Materia

About Materia

About Matèria. Revista internacional d'Art

Materia on this JournalsWorld record is, in its full form, Matèria. Revista internacional d'Art — an international journal of art published by the Department of Art History of the University of Barcelona in Spain. Its own about page, published on the University of Barcelona journals platform, defines it in Catalan as gathering fundamentally original, unpublished research and contributions by specialists in the history of art, within a very wide range of topics in the history and theory of art, including the performing arts, music and cinema. It aims, the same page says, to position itself as a point of reference for reflection and debate in which art is the backbone from which innovative, current theses are generated. That is a precise self-description, and this profile follows it: an annual, university-published, open-access art-history journal with a long Barcelona history, a double-blind review process, no author fees, and a scope that deliberately crosses from painting and sculpture to music, film and the performing arts.

The identifiers are exact and should be quoted together. The print ISSN is 1579-2641 and the electronic ISSN is 2385-3387. Both numbers appear in the OpenAlex source record resolved directly from the print ISSN for this profile, which lists the full title as an alternate title, names the host organisation as the University of Barcelona, and gives the journal's homepage on the University of Barcelona revistes platform. The earlier short record on this site gave the publisher only as a numeric code and the country as Spain; the named publisher is the Department of Art History, University of Barcelona, with support, according to the journal's own about page, from the Faculty of Geography and History and a university vice-rectorate. Do not confuse this title with the many materials-science journals whose names begin with the word materials, or with the University of Barcelona's separate new-materialist journal Matter — the ISSN pair above is the disambiguator.

History: from D'Art in 1972 to an international journal of art

The journal's own history, on its about page, begins in April 1972, when the first issue of the journal of the Department of Art History of the University of Barcelona was published under the name D'Art. The publication filled the gap left by other journals devoted to history, archaeology and art history that had been active in the preceding period but disappeared during the 1970s. For many years, the journal says, it was the only specialised university publication devoted to disseminating research in the discipline in its setting. Its publication continued through the 1980s and 1990s and has remained alive, despite some pauses, to the present: 23 numbers were published in its first phase and seven more in its second period, under the form Materia. Revista d'Art. Names of prestige are associated with its first steps — the page lists, among others, Santiago Alcolea, Francesc Miralles, Miquel Porter Moix, Roger Alier, Daniel Giralt-Miracle, Francesc Fontbona, Alexandre Cirici, Joaquín Yarza, Núria de Dalmases, Immaculada Julián, Pere Salabert, Mireia Freixa, Lourdes Cirlot and Joaquim Garriga — and much of the department's teaching staff over time has taken part, alongside contributions from study centres and universities inside and outside the country.

The international character of the publication was emphasised from issue 8, which appeared in 2014 as the start of a new era in which the journal presents itself as MATÈRIA. Revista internacional d'Art. That renaming explains a practical point for researchers: citations and catalogue records appear under D'Art, under Materia. Revista d'Art and under the present full title, for what the journal itself treats as one continuous departmental publication. A literature search that uses only the present title will miss the earlier run; a search that uses only the short word Materia will drown in materials-science noise. Search by the ISSN pair, and by title variant, together.

Scope, issue structure and readership

The scope, in the journal's own words, is research by art-history specialists across a wide range of history and theory of art, including performing arts, music and cinema, addressed to the scientific and university community, including all professionals in the arts and related fields. The journal combines miscellaneous issues — it names issues 12 (2017), 13 (2018) and 16–17 (2020) as recent examples — with issues dedicated to monographic themes, whether filling the whole journal or building only part of it, as with issue 10–11 (2016), titled Bosch al país de l'art and dedicated to Bosch on the 500th anniversary of his death. A later monographic call, for issue 14–15 on intersections between music, word and image, coordinated by Dr Magda Polo Pujadas, shows the same method at work: a theme framed chronologically from ancient times to the present, treating music as a nerve centre in relation to word and image, and drawing on aesthetics, literary studies and art history together. Individual articles fetched as examples for this profile fit the pattern — a study of traditional Japanese pottery and its influence on American mid-twentieth-century ceramic art, and a study of a lost Simone Martini wall painting and civic identity in Siena, both published in Matèria with the print ISSN shown on the article itself.

