Science and Society: Fifty Years of Living Thought

There are academic publications whose persistence over time is a product of institutional inertia, and others that achieve it by answering, issue after issue, one of the most demanding questions for a scientific publication: why is it necessary? Science and Society Celebrating fifty years of uninterrupted existence, this half-century of scientific dissemination from and about the Caribbean and Latin America, in an environment where most publications do not last more than one or two decades, makes it a unique publishing phenomenon and one of the longest-running university journals in the Dominican Republic and the region.

Founded in 1975 and published and sponsored by INTEC, Science and Society Its creation was not accidental; it was an expression of the institution's will, which, from its inception, conceived of research as a pillar of its academic project. Establishing a journal simultaneously with the university's founding was not a mere administrative detail, but rather part of a declaration of principles regarding its nature, as an expression of respect for diversity and freedom of expression and research. These principles also laid the foundation for an editorial line that has endured despite political and administrative changes and transformations, economic crises, and the digital revolution.

 A turning point in the 50-year history of Science and Society This occurred between 2016 and 2017, when the journal migrated all its archives to an online format and consolidated a technology-enhanced management and peer-review system, open to readers and contributors worldwide. The journal's impact and the depth of its content, in turn, inspired the creation of other specialized publications stemming from its original mission. Journals such as Science and Education; Science and Health; Science, Economics and Business; Science, Engineering and Applications; and Science, Environment and Climate They arose from the need to concentrate work in specific areas that had previously found a place in INTEC's flagship journal. This diversification of the journal ecosystem and the creation of INTEC's scientific journal platform were, in this sense, a tribute to the intellectual fertility of its oldest journal.

Today Science and Society It addresses topics from disciplines as diverse as political science, communication, anthropology, history, sociology, philosophy, psychology, gender studies, and the relationships between culture, society, technology, and the environment. This breadth reflects an epistemological conviction that real social problems cannot be confined within the limits of a single discipline. Over the past fifty years, its pages have explored themes and debates, including identity, various facets of the tensions between development and inequality, education and health systems, forms of power organization and perspectives on sustainable development, as well as cultural heritages and legacies. In this sense, the journal has not only been a reflection of Dominican, Latin American, and Caribbean reality; it has also been a space for characterizing and analyzing it, and for proposing solutions for its transformation.

If there is one thing that currently distinguishes academic journals in Latin America and the Caribbean, it is their ongoing struggle to broaden their reach and become a channel for the scientific community to respond to the knowledge needs related to the region's problems. Science and Society It has attempted to meet this dual challenge with results that are hard to ignore. It ranks in the top decile of downloads among the approximately 1416 Latin American journals indexed in Redalyc, surpassing one million downloads since adopting the digital format. This places it among the most consulted social science publications in Latin America, with readers distributed across more than 81 countries, including Spain, Mexico, Colombia, the United States, Germany, Japan, Norway, and the United Kingdom.

The magazine It currently holds 14 indexes, including Redalyc, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), SciELO, Dialnet, REDIB, Periódica, Latindex, Clase, IRSE, and Fuentes Académicas Premier. Each of these represents having passed rigorous evaluations of editorial quality, periodicity, peer review rigor, and process transparency. These indexes, in turn, signify the trust the international academic community places in a publication that has proven its worth within the scientific community, both regionally and globally. This is only possible through a sustained indexing strategy, teamwork, and a clear ethical perspective.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Science and Society This does not imply ignoring its challenges. Indexing in databases such as Scopus or Web of Science is an outstanding goal that would broaden the visibility of the journal and of Dominican and Caribbean sciences. Added to this are the challenges of the contemporary academic ecosystem: reaching wider audiences, strengthening the international network of peer reviewers, and adapting to new forms of knowledge dissemination, in which academic social networks and repositories are constantly reshaping reading and citation patterns. Maintaining editorial quality, regularity, and open access in this context requires an institutional commitment that INTEC has demonstrated it possesses.

In a world where university rankings demand ever-increasing quality from higher education institutions, having a scientific publication with an international track record and reach is a strategic asset. However, there is something deeper than rankings. Dominican academic journals must foster the transfer and appropriation of serious, timely, and relevant knowledge and become a path to promote and sustain something that has been a guiding principle for Science and Society During its fifty years, it has reaffirmed that the thought produced from the Caribbean and Latin America is valuable, that its questions and topics are legitimate, and that its answers deserve to circulate on equal terms with those produced in other academic centers around the world.

Jorge Ulloa Hung

Director of Science and Society

Article published in Areito from the newspaper Hoy