Envisioning the Design Publishing to Come. A Choral Conversation

The scientific publishing of design research is central to the dissemination of academic design knowledge, but at the same time it mirrors how the design discipline has evolved over time. In a changing publishing ecosystem, also due to the emerging technologies and the establishment of open access publishing platforms and infrastructures, editorial practices within scientific journals are undergoing revision, questioning values and paradigms beyond the increase and acceleration of publishing, as well as improvements in the quality of publication. This paper reports a choral conversation that has been held during a Panel within the international conference IASDR 2023, among five design scholars expert in the field: Eleonora Lupo, Panel chair and coordinator of the SID-Società Italiana di Design national research group Pro-Des-Scientific production of design, Renato Bernasconi, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, editor in chief of Diseña, Elena Maria Formia, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Deputy Editor in chief of diid – Disegno Industriale Industrial Design, Edu Jaques, Unisinos, editorial assistant of the Strategic Design Research Journal and Peter Lloyd, Delft University of Technology, former editor in chief of Design Studies and editor in chief of Designing. From a plurality of backgrounds and different geographical provenance, the conversation highlights, using an experimental and non-linear dialogic and compositional approach towards authors and topics, some of the more urgent issues and challenges to promote plurality and equity in publishing, including publishing formats and quality assessment of publication. The paper does not provide definitive conclusions but a collective reflection on how localised practices can interpret globally relevant concepts.