firstmonday.org

What It Is

First Monday is an English-language open access, peer-reviewed online academic journal founded in 1996. Its focus is the Internet and related technologies, including their social, political, cultural, and educational impacts. It is supported by the University of Illinois at Chicago University Library, published using Open Journal Systems, and has the ISSN 1396-0466. Crawled content indicates that the journal will reach its 30th anniversary in May 2026 and will cease publication after the May 2026 issue.

Core Features

The site’s core value lies in providing an open archive of Internet research papers. Articles in each issue are typically available in both HTML and PDF formats, covering topics such as digital culture, platform sociality, the decentralized Web, misinformation, TikTok culture, podcasts, and Telegram communities. It also retains information about the journal, the editorial team, submission guidelines, copyright policies, privacy statements, and historical archives. The journal uses single-blind peer review and has historically published 2,482 papers, 360 issues, and 46 special issues.

Pricing

First Monday has a very straightforward publishing model: readers can access content for free, authors do not need to pay article processing charges (APCs), and there are no subscription fees or advertisements. Authors retain the rights to their work and may choose public domain, Creative Commons, or all rights reserved. It is worth noting that the current page clearly states that it is “not accepting submissions,” so it is now closer to an academic archive than an active submission platform.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are its firm commitment to open access, long-standing absence of fees, ads, and login walls; its extensive historical span, making it an important archive for observing Internet research from the early Web to the platform era; and its past inclusion in indexes such as Scopus, LISA, and MLA. Its weaknesses are a relatively traditional website experience, limited search, categorization, recommendation, and multilingual support; articles are primarily in English; and after discontinuation, it will no longer serve as an ongoing publishing channel for new research.

Who It’s For

It is suitable for researchers, students, and teachers in Internet studies, communication, information science, digital humanities, platform governance, and online culture, as well as anyone interested in the history of open access publishing. It is not suitable for users looking for real-time technology news, commercial product reviews, or publication opportunities.

Access in China

Judging by the nature of the site, it is a standard academic journal website that does not involve sensitive commercial services or heavy dynamic applications, and it can usually be accessed directly. However, since the full text is in English, the bigger barrier for users in China is language and the academic search experience rather than network access itself.