Society Technological Futures (STF) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal examining how contemporary and near-future technologies shape economies, institutions, culture, and everyday life. The journal publishes methodologically rigorous, societally relevant research that bridges computing, data science, engineering, design, policy, and the social sciences.
Focus and Scope
STF welcomes empirical studies, theory development, design-science research, and critical perspectives related to the trajectories and consequences of technology. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
• AI, machine learning, and data-intensive systems in society
• Human-centered computing, UX, accessibility, and inclusive design
• Digital platforms, creator and gig economies, and governance
• Cybersecurity, privacy, trust, and digital rights
• Internet of Things, edge/5G–6G, cyber-physical and smart infrastructures
• Robotics, autonomous and multi-agent systems, and safety
• Health informatics, edtech, fintech, and digital public goods
• Sustainable and climate-aligned computing, energy informatics
• Standards, regulation, ethics, and responsible innovation
• Foresight, adoption, diffusion, and impact evaluation of emerging technologies
Article types include Research Articles, Review and Systematic Review Articles, Design-Science/Engineering Papers, Data or Software Notes, Registered Reports, Policy and Practice Briefs, Replications, Negative Results, and Perspectives.
Open Access Policy
STF provides immediate, gold open access to all content. Readers may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts without prior permission, consistent with the Budapest Open Access Initiative.
Copyright and Licensing
Authors retain copyright. Unless stated otherwise on the article page, the default license is Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction with appropriate credit.
Article Processing Charges (APC)
The APC is USD 100 per accepted article. The fee is requested only after peer-review acceptance and excludes applicable taxes or bank charges.
Waivers and Discounts
To support equitable participation:
• Full waiver for corresponding authors based in World Bank Low-Income economies
• 50% discount for corresponding authors based in Lower-Middle-Income economies
Eligibility follows the World Bank Country and Lending Groups classification. Authors should note eligibility at submission and provide affiliation evidence at acceptance. Reference: https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lending-groups
Peer Review and Editorial Process
STF operates double-anonymous peer review. Submissions undergo editorial screening for scope fit, integrity, and methodological soundness before external review. At least two expert reports inform editorial decisions (accept, minor revision, major revision, or reject). Revised manuscripts are typically returned to original reviewers. Editors may invite registered reports or reproducibility checks. A transparent decision letter explains the rationale.
Research Integrity and Ethics
The journal follows COPE best-practice guidelines for editors and reviewers. All submissions are screened for plagiarism and redundant publication. When research involves human participants, personal data, or animals, authors must provide evidence of ethics approval and informed consent, and must comply with relevant data-protection laws. Data that could identify individuals must be handled with appropriate safeguards or de-identification.
Data, Code, and Materials Policy
Authors should include a Data/Code Availability Statement. Where feasible, datasets, code, and materials should be deposited in trusted repositories (for example, institutional repositories, OSF, Zenodo, or GitHub) and assigned persistent identifiers (DOIs). If sharing is restricted for legal, ethical, or proprietary reasons, the restriction must be justified, and a process for controlled access described.
Preprints and Prior Dissemination
STF accepts manuscripts previously posted as non-peer-reviewed preprints. Authors should disclose preprint DOIs on submission. After publication, authors may self-archive the Version of Record in institutional or subject repositories with a citation to the journal page.
Authorship and Contributorship
Authorship should reflect substantial contributions. STF supports the CRediT taxonomy and requires statements describing each author’s roles, funding sources, and competing interests. Any use of professional writing, editing, or data-analysis support must be declared.
Use of Generative AI
Tools for language editing or code generation may be used to improve clarity or reproducibility, but they cannot be listed as authors and their use must be disclosed in the manuscript. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of content and citations and for ensuring that no confidential data are uploaded to third-party systems.
Conflicts of Interest
All authors, reviewers, and editors must declare financial and non-financial competing interests that could be perceived to influence the work. Editorial decisions are made independently of commercial or sponsor interests.
Plagiarism and Misconduct Screening
Submissions are checked using similarity detection tools. The journal may reject or request revision for high overlap, image manipulation, text recycling, data fabrication/falsification, or undisclosed duplicate submission. Allegations of misconduct are handled in line with COPE procedures and may result in corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions.
Publication Frequency
STF practices continuous publication to accelerate dissemination. Articles are compiled into four issues per year for indexing and archival purposes.
Archiving and Digital Preservation
The journal enables long-term preservation through server-level backups and participation in community preservation networks. STF enrolls in the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN) where eligible and pursues inclusion in LOCKSS/CLOCKSS programs as capacity allows. OAI-PMH is enabled for harvesting, and article metadata are structured for interoperability.
Indexing and Discoverability
STF aims for broad discoverability and machine-readable metadata. Initial targets include Google Scholar and Dimensions, followed by DOAJ once a publication record is established. The journal will pursue evaluation by additional abstracting and indexing services as it matures. Persistent identifiers and reference linking are supported to improve citation tracking.
DOI Registration and Metadata
Each published article receives a digital object identifier (DOI) registered via Crossref, with full metadata and reference lists deposited to enable citation linking. The journal supports ORCID iDs for authors and ROR identifiers for affiliations where available.
Sponsorship, Revenue, and Advertising
STF is funded through modest APCs and in-kind institutional or volunteer support. Sponsors, if any, will be disclosed on the journal website each year. Sponsor or advertiser funds do not influence editorial decisions. The journal does not use targeted advertising, does not solicit manuscript submissions through paid agents, and does not sell author emails.
Ownership and Governance
STF is governed by its editorial board and an editor-in-chief, who are responsible for the journal’s scientific quality, ethics, and strategic development. Governance policies, membership, and annual updates to the editorial board are posted on the website.
History of the Journal
Founded in 2025, Society Technological Futures was established to provide a rigorous, interdisciplinary venue for studies that connect technical innovation to societal outcomes. The journal’s mission is to elevate research that is methodologically sound, transparent, and practically relevant.
Privacy Statement
Names, affiliations, and email addresses entered in this journal site are used exclusively for the stated purposes of the journal and are not made available for any other purpose or to any other party. The site collects limited technical data (such as cookies and usage analytics) to support secure operation and improve services. Users can request removal or correction of personal data subject to legal and archival obligations.
Complaints and Appeals
Authors may appeal editorial decisions by sending a reasoned letter to the editor-in-chief within 30 days of the decision. Complaints about editorial conduct, peer review, or publication ethics will be investigated by the journal’s governance team in line with COPE guidance.
Post-Publication Updates
Corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions follow COPE-aligned processes and are clearly labeled, linked to the original articles, and freely accessible.
Accessibility
The journal strives to maintain an accessible website and article formats. Authors are encouraged to submit figures and tables with alt text and to ensure that color is not the sole means of conveying information.
Contact
General inquiries and editorial correspondence should be directed to the Managing Editor through the contact details on the journal website.
