The Society for Social Studies of Science would like to celebrate the innovative and invaluable
contributions of Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society by awarding the journal the 2023 4S Infrastructure Prize.
Launched in 2018, Tapuya has impressively changed the publishing landscape through its ethos of accessibility and epistemic collaboration. In addition to being open access, Tapuya has shifted the digital infrastructure of Taylor and Francis’ submission platforms. The platform now allows for abstracts in three or more languages and also includes a new category of incomplete rather than rejection, to provide a clearer assessment for authors whose articles may not have the required level of English proficiency for publication. Tapuya’s efforts to build epistemic communities, especially across the Global South, is reflected in their innovative processes of peer-review, editorial collaborations and pedagogical commitments to new generations of Latin American and international scholars, and reviews of texts produced in different languages. We congratulate Tapuya on their outstanding achievements that are actively shifting landscapes of knowledge production.
2023 Infrastructure Prize Committee: Vivian Choi (Chair), Anne Pollock, Lucy van de Wiel, Marko Monteiro
On behalf of all those who have joined Tapuya since day one and who have given us the gift of their time, effort, and work, the Editorial Team of Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society is honored to accept the 2023 4S Infrastructure Award.
The journal Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society, now in its sixth year, has established itself as an innovative platform of exchange for scholars from around the world, with a focus on academic production in Latin America. The journal has sought to rethink editorial practices, build bridges between epistemic communities, question the homogenizing platforms of large corporate publishers, rethink the peer review process as an occasion for dialogue, showcase Latin American capacities to manage our own knowledge infrastructures, problematize the use of English - while recognizing its role in global scholarly communication -, continue the Latin American tradition of open access journals, and actively participate in developing the writing skills of students and young academics. None of this would have been possible without the invaluable support of colleagues who accepted to be part of our boards, who joined the editorial team, who have reviewed articles with dedication and professionalism, and who have entrusted us with their ideas as authors. Tapuya, which was born in 2017, is now vibrantly living its sixth year, and is closing its sixth volume with more than 100,000 article downloads per year and more than fifty articles published annually.
Since the inception of Tapuya, we have been fortunate to receive financial support from three units of the University of California Los Angeles: the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSEIS), the Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Latin American Institute (LAI). In addition, the generous and selfless support of a private donor has allowed us to operate with the necessary resources to enhance our capabilities. We thank them for their unconditional trust in us. Sandra Harding has been an extraordinary advisor, sounding board, and permanent source of inspiration. To this we must add the professional work and human warmth of Paul Naish and Justin Robinson, of Taylor & Francis. We know that relations between journals and publishers, between academia and business, are not always easy. But from them we have always received support and understanding of our needs and particularities. They are also a central part of the infrastructure that this award recognizes today. Edmundo Meza, Daniela Moyano, Diana Guerrero, Ángel Carrasco and Rinnette Riande have also put a lot of effort into ensuring that the journal has its own website, active social networks, and a permanent flow of communication among the tapuyera community.
Two people deserve special mention. If Tapuya is today a working infrastructure and one that is recognized by our colleagues, it is largely due to the labors of Luisa Grijalva Maza and Luis Reyes Galindo. Luisa, as managing editor, has given life to the intricate editorial processes, caring for and respecting the work of authors, reviewers, and the editorial team while also solving the many problems involved in infrastructuring. Her critical eye and reassuring actions are some of the most essential components of this initiative.
Luis Reyes Galindo is, as deputy editor-in-chief, the other fundamental piece of Tapuya. It is impossible to summarize Luis’ contribution to the journal. He has been instrumental not only to the infrastructural setup of Tapuya, but also to solving everyday problems and tuning some of the most impactful everyday decisions. Three things have Luis’ clear mark on how the journal operates today. First, Tapuya’s having an international publisher supporting the journal’s operations, while being a fully OA journal. Luis was convinced that this was the path for the journal because the Editorial Team’s full attention had to be focused on the political project of circulating knowledge produced from and about Latin America. He was familiar with our material conditions of knowledge production. He looked over contracts and processes, he provided calculations and statistics of citations outside of the big Indexes. By identifying where to tweak, where to innovate and where to persist, Luis helped to carve out the niche of our unique editorial project. Second, the quality of journal. Luis has dedicated a lot of his time to getting our manuscripts right, particularly when we introduced abstracts in Portuguese and Spanish. His language abilities and editorial skills have been a huge support for the managing editor. By revising proofs and selflessly volunteering translations, he has helped guest editors and authors navigate our language policies. And if all that wasn’t enough, Luis has also put a stamp on the image of our journal. A talented watercolorist and photographer, Luis has introduced through his original artistic covers a distinct Latin American aesthetic. His commitment to the journal and to the project has not waivered at any time in the last six years.
Thank you, Luis, we owe you a lifetime!
Finally, this award, and certainly the journal, would not have been possible without Leandro Rodriguez Medina. His vision, ingenuity, and determination led to the inception of Tapuya. All the people that have been mentioned would not be part of this project without Leandro’s belief in their abilities and their potential contribution. He was certain back in 2016, and is to this day, that Latin America has a lot to offer to STS and has worked tirelessly -often in the most unexpected circumstances- to make sure that the work of our authors has a place on the map of global knowledge production. It is true he has changed the rules of STS publications from competition to collaboration. Indeed, because Tapuya was appropriately infrastructured, without too many problems and with a lot of self-reflexivity, the journal witnessed the change of the editorial team in 2023, which gives it new perspectives, horizons, and working styles.
We are certain Tapuya’s journey is just beginning and that we will continue, alongside other sibling journals that have received this recognition, to rewrite the history of STS academic publications. We hope the 4S community will continue to be by our side in this task.
Sincerely,
The Editorial Team of Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society
Vivette García Diester, UNAM, Mexico (Editor-in-Chief)
Jim Griesemer, UC-Davis, US (Senior Advisor)
Luisa Fernanda Grijalva Maza, UPAEP, Mexico (Managing Editor Latin America)
Luis Reyes Galindo, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands (Deputy Editor-in-Chief)
Sandra Harding, UCLA, US (Senior Advisor Emerita)
Leandro Rodriguez Medina, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile (Chief Financial Officer)
2020: Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience
2018: East Asian Science, Technology and Society: an International Journal (EASTS)
2017: Editors of the Handbooks of Science and Technology Studies
2016: WTMC (Netherlands Graduate Research School of Science, Technology and Modern Culture)