Tensions and challenges in the decolonisation of academic publishing: A cross‐tabulation analysis of articles in Island Studies Journal

Abstract

Calls to decolonise academia are increasing, yet progress has been halting, including in academic publishing. This paper considers publishing practices and outcomes in Island Studies Journal (a diamond open access, multidisciplinary, high-ranked journal), which has taken an explicitly decolonial editorial direction in recent years. We undertake a crosstabulation analysis of the 175 articles published in Island Studies Journal between January 2017 and October 2022, attending to characteristics of authors, articles, regions, branches of science, and impact. We find that coloniality and the West/non-West divide remain prevalent in the journal, with differences in the kinds of research scholars from different regions can get published and the kinds of impact their articles make. Western scholarly norms are reproduced and enforced even in a journal that seeks to support antiracism and decolonization. We discuss the editorial tensions involved in seeking to simultaneously increase opportunities for individual intersectionally marginalized scholars while challenging colonial power structures.