Further development and consolidation of the open access journal "Sociology and Sustainability" (SuN) -Decentralization, internationalization, transdisciplinarity

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Matthias Grundmann; Professorin Dr. Anna Henkel; Professorin Dr. Melanie Jaeger-Erben; Professor Dr. Bernd Sommer
• Subject Area: Sociological Theory
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 490954504

In the context of the current socio-ecological crises, an increasing demand for social science knowledge can be observed both from the natural sciences and from various areas of the public. In view of the worsening problems, sustainability research in the social sciences is therefore challenged on the one hand to produce scientifically high-quality, robust and practice-relevant knowledge. At the same time, however, there is also a need for communication channels through which it can communicate its knowledge to society without barriers within the scientific field and beyond. With the founding and establishment of the open access journal “Sociology and Sustainability - Contributions to Social-Ecological Transformation Research” (SuN), such an infrastructure has been built up for the DACH region since 2014/2015, which has been further professionalized on the basis of DFG funding (project number 490954504) since the end of 2021. The aim is to establish resources for journal operations, digital intrastructures for scholarly communication and an OJS network (OJSRed), which acts as a platform for editors of open access journals. The follow-up project continues the work of the application by setting further goals on three levels. Firstly, the editorial and publishing structure is to be decentralized against the background of a generational change and a resilient editorial infrastructure is to be established. Secondly, the journal profile of SuN is to be further developed, particularly with regard to its internationalization, and a network-based quality assurance is to be developed within the framework of the network of OJS editorial offices (OJSRed) founded with the initial application. Thirdly, the project aims to strengthen the transdisciplinary transfer of research.

• DFG Programme: Science Communication, Research Data, eResearch (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Björn Wendt