Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media wins top open access award

13 Mar 2024

University College Cork’s Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media has been awarded Best Peer Reviewed Open Access Journal in the Irish Open Access Publishers (IOAP)’s Inaugural Diamond Open Access Publishing Awards 2024.

The award was announced at the Inaugural IOAP Conference, which was held online on 12 March 2024.

Founded in 2011, Alphaville is a diamond open-access, peer-reviewed journal published twice-yearly in the Department of Film and Screen Media at University College Cork. Ranked in the top-20 Google Scholar Film Journal rankings, Alphaville has a truly global readership and receives approximately 3,500 visitors per month.

The journal, which has previously received the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Seal of Excellence for the quality of its publishing practices, extends the borders of traditional scholarship by publishing not only articles but also video essays, interviews, industry reports, case studies, and podcasts. Past issue topics include refugee filmmaking, fostering diversity on and off screen, women’s film and television history, queer media, screening race, interactive documentaries, and home as a site of resistance.

Celebrating excellence in Irish open access publishing

The Irish Open Access Publishers’ mission is to advance, promote and recognise excellence in Irish open access publishing. It supports the advancement of open, inclusive and sustainable publishing approaches in line with national and international standards for the benefit of all.

A judging panel comprising of international experts selected Alphaville as the winner of the Best Peer Reviewed Open Access Journal, praising its original and impactful contribution to film and screen media, its commitment to quality across publishing practices, and to inclusion, accessibility and dissemination.

UCC’s commitment to the democratisation of knowledge

Professor Laura Rascaroli, Alphaville Editor-in-Chief, said that the whole journal team is delighted and proud to receive this award in its inaugural year: “Just like most diamond Open Access journals, which apply no charges either to authors or to readers, Alphaville is a labour of love that makes an important contribution both to its field of film and screen media and to the democratisation of knowledge. Alphaville has devised a sustainable, adaptable model that will allow us to continue our commitment to the highest quality Open Access.”

Alphaville enjoys the support of international colleagues via its editorial and advisory boards. Professor Rascaroli continued: “On behalf of the editorial board, I wish to thank all who contribute so generously to producing and supporting the journal, from the colleagues in the UCC Boole Library to our advisory boards, as well, of course, as our authors, readers, and all of the editorial team, for whom this award will be a great source of encouragement.”

Dr James Kapaló, Vice-Head of College (Research and Innovation) at UCC College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences said: “Congratulations to Professor Laura Rascaroli, the Alphaville editorial team on receiving this fantastic award in open access publishing, with support from colleagues at UCC Library. It has been a historical week for film in Ireland, and this award reflects the outstanding contributions made in Cork by UCC researchers in the field of film and screen media studies.”

Notes for Editors

• More information on Alphaville can be found on the journal’s website alphavillejournal.com
• More information on the IOAP awards can be found on its website https://www.ioap.ie/ioap-awards