Journal profile
Discern
ISSN 2184-6995 · Art + Design: elearning lab - design for social change, Cyprus University of Technology · Cyprus
Discern: diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 5 weeks (community reports); 5 articles in 2025.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Discern is published by Art + Design: elearning lab - design for social change, Cyprus University of Technology. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development, Design Education and Practice and Cultural and Historical Studies, together about 32.9% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The expected date of the next issue is November 2026The deadline for submissions is 31 October 2026.Vol. 7, No. 2 FrequencySemi-annual (October-November/Fall Edition and April-May/Spring Edition) Thematic Synopsis / Aims & ScopeDISCERN is a scientific and cross-disciplinary open-access journal (ISSN digital: 2184-6995) with blind peer review, which publishes articles in the broad and multi-faceted area of design for social change and social innovation. Through original conceptual, theoretical, and empirical research articles, it promotes and shares interdisciplinary and diverse knowledge related to the research and practice of design for social change, sustainable innovation, and entrepreneurship in an open, global and multidisciplinary perspective. The authors and readers of this journal are educators, academics, researchers, practititoners, postgraduate students, and scholars from the fields of social design, innovation, entrepreneurship, and social sciences, as well as practitioners in the broad area of social design at national and/or international levels, interested in the global debate on the current environmental, social, economic and cultural societal challenges. DISCERN is published in March/April (Spring Edition) and September/October (Autumn Edition) of each year. It accepts papers only written in English, and there is no fee to publish them.The editorial team encourages contributions from a broad cross-sectoral audience , and it invites a variety of submissions including: Original research articles (conceptual, theoretical and empirical) Discussion articles and dialogues Research case studies Work in progress Shorter reports Review articles Book reviews KeywordsDesign, Social design, Social change, Social innovation, Sustainability, Entrepreneurship, Education, Social enterprises, Social awareness, Social responsibility Review processAll submissions are editorially and double-blind peer-reviewed. The editorial team undertakes an initial and a final review. Submissions are forwarded to two reviewers, members of the Advisory Board of the journal or registered reviewers with the journal, for blind review. The editorial team seeks to assign reviewers who have as much knowledge as possible of the theme or topic of the submission. The publication of articles may be:a) approved without revisionsb) approved with revisionsc) not acceptedEthics policyDISCERN has adopted The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (Revised Edition, 2017). The ethi
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Editor-in-chief Nicos SoulelesPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Portugal 2, Cyprus 2, Italy 1 (5 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social DevelopmentBusiness, Management and Accounting13%
- Design Education and PracticeEngineering11%
- Cultural and Historical StudiesArts and Humanities8.9%
- Sustainable Design and DevelopmentEngineering8.2%
- Fashion and Cultural TextilesArts and Humanities6.9%
- Crafts, Textile, and DesignArts and Humanities6.2%
- Innovative Human-Technology InteractionComputer Science5.5%
- Innovation, Technology, and SocietySocial Sciences4.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
DOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- h-index
- 3OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 0OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 74 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| 2025 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| 2024 | 14 | 14 | 16 |
| 2023 | 9 | 9 | 5 |
| 2022 | 14 | 14 | 1 |
| 2021 | 16 | 16 | 1 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 5 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 5 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-NC-ND | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Article types accepted9
- book reviewsbook reviewsLength not stated
- discussions on articles and dialoguesdiscussions on articles and dialoguesLength not stated
- long papersLong papers should be between 5,000 and 5,500 words, excluding the list of references (About 12 to 13 pages, A4 size).Length not stated
- original research articlesVarious submissions are welcome, including original research articles (conceptual, theoretical, and empirical)Length not stated
- research case studiesresearch case studiesLength not stated
- review articlesreview articlesLength not stated
- short papersShort papers should be between 3,000 and 3,500 words, excluding the list of references (About 7 to 8 pages, A4 size).Length not stated
- shorter reportsshorter reportsLength not stated
- work-in-progress reportswork-in-progress reportsLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteLicense & copyright, Open access
- License & copyright Copyright Notice
Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Model summary
As part of the submission process, all authors agree that their articles will be made freely available to read immediately upon publication and with an open copyright licence. In addition, authors or their institutions retain the copyright of their work.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access
Originality: submissions must not be previously published or under consideration elsewhere. Model summary
The submission has not been previously published, nor is it under consideration by another journal (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Art + Design: elearning lab - design for social change, Cyprus University of Technology
- Country or region
- Cyprus
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2184-6995
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 7, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Discern
How long does peer review take at Discern?
Authors report an average review time of about 5 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
Where are the editorial board members of Discern based?
Of the 5 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Portugal (2), Cyprus (2) and Italy (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Discern?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Discern is indexed in DOAJ.
Is Discern open access, and what is the APC?
Discern is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .