About the Journal

Focus and Scope

Clara (ISSN: 2295-3671 / e-ISSN: 2593-5747) is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal in architecture dedicated to topics, research methods and tools specific to the field. Each issue comprises a main thematic section proposed by guest editors, and two additional sections: Archives, with articles based on the exploration of archival documents, and Position(s), with articles that take a on current developments or events in architecture.

Clara is published yearly, both online on Cairn.info and in a 17x24cm full-color paperback version. It is in full open access after a one-year embargo. Clara is funded by the Faculty of Architecture La Cambre-Horta at Université libre de Bruxelles and received financial support by the FRS-FNRS (Belgian Fund for Scientific Research) in 2014, 2018, 2021 and 2024.

Policies

Clara tends to ensure that peer-reviewed contributions published in each issue (included proposals for thematic sections) are the fruit of authors affiliated to at least three different institutions, in order that less than 30% of the published authors are affiliated to a same institution (no matter what unit, department, school or faculty).

Sections

Thematic Section

Each volume comprises a thematic section of 6 to 9 papers dealing with a predetermined topic in the field of architecture.

Articles are original scientific contributions, based on first-hand research activities, submitted to the journal for publication as a response to a specific call for contributions, and fitting within the issue's thematic focus. After being deemed relevant to the call by the guest editors and the editorial board, articles are subject to a double-blind peer-review (see below), aiming to ascertain their originality, appropriateness of the adopted research methods, the relevance of the argument and conclusions, their structure and readibility.

Authors are strongly encouraged to use visual information as a complement or support to, or even as the core of their argument.
The length of an article is max. 50,000 characters / 8,000 words all included (spaces and punctuation included, as well as the abstract, footnotes, reference list, author(s)' short resume, and list of illustrations).
Only articles responding to these criteria may be published in the journal.
The journal reserves the right to refuse submitted papers for publication.

The topic of a thematic section is determined by the guest editors selected after responding to an open call. Submissions for thematic sections are welcome at any time, and should be sent directly to the editorial board by email (clara.archi[at]ulb.be).

Proposals should be compiled in one single text document, including:

  •  a theme: title and short argument for your proposal (300-500 words). The theme may not be built simply as conference proceedings, as there will be a call fo papers.
  • guest editor(s): names, short resume (100 words), affiliation, list of 5 main publications.

The role of guest editors is to write a call for papers, select the abstracts and follow the peer review and editorial processes together with Clara’s editorial board. Guest editors are responsible for the thematic section’s overall consistency and for the quality of each contribution and contribute an introduction to the issue (max. 25,000 caract. / 4,000 words). The section can be edited by a single guest editor as well as a team of maximum three co-editors.

Archives

The Archives section is dedicated to the exploration, valorization and/or problematization of an archive. It is an opportunity to discover little-known archival resources, to shed light on the genesis of architectural projects documented therein, and also to address the new challenges faced by contemporary archival collections (preservation, digitization, decolonization, etc.).  

 Researchers interested in submitting a paper for this section are invited to contact the editorial board (clara.archi[at]ulb.be). Articles published in this section may not exceed 50,000 characters / 8,000 words (including spaces, notes, bibliography and captions) and are peer-reviewed in double-blind format. 

Position(s)

The Position(s) section features short articles that take a stand on current events in the field of architecture. Contributions can take the form of a manifesto, a book review, an exhibition report or an account of an educational experience. The format is limited to a maximum of 25,000 characters / 4,000 words (including spaces, notes, bibliography and captions). 

Researchers interested in submitting a contribution to this section are invited to contact the editorial board (clara.archi[at]ulb.be). Articles in this section are not double-blind peer-reviewed, but evaluated by the editorial board. 

Peer Review Process

The quality of each published scientific article is garanteed by a double-blind peer-review process, conducted by independent external reviewers, expert and pluralistic, according to the following criteria (see the evaluation form):

  1. Originality of the article's topic and approach;
  2. Appropriateness of the adopted research methods;
  3. Relevance of the argument and conclusions;
  4. Structure and readability.

The journal's editorial board, upon advice of external reviewers and the guest editors, may decide to refuse an article proposal if it does not satisfy the above-mentioned quality criteria.

Publication Frequency

Clara is published on an annual basis. (NB: delays with Clara #8 are due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic activities; Clara's frequency is reestablished from 2023 onward.)

Open Access Policy

Clara supports the principle according to which the results of scientific research should be made available to the public for free, facilitating the circulation of knowledge among scholars, teachers, students, and the general public.

Within this frame, Clara pursues a "delayed" Open Access policy: some contents are made available as soon as published (table of contents, abstracts, editorial), other contents (in particular the scientific articles) are made available after a period of 12 months "embargo" following the date of publication and availability of paperback copies in bookshops and libraries. 

In addition, the authors published in Clara are welcome to post their contribution(s) on the institutional repository of their university or host institution. Free access may be granted to staff and students of the same institution through these repositories as soon as published, while free access to external users may be granted only after the 12 months embargo period. 

The contributions by authors affiliated to the Université libre de Bruxelles, for instance, are available at  http://difusion.ulb.ac.be.

Languages

Clara includes articles in English or French. In this sense, if only a limited number of English or French contributions is received, the editorial board may translate it into French or English at its own expenses.

Indexing and databases

Contributions to Clara are indexed in the following electronic databases:

Ongoing requests:

Submissions

If you wish to submit a proposal for publication, please consult the "For Authors" page.

Other

History of the journal

CLARA Architecture/Recherche was established in 2012  by the associated labs of the Faculty of Architecture at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). The founding members were: Jean-Didier Bergilez, Maurizio Cohen, Jean-Louis Genard, Géry Leloutre, and Judith le Maire. The direction of the journal was entrusted to Judith le Maire for an initial term of 4 issues (until 2016). In 2013, Axel Fisher joined Judith le Maire as co-editor in chief, and served as editor-in-chief fom 2015 to 2021.

From 2013 to 2017, CLARA Architecture/Recherche was co-edited by the Faculty of Architecture at ULB and Mardaga publisher. The journal's official website, clararevue.ulb.be, was launched in October 2015. Starting June 2018, Clara is also distributed through Cairn.info, an online web portal of scholarly materials in the humanities and social sciences. Since 2017, the journal started being published in two languages (French and English). In 2023, the editorial board decided to change the journal's name to Clara.

Apart from the persons currently engaged in the making and management of the journal, many others have worked to its succes over time, to whom the Editorial Board wishes to express its deepest gratitude: Salma Belkebir, Jean-Didier Bergilez, Véronique Boone, Maurizio Cohen, Philippe De Clerck, Elodie Degavre, Denis Derycke, Florencia Fernandez Cardoso, Axel Fisher, Jean-Louis Genard, Michaël Ghyoot, Geoffrey Grulois, Rafaella Houlstan-Hasaerts, Géry Leloutre, Judith le Maire, Hubert Lionnez, Luisa Moretto, Jean-François Pinet, Christine Roels, Bertrand Terlinden, Aurore Van Opstal (office), Yannick Vanhaelen, Graziella Vella, Axel Wlody.

Journal Sponsorship

Since its inception, Clara is supported by the Faculty of Architecture La Cambre Horta at the Université libre de Bruxelles.

Since 2014, the journal is also supported by the F.R.S.-FNRS fund for scholarly journals.