About interactives Journal

interactives (ISSN 2755-6336) is a open-access academic journal dedicated to research on interactive systems. We support three publication formats, each assigning a Crossref DOI upon acceptance and publication on our platform:

• Preprint (No Peer Review, no page limit)
  For early-stage or ongoing projects, a preprint allows authors to rapidly share progress and ideas without formal peer review. Each preprint is openly accessible, continuously updatable, and assigned a Preprint DOI, making it a living and citable record of the work. You may still submit your preprint to the Gallery short Paper or Full Paper track for formal peer review and publication.

• Gallery Short Paper (Peer-Reviewed, ≤6 pages)
  Concise, peer-reviewed papers focused on project demonstrations or brief contributions. Ideal for showcasing finished systems, design artifacts, or focused insights. Published with a DOI and considered a citable scholarly output.

• Full Paper (Peer-Reviewed, ≤12 pages)
  Comprehensive, peer-reviewed papers suitable for in-depth theoretical analysis or detailed explorations of complex interactive projects. Full Papers follow established academic standards and are published with a DOI.

  NOTE: Page limit does not include references and appendixes.

Rethinking Interactive Research Publication

In an ideal research landscape, one might argue that formal publications wouldn't be necessary for practice-based projects. However, we acknowledge that in academia, peer-reviewed papers, not projects alone, remain the standard currency of research; formal citations are essential for a researcher's career. We also recognize that practice- or project-based interactive research is fundamentally different from traditional theory-driven work. interactives was founded on the conviction that after investing substantial time and expertise to create an innovative interactive system, authors should not have to spend weeks or months writing a conventional narrative paper about it.

Our journal therefore introduces a new model for publishing in the interaction community. We have built a publication process tailored to interactive projects, streamlining the path from prototype to peer-reviewed paper.

Streamlined Editorial Platform

To facilitate seamless authoring and submission, interactives provides a custom, web-based editor built on Markdown. This ensures a clean, intuitive writing experience. Key features include:

• Interactive Content Embedding: Authors can directly embed dynamic elements in their manuscripts, such as videos, animated GIFs, and live web-based demos (e.g. Itch.io frames). This enriched content allows readers to engage directly with the work, deepening understanding without lengthy textual descriptions.
• Automated Conversion for Print: When a paper is converted to PDF, all embedded dynamic content is automatically transformed into scannable QR codes. Even in a printed copy, readers can use the QR codes to access interactive materials, ensuring no loss of functionality across formats.
• Integrated Submission Workflow: Submission and revision are handled entirely within the editor. Authors simply update the relevant fields; the system automatically validates the submission and advances the paper to the appropriate review stage. This eliminates the hassle of manual file uploads and form filling common in traditional workflows.

AI-Assisted Peer Review

Once submitted, each manuscript is processed by our AI coordination system. The AI performs an initial content check and, within seconds, assigns a handling editor and suitable reviewers based on the paper's topic and content. The rapid coordination dramatically reduces turnaround time.

The review interface is designed as a Git-style timeline, where every status update, reviewer comment, and revision is clearly logged and easy to track. Authors and editors can see the entire review history at a glance. With this streamlined process and optimized reviewer scheduling, our typical review times are exceptionally fast: on the order of 1 day for an initial preprint screening, 9 days for a Gallery Short Paper, and 17 days for a Full Paper.

Beyond Publication

In the realm of interactive research, we view publication not as the end, but as a catalyst for ongoing innovation and engagement. Once a paper is published, it can stimulate continuous user interaction and even emergent phenomena, much like Conway's Game of Life or Minecraft's Redstone system, where simple rules lead to complex, surprising behaviors.

To foster this ongoing dialogue, interactives embeds interactive modules directly in each article (for example, playable demos or interactive simulations). Additionally, we integrate a highlight mark commenting and chat system, allowing readers and authors to exchange feedback in real time. These tools transform each paper into a living platform for collaboration and co-creation, ensuring that research on interaction truly interacts with its audience.

