodes and articles for the previous year. It also saw the launch of the 4th season of the Exchanges Discourse, with a lengthy examination of critical reflections.
February saw the introduction of a monthly newsletter, open to all and emailed to subscribers, highlighting the key developments and news from the journal. Following presentation at the Editorial Board meetings, this month also witnessed the introduction of a policy pertaining to AI and authorship within the journal.
Issue 10.2 arrived in March, a long-awaited special issue on the Anthropocene and More-than-Human World. This month also saw a major new episode of the Exchanges Discourse podcast, featuring a lively and full panel discussion on interdisciplinary publishing.
Issue 10.3, being the twenty-fifth issue of Exchanges, publication heralded a modestly busy May. This month also saw the introduction of a new book reviews format and a contributor conduct policy too. New IAS webpages featuring information on the journal also arrived.
In June we announced our collaboration with the National Centre for Research Culture (NCRC), as part of their International Research Culture Conference, leading towards a special issue in 2024.
In July we followed this with news of a collaboration with Warwick’s Modern Records Centre (MRC) as part of their 50th anniversary, to produce a special issue based on their forthcoming conference. We also celebrated the arrival of three new Board members from Warwick. In August these were joined by a new member of the Board from Monash University, Australia.
September was a busy month with collaborations towards the forthcoming Research Culture, and MRC at 50, special issues informally launched at their respective conferences. Additionally, Exchanges was heavily involved in the two day, inaugural IAC (International Advisory Committee) visit to Warwick, briefly presenting on the journal's operations and ambitions.
October saw the formal announcements of the calls for participation in the MRC at 50 and Research culture special issues. It also celebrated the publication of the journal’s 10th anniversary issue (vol 11.1), marking the end of the first decade of Exchanges production.
We followed this in November with a light updating of our author and style guidance too, alongside the launch of our Bluesky.Social microblogging channel. Finally, a new video on submitting to Exchanges was shared on our YouTube channel. Finally, the year ended in December with the launch of the Queerness as Strength special issue call for participation.
2024
Late January saw the submission deadline for both the MRC and Research Culture special issues, along with final training of the new associate editors. We also began the 5th season of the Exchanges Discourse podcast with a new author interview.
February saw the roll out of our collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Women and Gender (CSWG) Graduate Seminar Series, and begin working towards producing at least one – and possibly two – special issues. February also saw the latest iteration of Exchanges panel discussion session for the EUTOPIA group of universities, focussing on strategic approaches to publishing. The first Board meeting of the year was also held this month.
As March arrived, so too did another panel discussion hosted by Exchanges, this time for the IAS’ Accolade programme. The topic this time was concerned with exploring interdisciplinary publishing. Soon after, the twelfth special issue collaboration was announced, this time working with National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) and College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), Taiwan on the theme of Sustainability Culture.
A busy few months followed, starting with the publication of Issue 11(2) in April, special issues on Research Culture (Issue 11.3, August) and the Modern Records Centre’s half-centenary (Issue 11.4, September). Notably, Issue 11.3 was the largest single issue produced by Exchanges to date, and a major milestone.
September also saw the Chief Editor speaking at the British Academy as part of their Early Career Network event, a contribution which was very warmly received. This was followed by an appearance at the 2nd International Research Culture Conference at Warwick, where a second special issue volume was announced. Alongside these events a number of new episodes of the Exchanges Discourse podcast appeared, with a range of guests, during September to November.
Issue 12.1 arrived at the end of October, representing the thirtieth issue of the journal, and the last for 2024. Meanwhile work on recruiting, training and supporting new associate editors continued behind the scenes. November, along with more podcast episodes, saw our first guest episode, Harnessing the Wind, produced in collaboration with the MaREI and University College Cork.
