Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies

ISSN 2563-3392

Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies (Matrix) is an open-access, peer-reviewed and refereed scholarly journal published by the International Network for Training, Education, and Research on Culture (Network on Culture), Canada. Matrix is published online twice yearly (Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer).

Matrix is a new journal in the humanities and social sciences, founded to provide an interdisciplinary forum for those who are working from the theoretical stance of matriculture as a Geertzian cultural system. Matriculture refers to the cultural system that brings together all cultural aspects informing the lives of mothers, usually women, of a given society, and by extension, the lives of women. Talking about matricultural systems allows us to consider as primary the cultural context of a given society as perceived, constructed, and lived by its women.

Similar to other cultural systems such as art, religion, or mathematics, employing the heuristic of matriculture allows for, among other things: cross-cultural comparisons; fresh insights into the social roles of women, men, otherwise identified, children, and the entire community of humans, animals, and the environment; and/or renewed understandings of historically mis-labelled cultures. With Guédon’s work in mind, then, and based on Geertzian principles, the concept of matriculture is both a model of reality by rendering the structure of matricultures apprehensible and a model for reality, where psychological relationships are organized under its guidance.

We encourage submissions from scholars around the world who are ready to take a new look at the ways in which people - historically and currently - have organized meaningful relationships amongst themselves and with the natural environment, the myths, customs, and laws which support these relationships, and the ways in which researchers have documented and perhaps mis-labeled the matricultures they have encountered.

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Contact: info@networkonculture.ca (subject line: Matrix Editorial Collective)

Issues

Calls for Papers

Creative Contributions

Matrix encourages creative artworks in any media and community contributions which focus on the theme of the issue. As an online journal, any medium suitable for inclusion will be of interest.

Personal Reflections on the Theme

Matrix welcomes essays which are personal reflections on the theme of an issue. These personal reflections are not peer-reviewed, but offer ideas, thoughts, or analyses which may suggest new directions for research, subjective conclusions regarding research, or, simply, expand our consciousness about the topic.

Book Reviews

Matrix is interested in reviewing books pertaining to the subject matter of the journal. Authors are welcome to inquire about the possibility of a review, which the Editorial Collective will co-ordinate, and reviewers are welcome to submit their review for consideration in an upcoming issue.

Letters to the Editorial Collective

All good scholarship inspires discussion and respectful debate is crucial to the advancement of knowledge. Matrix invites responses, feedback, comments, and constructive criticism to the material we publish. With permission, letters to the Editorial Collective may be published in an upcoming issue (contact is via the email address above).


For further details about the journal:

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To Make a Submission:

To make a submission to Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies, send an expression of interest to the Editorial Collective at <info@networkonculture.ca>. In the subject line of your email, include ‘Matrix Editorial Collective.’ With your expression of interest, please include an abstract describing your submission (maximum 250 words).

Author Guidelines:

  1. Matrix aims to publish research articles normally between 5000 and 10,000 words in length, including bibliography. Longer pieces might be considered for publication at the discretion of the Editorial Collective.

  2. Notes, or shorter contributions between 3000 and 5000 words, including bibliography, are welcome. However, there is no separate 'notes' or 'shorter contributions' section in the journal.

  3. Twice per year, a Call for Papers will be issued with a submission deadline. Current and past Calls are hosted on our website.

  4. Submissions not relating to a particular Call for Papers may be submitted for consideration at any time of the year to the Editorial Collective (see To Make a Submission, above).

    Material received will be considered for the next available issue where suitable. The Editorial Collective reserves the right to hold back material for subsequent issues when necessary.

  5. As a publication based in Canada, Matrix publishes material in English and French. Submissions made in languages other than English or French must be translated into English or French by the author.

    We encourage submissions in the language of the community addressed by the article and will consider publishing it alongside the English or French translation.

  6. Prospective authors should be aware that original papers published in Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies are subject to rigorous peer review by multiple referees. The number of referees consulted will depend on the nature and scope of the submission.

  7. On occasion, Matrix will commission the reprinting of articles relevant to the journal's themes which have been previously published elsewhere, where they (a) retain currency for researchers regarding either the history of research and/or current ideas, and (b) hitherto have not been fully available to researchers in a digital medium and/or a readily accessible venue.

  8. Comments by referees may remain confidential at the discretion of the Editorial Committee.

  9. Every effort will be made to maintain the anonymity of referees.

  10. Authors will be expected to sign Matrix's copyright agreement once the article has been accepted for publication (see Copyright, above).

Charges or Fees

Authors of articles, notes, reports, book reviews and other submissions will not be subjected to any charges or fees, and will receive no remuneration from this open-access publication.

Submissions

  1. Submissions of articles should include an abstract of no more than 250 words, a list of up to five keywords, and a brief biography of the author(s). The abstract should not include references or refer to illustrations within the articles itself.

  2. All copy (including quotations, appendices, lists, bibliographies, and captions) must be submitted via email to the Editorial Collective as Word Documents (not PDFs), double-spaced, left-aligned, and allowing wide margins. The font size should be 12 point. The beginning of each paragraph should be demarcated by an extra line space.

  3. We accept numbered footnotes or endnotes. All pages must be numbered.

  4. Papers must be accompanied by a scheme indicating the divisions of the text and the relative importance of the various headings, sub-headings, etc (a small Table of Contents, if you will). A list of figures and their approximate locations should also be included.

  5. Both line drawings and photographs must be numbered in a single sequence within each paper and should be given a number in the text, thus (Fig.9). Tables should be separately numbered, thus (Table 4).

  6. The author(s) should certify in writing that they have written the manuscript in its entirety and that it contains only original and accurate information.

  7. It is the responsibility of the contributing author to blind the paper for submission (see Blinding a Submission, below)

  8. The editing and peer review process of an article requires a substantial commitment of time by Matrix's Editorial Collective and reviewers. There is NO paid managing editor or staff working for the journal. Submitting an article to Matrix implies a commitment by the contributor(s) to publish in the journal. The author(s) must certify in writing that neither the article submitted nor any version of it has been published, nor it is publicly available online, nor is it being considered for publication elsewhere, nor will it be submitted elsewhere for consideration for publication while the manuscript is under review by the Editorial Collective of Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies. Such certification should accompany the manuscript.

Blinding a Submission

Matrix: a Journal for Matricultural Studies uses a double-blind peer-review process. Every manuscript must, therefore, be properly blinded in preparation for submission.

Blinding a manuscript entails removing all references to the author's name(s) on the cover page, the abstract, and any publications, whether in text and in the bibliography. References that are likely to suggest the identity of the author (i.e.: to unpublished work by the author) should also be avoided.

Authors are cautioned that word processing software, such as MS Word, and image-processing software, such as JPEG, automatically attach identifying information to every file created or revised (i.e., author’s name and institutional affiliation). Please remove any identifying information from the ‘Properties’ area of the file.

A cover page listing authorship, institutional affiliation, acknowledgements, and the date of submission of the article should be included in a separate file accompanying the full manuscript.

Upon acceptance of the article for publication, the author(s) will be required to provide a revised version of the text in which identifying references have been reintegrated into the text and the bibliography.