Scope and Submission Guidelines

interactives publishes rigorous research on interaction in any form. Our scope includes studies of information exchange and behavior in human–machine, human–human, and machine–machine systems. Topics may range from novel user interfaces and interactive installations to algorithms enabling autonomous interaction.

Submissions must clearly demonstrate research contribution and insight. We are looking for work that advances understanding of interactive phenomena, not merely descriptive project reports or tool announcements. Each manuscript should articulate its novelty and research value, providing appropriate evidence of why the work advances the field.

Editorial Information

Editorial Address

interactives Journal
122, Willoughby, Barbican,
London EC2Y 8BL, United Kingdom
admin@interactives.pub

Editorial Board

Prof. Miles Pennington

Honorary Editor

Dean of UTokyo’s forthcoming College of Design and Director of the DLX Design Lab, advances design-led innovation, interactive prototyping, and human–computer interaction research that integrates engineering, data, and user experience to address complex societal challenges.

Prof. Stelian Coros

Associate Editor-in-Chief

Associate Professor of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, he heads the Computational Robotics Lab and advances robotics, digital design, computational fabrication, animation, graphics, and game tech; his algorithms craft agile custom robots and expressive motion. PhD from UBC; previously at CMU and Disney Research.

Prof. Junyi Zhu

Issue Editor

Assistant Professor at University of Michigan EECS, leads the Sensing, Intelligence and eXperience (SIX) Lab. Designs personalized health and medical sensing systems for in-field and clinical use. PhD from MIT EECS and CSAIL, MIT Seneff-Zue Fellow, Seibel Scholar.

Prof. Louise Manfredi

Academic Advisor

Associate Professor at Brown University, Louise Manfredi bridges engineering and design through interdisciplinary education. With a PhD in mechanical engineering and background in product design, she explores somatosensory processing, design leadership, and innovation. IDSA Educator of the Year and RSA Fellow; previously at Syracuse, Chicago, and Royal Academy of Engineering.

Dr. Guangyi Zhang

Academic Advisor

He currently focuses on clinical translational research and engineering innovation in medical ultrasound at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. His research interests include affective computing, brain–computer interfaces, drug discovery, and clinical trials.

Kexin Wang

Editor

Kexin is currently conducting research at MIT. She holds a joint master’s degree in Design Engineering from Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. Her research interests span digital fabrication, complex systems, artificial life, and generative AI.

Dr. Yitong Sun

Editor-in-Chief

UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Research Fellow and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the Royal College of Art’s Computer Science Research Centre (RCA CSRC). His research spans immersive interaction, human perception, color rendering, and serious game design.

Ethics Guidelines

interactives is a peer-reviewed open-access journal publishing interactive scholarly content. These guidelines apply to all authors, reviewers, and editors involved in the journal’s markdown-based submission and preprint-to-peer-review process. In addition to general academic standards, they emphasize the integrity and transparency of interactive content (embedded code, visualizations, demos, etc.) and the new publication model. All published work appears under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, and preprints are made publicly available at no cost. Formal publication of Gallery Short Papers and Full Papers requires payment of an open-access fee.

Authorship and Attribution

• Accurate authorship. Author lists must accurately reflect contributions: every listed author must have made a substantive contribution to the work (including any embedded interactive components), and all significant contributors must be credited. Ghost or guest authorship is forbidden. Contributors of code, data, or media who do not meet full authorship criteria should be acknowledged in the manuscript and any interactive component documentation.

• Affiliation and contribution. The corresponding author must be familiar with the full work (ideally having led the project) and is responsible for all content. Each coauthor should approve the final submission and attest to their role. Disputes over authorship should be resolved before submission.

• Consent and disclosure. Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest or relevant relationships (financial, institutional, personal) on submission. Coauthors should agree on the order of authorship and any equal-contribution statements before publication.

Originality and Plagiarism

• Original work. All text, figures, code, data, and interactive elements must be original to the authors or clearly marked as reused. Plagiarism of text, code, images, or other media is strictly prohibited. Self-plagiarism (recycling substantial parts of one’s own previously published work without disclosure) is likewise not allowed.

