Transformative Works and Cultures

{{Infobox journal

| title = Transformative Works and Cultures

| abbreviation = Transform. Works Cult.

| editor = Kristina Busse, Karen Hellekson

| discipline = Interdisciplinary

| publisher = Organization for Transformative Works

| license = Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0

| history = 2008–present

| openaccess = Yes

| impact-year = 2015

| ISSN = 1941-2258

| website = http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/index

}}

Transformative Works and Cultures is a peer-reviewed open access academic journal published by the Organization for Transformative Works. The journal collects essays, articles, book reviews, and shorter pieces that concern fandom, fanworks, and fan practices.{{cite journal |last1=Hellekson |last2=Blackford |last3=Murphy |first1=Karen |first2=Russell |first3=Graham |title=New Journal: Transformative Works and Cultures |journal=Science Fiction Studies |date=July 2008 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=360–362 |jstor=25475168}}{{cite web |title=Editorial Policies {{!}} Focus and Scope |url=http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/about/editorialPolicies#focusAndScope |website=Transformative Works and Cultures |publisher=Organization for Transformative Works |access-date=October 24, 2016 |archive-date=December 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211015318/http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/about/editorialPolicies#focusAndScope |url-status=dead }} According to Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory (HASTAC), the journal "supports the [Organization for Transformative Works's] mission to promote the legitimacy and sustainability of non-commercial fan creativity by providing a forum for innovative criticism in fan studies, broadly conceived."{{cite web|url=http://www.hastac.org:80/scholars/forum/11-02-08Academic-Publishing-in-the-Digital-Age|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416121046/http://www.hastac.org/scholars/forum/11-02-08Academic-Publishing-in-the-Digital-Age|archive-date=April 16, 2009|title=Academic Publishing in the Digital Age|publisher=HASTAC|date=November 2, 2008|url-status=dead}}

The founding editors were Kristina Busse and Karen Hellekson, who remain the editors as of 2021.{{cite journal |author=TWC Editor |title=Transforming academic and fan cultures |journal=Transformative Works and Cultures |year=2008 |volume=1 |issue=1 |url=https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/71/56 |doi=10.3983/twc.2008.071 |doi-access=free }}{{cite web |url=https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/about/editorialTeam |title=Transformative Works and Cultures: Editorial Team |publisher=Organization for Transformative Works |access-date=29 January 2021 }} It covers "popular media, fan communities, and transformative works".{{cite journal |first=Karen |last=Hellekson |title=New Journal: Transformative Works and Cultures |journal=Science Fiction Studies |year=2008 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=360–361 |jstor=25475168 }} A number of noted fan and media scholars sit on the journal's board, such as Henry Jenkins, Busse, Hellekson, Francesca Coppa, Paul Booth, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Jason Mittell, and Rebecca Tushnet, among others.{{cite web |title=Transformative Works and Cultures |url=http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/index |website=Transformative Works and Cultures |publisher=Organization for Transformative Works |access-date=April 21, 2017}} The journal has raised the academic profile of female fan communities and transformative works, including fan fiction, fan art, fan vids, and cosplay, by serving as a central publication venue for these topics.{{Cite web|url=https://fanlore.org/wiki/Organization_for_Transformative_Works|title=Organization for Transformative Works - Fanlore|website=fanlore.org|access-date=2019-10-17}} Coppa states that many second-wave fan fiction scholars, such as herself, started to publish in Transformative Works and Cultures and that the journal has "nurtured a new wave of scholars".{{cite book |author=Francesca Coppa |title=The Fanfiction Reader: Folk Tales for the Digital Age |page=17 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780472053483 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9xCDgAAQBAJ }} Via a number of articles, the journal has had a hand in helping to spread Jenkins, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green's idea of "spreadable media".{{cite web |title=Spreadable Media in Transformative Works and Cultures |url=http://spreadablemedia.org/2014/11/24/spreadable-media-in-transformative-works-and-cultures/ |publisher=spreadablemedia.com |author1=Jenkins, Henry|author2=Ford, Sam|author3=Green, Joshua|access-date=October 24, 2016|display-editors=etal}}

TWC reached its 20th issue milestone in September 2015, which was commemorated with an online panel discussion by past contributors about the state of fan studies and the role of TWC.{{cite news |url=http://www.transformativeworks.org/otw-turns-8/ |title=The OTW Turns 8 |date=September 5, 2015 |publisher=Organization for Transformative Works |access-date=June 10, 2018}}