The OpenAlex topic profile for the source is consistent with that self-description. Its largest topic groupings, in the record fetched for this profile, include historical art and architecture studies, visual culture and art theory, art, politics and modernism, musicology and musical analysis, art, aesthetics and perception, historical art and culture studies, medieval European history and architecture, Spanish literature and culture studies, architecture and art-history studies, Renaissance and early modern studies, and cinema history and criticism. That spread — medieval to contemporary, Iberian to international, object-based to theoretical — is the journal's identity. A tightly focused technical study with no art-historical or theoretical framing will fit poorly; a study that uses an object, an image, a building, a film or a musical work to make an argument about art's history or theory is the centre of the remit.

Peer review, ethics and author requirements

Unusually for a journal of its size, Matèria publishes a detailed review and ethics account on its about page, and authors should read it on the journal's site before submitting. In summary, from that page: texts sent to the articles section undergo review by a minimum of two referees considered experts in the article's thematic area, taking account of broad chronological specialisations such as ancient art and medieval art as well as fields such as painting and sculpture and their theoretical, historiographical and methodological aspects. The evaluation usually lasts about four months, though it can take longer depending on reviewers' recommendations. The process begins with a first review by the editorial committee, which can reject directly works that clearly do not follow the editorial line and objectives; accepted texts are then sent for double-blind evaluation by at least two external evaluators, who may accept, reject or suggest revision; on the reviewers' recommendations the committee decides whether to publish directly, return the work with suggestions, reject it, or, where strictly necessary, seek a third opinion. Texts for the readings section are evaluated by the editorial board, and presentation and in-memoriam texts do not pass external review. Receipt of a manuscript is not a commitment to publish, and the journal confirms receipt and notifies evaluation results with reasons as briefly as it can.

The stated acceptance requirements are: unpublished, up-to-date research; texts in Catalan, Spanish, Galician, French, Italian, Portuguese or English; methodological consistency; interest of the topic in its specific field, with new ideas, themes or points of view; and linguistic correctness and quality of writing. The evaluation criteria that follow are that the topic fits and is relevant, the contribution is original, interpretations and conclusions are coherent with the data and objectives, the title clearly reflects the content, the abstract gives sufficient information, the keywords are appropriate, the writing is clear and correct, the bibliographic references are appropriate and up to date, the images illustrate the content adequately, and the structure is appropriate and results in an original, significant work. The journal also subscribes to the University of Barcelona's ethics statement for its scientific journals, with reference to the Committee on Publication Ethics code for editors, and describes strict practice on plagiarism, including use of a plagiarism-detection tool named on the page. Those details are quoted here in summary only; the Catalan text on the journal's site governs.

Open access, preservation and fees

The journal's open-access policy states that the full text of its contents will be accessible at the same moment as paper publication, and that authors may disseminate a copy of their articles on their own web page and in institutional and thematic repositories provided they cite the original source and include the DOI link. Digital preservation uses the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archive among collaborating libraries, and the journal implements the OAI-PMH protocol for metadata harvesting on a Dublin Core scheme — both points are stated, with links, on the about page. On charges, the page is explicit under a heading that translates as no publication charge: the journal does not charge fees for sending work, nor fees for the publication of its articles. Authors should therefore treat any third-party demand for a fee in this journal's name with suspicion, and should quote the journal's own no-fee statement if a funder or institution asks about article charges. Reception of originals stays always open, the journal says, intensifying the call during the two or three months close to the publication of the previous issue; articles are published in an annual volume, generally closing in December.

Metrics and indexing, with sources

OpenAlex, source S4210176008 resolved from ISSN 1579-2641, recorded at fetching: 432 works, all 432 counted as open-access works in that record, 128 citations received, an H-index of 3, an i10-index of 1, and a two-year mean citedness of about 0.016; it marks the source as open access and as an OJS journal, hosted by the University of Barcelona in Spain. A secondary summary of SCImago data consulted for this profile gave a SCImago Journal Rank of 0.102, categories of Communication (Q4), Music (Q4) and Visual Arts and Performing Arts (Q4), coverage of 2020–2024 in that system, and the publisher as the Department of Art History, University of Barcelona. The earlier short JournalsWorld record gave an H-index of 2 and coverage of 2019–2025, and described the journal in Q3 terms. As with every title in this batch, the differences are system, window and year differences — quote the system with the figure. A DOAJ listing could not be verified from DOAJ search-API output in hand for this profile, because the DOAJ check returned an error, so no DOAJ listing is claimed here, even though other systems describe the journal's open-access status in their own terms.