• Citation of sources. Any material drawn from other sources – including libraries, datasets, software, animations, or images – must be properly cited and, if required, used in accordance with its license. Authors should provide references or captions that make clear the origin of reused assets.

• Reproducibility. Authors are encouraged to deposit all underlying data, code, and software for their interactive content in public repositories or as supplementary material, so that reviewers and readers can reproduce results. Manuscripts should cite data and software in the same way as traditional references.

Interactive Content Standards

• Accuracy and transparency. Interactive elements (e.g. live demos, simulations, visualizations) must accurately represent the research. Authors should ensure that interactive figures function correctly, have no misleading defaults, and clearly indicate their behavior or limitations in captions or documentation. Any test or seed values used should be reproducible by others.

• Honesty in demos. Embedded interactive demos should not contain “hidden” features or hard-coded outcomes that deviate from the reported results. If an interactive can produce multiple outputs, its behavior should be demonstrated truthfully and not tailored only to show expected results.

• Clear authorship of components. If portions of the interactive content were created by someone other than the paper’s authors (for example, reused code modules or visual assets), this must be stated. In general, creative or technical contributions (libraries, plugins, datasets) should be cited like any scholarly source.

• Accessibility and licensing. Authors should verify that any third-party libraries or media used in interactive content have licenses compatible with CC BY-NC 4.0. If content from other sources is embedded, it must be under an open license or used with permission. All reused software/code should be credited in the documentation of the interactive component.

Peer Review and Editorial Integrity

• Review quality. Peer reviews should be objective, constructive, and timely. Reviewers must base their assessments on the scientific and technical merit of the submission, not on personal or professional gain.

• Conflict of interest. Reviewers and editors must disclose any conflicts of interest (financial, personal, or academic) that could bias their evaluation. Editors will reassign submissions if significant conflicts are present. Authors who suggest potential reviewers should only name experts with no undisclosed conflicts.

• No fraudulent practices. Reviewers must not fabricate or copy reviews. Authors must not attempt to manipulate the review process (for example, by suggesting fictitious reviewers or submitting fake reviews). Offering or accepting favors (including monetary bribes) in exchange for favorable review or publication decisions is strictly forbidden.

• Editorial oversight. Editors will handle manuscripts confidentially and ensure decisions are based solely on scholarly merit. Editors and board members should recuse themselves from decisions where they have a close conflict.

Preprints, Publication Fees, and Licensing

• Open Preprint Policy. Submissions to interactives are initially posted as publicly visible preprints on the journal’s site. This accelerates dissemination and allows early feedback. Preprint posting is free of charge.

• Publication Fees. After successful peer review, accepted papers (Gallery Short Papers and Full Papers) move to formal publication. An open-access publication fee is charged for these final publications (the fee does not affect editorial decisions). Authors without funds may request fee waivers on a case-by-case basis.

• Open Access License. All content published in interactives is open access under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. This means authors retain copyright but grant reuse rights with required attribution. The CC BY-NC 4.0 license applies to the text, figures, code, and interactive content of every published article.

Misconduct, Corrections, and Retractions

• Error correction. If authors discover an error in their published work (in the text or interactive material), they must notify the editors promptly and work to correct it. Corrections or corrigenda will be published if an error does not invalidate the main conclusions. In line with interactives policy, “all authors are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of any mistakes of which they become aware”.

• Allegations of misconduct. Reports of suspected misconduct (such as plagiarism, data fabrication, or unethical behavior) can be submitted confidentially to the editorial office. The editorial team will review each case internally and, if needed, consult with an ethics committee. If an investigation confirms serious breaches of ethics, the authors will be informed by email and appropriate actions (such as issuing an erratum, corrigendum, or retraction) will be taken.

• Retractions. In cases warranting retraction (for example, irreproducible results or proven misconduct), a retraction notice will be published and linked to the original paper. The notice will explain the reasons without defamatory language. The original content will be watermarked as “Retracted” but will remain accessible for the record.

• Transparency. The editorial office may update a paper with additional author responses or corrections if new information emerges post-publication. All handling of ethical issues follows best practices in scholarly publishing (aligned with COPE guidelines) and aims to preserve the integrity of the literature.

