An indisciplinary journal of social sciences.

[1]Before you stands a brand new EspacesTemps.net, still continuing with enthusiasm and determination the same grand design that presided over its birth.

For eight years now (or even thirty-five, if you take into account the paper version), EspacesTemps.net has developed a compelling project, founded on four converging ideas : epistemological reflexivity is an absolute imperative ; theoretical work is not a detour but a cognitive shortcut ; overtaking the disciplinary model is urgent for human and social sciences ; reflexivity in all its forms must be considered a common task in research.

Two new areas of research have reinforced these fundamental goals. The first one  explores the interfaces between all forms of knowledge (philosophy, mathematical, physical, and biological sciences, technology, arts). The second seeks new ways of expressing scientific work through the diversification of mediums, with a facilitated access to the audiovisual resources, and through an alternative intellectual construction. All these elements tend to posit the classical scientific article as one of the essential but not exclusive options for communicating research.

 The new formula of EspacesTemps.net strives to make this process more clear and coherent. Let us point out three significant changes :

1. Bilingual navigation as a support for multilingualism.

The journal is now easily accessible in English as well as in French, a not so common feat in the nevertheless dynamic market of online publications. EspacesTemps.net has become a bilingual scientific journal, open to all languages. Multilingualism is in our opinion a fundamental option for it enables us to access cognitive resources that are precious to innovation.

2. New sections for more simplicity and openness.

All sections have been been redefined and their number reduced :

–       The Works section brings together research papers of a theoretical or methodological nature that contribute to an epistemological reflection in social sciences and in other fields of knowledge.

–       The new Laboratory section gathers works in progress and favors all non-standard forms of communication. The ambition here is not only to host but also to promote expressions of work that, through narratives, images, sounds, or explicitations of the extra-scientific components of research, constitute useful complements to the standard scientific article.

–       The Books section offers critical reviews of selected social sciences books.

–       The Objects section is devoted to reflection on objects that can be considered interesting for social sciences (a map, a word, a website, a photograph, etc.)

–       The In the air section merges articles that deal with social sciences in their topicality and in their context.

3. Multidimensional indexing.

An important change is the possibility to make visible the collections of articles that are not identified as such (the Traverses). From now on, a given document may belong to an indeterminate number of thematic groupings through multiple tagging. Other than demonstrating a logical use of hypertextuality, which facilitates the exploration of the published content, it is also an encouragement to scientific partnerships.

 The most important thing to keep in mind — in a time when scientific evaluation is being discussed everywhere, and not only in the social sciences — is perhaps the unequivocal orientation of the journal in this field. In the inevitable struggle between innovation and institution, EspacesTemps.net will always strive, with its own means, for the former, without ever giving up on the requirement of transparency and rigour. This is the meaning that we wish to give to the subtitle indisciplinary.

 The new configuration of EspacesTemps.net is yours and we encourage you to share your ideas and opinions.

The Editorial Committee of EspacesTemps.net.