About the Journal
AIMS AND SCOPE
Aims
Communitas is a peer‑reviewed, open‑access academic journal that publishes original research in the broad field of communication studies, with specific emphasis on communication processes, practices, and discourses relevant to developing and transitional societies, particularly within Southern Africa. The journal aims to advance scholarly knowledge by disseminating theoretically informed and empirically grounded research that contributes to the understanding of communication’s role in social, cultural, economic, and political contexts.
The journal seeks to:
- Contribute to established and emerging debates in communication scholarship through original theoretical, methodological, and empirical research.
- Promote critical and context‑sensitive analyses of communication phenomena affecting communities and institutions in the Global South.
- Support interdisciplinary scholarship where communication constitutes the central analytical focus.
- Provide a platform for research that demonstrates regional relevance and international scholarly significance, consistent with the criteria of nationally accredited and internationally indexed journals.
Scope
The scope of Communitas encompasses research that addresses communication at community, organizational, institutional, and societal levels. The journal publishes articles employing qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methodological approaches, provided that submissions demonstrate academic rigor, theoretical engagement, and relevance to the field of communication studies.
Areas of coverage include, but are not limited to:
- Community and Development Communication
Participatory communication, communication for social development and change, stakeholder engagement, communication in non‑governmental and community‑based organisations. - Strategic, Corporate, and Marketing Communication
Public relations, corporate communication, reputation management, brand communication, corporate social responsibility communication, and organizational communication in public and private sector contexts. - Media Studies and Journalism
Journalism practice and education, media representation, framing and discourse analysis, indigenous‑language and community media, media and democracy, and newsroom practices in developing contexts. - Digital and Emerging Communication Contexts
Digital media, social media, online communities, data‑driven communication practices, and the impact of technological change on communication processes and media institutions. - Societal and Cultural Communication Studies
Scholarship examining communication practices, mediated meaning‑making, representation, and power relations within social and cultural contexts, including critical, decolonial, and Afrocentric perspectives on communication and communication‑related social justice issues.
SCHOLARLY POSITIONING
Communitas is published annually by the University of the Free State. The journal is accredited and indexed in Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection (Emerging Sources Citation Index), SciELO South Africa, DOAJ, and DHET reflecting its compliance with international standards for editorial governance, peer review integrity, and scholarly contribution.
OPEN ACCESS
Communitas is a Gold Open Access journal. All articles are published with immediate open access and are freely available online without charge to readers or their institutions. There are no subscription or access barriers, and all content is openly accessible at the point of publication.
Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full text of articles, and to use the content for any other lawful purpose, without prior permission from the publisher or authors. Articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence, which allows unrestricted reuse provided appropriate credit is given. This open‑access model complies with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).
ARCHIVING AND PRESERVATION
All articles published in Communitas are available in digital format and are archived on the journal's website, National Library of South Africa and KovsieScholar, the institutional repository of the University of the Free State. Content deposited in KovsieScholar is digitally preserved through DuraSpace, an established international digital preservation service. Archived content is maintained as a secure preservation copy and is made accessible under specific conditions, such as the discontinuation of the journal or a catastrophic failure of the journal website.
PUBLICATION FEES
Communitas operates as a fully Gold Open Access journal and applies a page‑fee model to support the costs of peer review, editing, production, and long‑term digital preservation while keeping all published articles freely accessible to readers worldwide. The page fee of ZAR 300 plus VAT per published page applies only to authors affiliated with South African higher education institutions and is consistent with national DHET‑accredited journal practices. This fee structure is designed to be recoverable through institutional research funding or publication subsidy mechanisms, ensuring that publication in Communitas remains accessible and affordable for authors.