All parties, authors, reviewers, and editors, are expected to uphold these standards. Failure to comply may result in rejection of the manuscript, revocation of publication, or other remedial actions. By submitting to interactives, authors affirm that their work meets these ethical requirements and that they have disclosed all relevant information.

Costs and Sustainability Model

Allocation of Funds

interactives Journal is committed to open-access publishing and minimizing operating costs. We allocate 100% of each publishing fee directly to journal operations to ensure transparency and value. The distribution of these funds is fixed as follows:

• Peer Review (41%): Instead of relying on the unwritten expectation of volunteer reviewing, we acknowledge the time and effort reviewers invest. We dedicate the largest share of funds to fairly compensate reviewers for delivering timely, constructive feedback that helps authors refine and strengthen their work, thereby accelerating turnaround and upholding the highest standards of quality.

• Editorial and Management (12%): This portion of the fee supports the salaries of editors-in-chief and editorial staff who manage submissions, make decisions, and oversee editorial policies. It covers the costs of managing the peer review and editorial workflows to ensure professionalism and fairness in the process.

• Copyediting and Layout (8%): This portion covers professional text editing and formatting of accepted manuscripts. It includes copy editing, proofreading, typesetting, and any artwork or layout work required to publish the article according to the journal’s standards.

• Platform and Hosting (10%): These funds are used to run and maintain our publishing platform. This includes fees for using AI APIs, DOI registration fees, ensuring the long-term stability of article archiving, and maintaining ongoing updates to the platform.

• Administration and Overhead (5%): This includes finance, accounting, customer support, outreach, and communications. These functions ensure the smooth operation of the journal and improvement of author services, with no hidden cross-subsidies.

• Payment Processing Fees (3%): We use Stripe to process payments, ensuring secure and efficient transactions. Stripe charges 2.9% per transaction plus 0.30 GBP per payment, which is included in this allocation.

• Taxes (21%): The UK levies a 19% Corporation Tax on publishing fees, plus a 2% Digital Services Tax on digital publishing revenue. These government fees are included in the publishing fee and are not charged separately.

First-Year Publication Fees

To ensure sustainable operations, we will charge moderate publication fees for peer-reviewed, formally published articles while keeping costs low. Fees vary by article type based on the workload involved. In the first year of the journal’s launch, we have optimized pricing to encourage submissions of high-quality manuscripts:

• Preprints: Free of charge.
• Gallery Short Papers: 175 GBP per article (first year).
• Full Papers: 395 GBP per article (first year).

These fees include all the operational costs listed above, and there are no additional submission or processing fees. We also do not charge any fees for rejected manuscripts.

The first-year publication fees are significantly below the field average, thanks to start-up funding support from our partner institutions. We are happy to pass on these subsidies to our first authors as a token of appreciation for their trust and support, and to encourage excellent submissions. interactives is not a profit-driven journal; even if we adjust publication fees in future years based on operational needs, they will remain reasonable and low.

To ensure fairness and equity in publishing, if you have any difficulties with publication fees or are from an underdeveloped region, please contact admin@interactives.pub.

Become a Reviewer

At interactives, we value the expertise and insights of our reviewers, and we offer compensation for your valuable time and effort. We warmly welcome researchers with relevant expertise to join our reviewer pool. If you are interested in reviewing for interactives, please email admin@interactives.pub with your CV attached. Additionally, authors who have published two papers with interactives (including at least one Full Paper) will automatically receive an invitation to become a reviewer.

Partnerships & Support

If you share the vision of interactives Journal and are interested in partnering with or supporting us in any capacity, please contact us at admin@interactives.pub.

Contact

If you need to contact interactives privately then you can email admin@interactives.pub. For community discussions, chat, bug report and direct feedback, feel free to join our Discord channel.

Registered Details

INTERACTIVES PRESS LTD
Company No. 16610769
Registered in England and Wales

Office
122 Willoughby, Barbican,
London EC2Y 8BL, United Kingdom