Celebrating Editorial Impact: A Journal Connecting a Community

Author: Philip F. Yuan

Springer Nature celebrates and recognises our editors and teams for their achievements in editorial board development, journal growth, increasing diversity, and more. In this blog series, based on inspirational contributions from the 2023 Celebrating Editorial Impact event, editors-in-chief from across Springer Nature share exciting and innovative initiatives they are pursuing, the journey to implementing them, and the impact these have had on their journals and communities.

In today’s post, Prof. Philip F. Yuan, Editor-in-Chief of Architectural Intelligence explains the networking strategy behind the innovative and budding journal, which positioned it at the heart of the community it serves.

Launched in December 2022, Architectural Intelligence is a journal guided by scientific design thinking, with the goal of supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.

The research featured in Architectural Intelligence focuses on three future scenarios of smart habitat, virtual habitat, and space habitat, thus encompassing the entire lifecycle of architecture and buildings. Utilising evidence-based architectural research methods, Architectural Intelligence reconstructs the architectural knowledge system and creates an international academic platform of multi-disciplines, establishing a new paradigm for sustainable development.

Aiming to serve as a platform for dialogue across various disciplines in order to generate new knowledge and techniques, it is important to raise awareness of the journal and its innovative approach. Working alongside other initiatives that share the journal’s approach and considerations, DigitalFUTURES and Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication (CDRF), we have succeeded in making Architectural Intelligence a focal point within its research community.

A journal at the heart of the research community it serves

Publishing cutting edge research, promoting interdisciplinary research, and supporting the development of innovative solutions, Architectural Intelligence has become a hub for the research community it serves.

Since 2001, the field of architectural intelligence has seen a significant surge in the number of papers published in it, according to Web of Science. From 34 articles in 2001, the number has soared by a factor of 46 to 1,569 articles in 2022.

Architectural Intelligence’s central position in the global academic community working on sustainable living stems from its relevance and significance across various disciplines, enabling and promoting dialogue with different stakeholders. The editorial board’s effective and productive management of relations with the relevant research community has definitely contributed to Architectural Intelligence’s success. 

Connecting with community: Architectural education by DigitalFUTURES

To support the establishment of the field of architectural intelligence in the broader academic community, I co-founded a platform to bring together experts and provide education on advanced architectural technologies, social equality, and environmental concerns.

Established in 2011, DigitalFUTURES is an independent online platform for architectural education. We started DigitalFUTURES to make important educational ideas available freely to architects and students anywhere in the world.

DigitalFUTURES now has over 15,000 members representing 128 countries, and showcases content in 12 languages. Until now, the platform has held over 100 talks, attracting approximately 2 million views in channels such YouTube and Reddit. This structurally efficient and organisationally reliable platform has produced a robust and extensive international network of scholars and experts.

The success of DigitalFUTURES prepared the grounds for the launch of the journal Architectural Intelligence, in that it had already rallied the relevant research community around the field.

Staying up to date: International Conference on Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication 

Maintaining strong connections with the research community through regular participation in traditional academic conferences and workshops in our field of research is a high priority for myself and the editorial board of Architectural Intelligence. This enables the journal to stay up to date on the latest research developments and to create opportunities for collaboration and the continued exchange of ideas and knowledge.

The International Conference on Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication (CDRF) is a prime example of this connection with the academic community. CDRF – also supported by DigitalFUTURES – focuses on cutting edge research and encourages innovation. To date, five international CDRF conferences have been held, and the proceedings for which are published also by Springer Nature.

The proceedings of CDRF – indexed by CuminCad and Scopus – include around 40 published papers every year. Each annual CDRF conference has a specific theme, which is presented in the proceedings. The total number of downloads for the CDRF proceedings impressively amounts to over 600,000. The papers from the proceedings also form a stable source of manuscripts for Architectural Intelligence, and their quality has consistently increased over the years.

Collaborating to establish architectural intelligence

CRDF, DigitalFUTURES, and Architectural Intelligence work together synergically to establish the field of architectural intelligence and to foster the continued growth and vitality of this academic endeavour. In its first conference in 2019, the theme chosen for CDRF was architectural intelligence. In the following year, DigitalFUTURES won the Innovative Academic Program Award of Excellence from ACADIA, the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture.

The composition of Architectural Intelligence’s editorial board – composed of 97 leading scholars from 49 different institutions across 14 countries – likewise reflects the positive impact of the journal’s networking strategy. This composition also enables the journal to operate with international influence.

Architectural Intelligence now boasts a multi-channel, new media matrix promotional platform, integrating online and offline activities for future development. This is intended to further promote the journal’s ties with members of its broader research community.

In 2019, the 1st International Conference of Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication (CDRF) introduced the concept of Architectural Intelligence during the DigitalFUTURES events.

The making of an impactful journal

Thanks to these strong, strategic community ties and the collaboration with DigitalFUTURES and CRDF, Architectural Intelligence has published three issues and initiated nine collections with wide-ranging topics. The total number of article downloads is 128,498, with the highest number of downloads for a single article being 10,344. Additionally, the latest self-estimated impact factor from Web of Science has reached 1.5.

Architectural Intelligence’s innovative and productive networking strategy, along with a true dedication to publishing high-quality, impactful research, makes the journal a unique platform for multidisciplinary, creative research.

Want to find out more about initiatives that make journals more accessible, impactful, and inclusive? Check out our special event: Celebrating Editorial Impact in 2023, which showcased contributions from Springer Nature editors-in-chief about the exciting strategies and projects enriching their journals, as well as their wider research communities.