The right interpretation of those small citation numbers is contextual. This is an annual, largely Catalan- and Spanish-language art-history journal whose influence runs through exhibitions, catalogues, teaching and the Iberian and European art-history community as much as through indexed citations. Its strengths for an author are different: a genuine double-blind process with published criteria, no fees, immediate open access with repository rights expressly granted, LOCKSS preservation, and a departmental history reaching back to 1972. Its limits are equally clear: one volume a year means a long cycle from submission to appearance, and a four-month evaluation is only the first stage of that cycle.

How to submit

Submit through the University of Barcelona journals platform page for Matèria, following the author guidelines and the ethics statement linked there, and keep the journal's own criteria in front of you while preparing the manuscript: an original, unpublished piece of research; a title that reflects the content; an abstract that gives sufficient information; appropriate keywords; up-to-date references; and images that genuinely illustrate the argument, with their permissions and captions in order — image quality and rights are practical make-or-break points in art-history publishing. Write in one of the journal's listed languages, and do not assume an English-only workflow: much of the journal's editorial material is in Catalan, and correspondence may be in Catalan or Spanish. Allow for the annual rhythm in your publication plan, and, if your piece answers a monographic call, follow that call's coordinator, theme statement and deadline rather than the general guidance summarised here.

Similar journals

Authors comparing venues for art-history work in a university, open-access setting usually look at other European university art and art-history journals, including other titles on the University of Barcelona platform and Spanish art journals with long departmental histories. Compare like with like: language or languages of publication, whether a title is annual or more frequent, whether it charges (this one, on its own statement, does not), how it handles images, and whether its monographic-issue pattern suits a themed piece. A materials-science title with a similar name is not a comparable venue at all, and any comparison table that places Matèria among engineering journals has confused the ISSN record — return to 1579-2641 and 2385-3387.

Frequently asked questions

What is the full title of Materia? Matèria. Revista internacional d'Art. Earlier forms were D'Art (from 1972) and Materia. Revista d'Art.

What are its ISSNs? Print 1579-2641 and online 2385-3387, confirmed in the OpenAlex record resolved from the print ISSN.

Who publishes it? The Department of Art History of the University of Barcelona, Spain, with faculty and vice-rectorate support stated on its about page.

What does it publish? Original research in the history and theory of art, including performing arts, music and cinema, in miscellaneous and monographic annual issues.

Is it peer-reviewed? Yes. Articles are reviewed double-blind by a minimum of two external referees after an editorial-committee screening, a process the journal says usually takes about four months.

Does it charge authors? No. The journal states that it charges neither submission fees nor publication fees.

Is it open access? Yes, on its own policy: full text is accessible at publication, and authors may post copies on personal pages and in repositories with source citation and the DOI link.

What are its metrics? OpenAlex (fetched for this profile): 432 works, 128 citations, H-index 3. A SCImago-based secondary summary gave SJR 0.102. Attribute figures to their system.

In what languages can I submit? Catalan, Spanish, Galician, French, Italian, Portuguese and English, according to the journal's stated requirements.

Working with images, and with the journal's Catalan home

Two practical features of Matèria deserve emphasis for authors coming from outside the Catalan and Spanish university system. The first is images. Art history is an image discipline, and the journal's own evaluation criteria include whether the images illustrate the content adequately — a criterion that is easy to overlook for authors used to text-first journals. Prepare images as part of the argument, not as decoration added at proof stage: choose them early, secure reproduction permissions where they are needed, write captions that connect each image to a step in the reasoning, and refer to them in the text in order. A study of a lost work, such as the Simone Martini wall-painting article mentioned in this profile, shows why: where the object itself cannot be reproduced, the article's evidence is documentary and comparative, and the choice of what can be shown becomes a scholarly decision in its own right.

The second feature is language and place. The journal is international in scope and accepts seven languages, but its home, its history and much of its editorial apparatus are Catalan, in a department of a Catalan university, and its story begins with a departmental journal founded in 1972 to fill a gap in Catalan scholarly publishing. Authors who engage that context — citing the relevant Catalan and Spanish scholarship where it exists, and not treating the field as if it were published only in English — will usually find their work reads as belonging in the journal, whatever language they submit in. That attentiveness to place is not a formality in a journal whose subject is art in its historical settings; it is part of the method the journal has practised since D'Art.