1I am a sociology lecturer at the University of A Coruña, in Spain, where I teach courses in demography, care work and migration studies, which are also my areas of research. I would say that my research lies at the intersection of migration and feminist studies. I am also a member of the research team Societies in Motion (ESOMI), which has been studying migration for three decades, as well as the Centre for Feminist and Gender Studies, both based at the University of A Coruña. I am part of the technical staff of the Archives of Galician Emigration.

What new directions are your research taking, and in what ways do they reshape your understanding of international migration?

In my recent research, I may mention research on the links between migration and artistic practices. I would also mention the use of participatory methodologies in migration research.

From a thematic point of view, my research focuses on the study of care, a question that I have been analysing from a very broad perspective and that takes into account issues such as migration for reproductive labour to Western countries, the transnational organization of care in countries of origin, working conditions and occupational health in Spain. I am interested in the regulation of this work, which I consider “essential”.

How has the field of migration studies evolved within the political and disciplinary context of your country in recent years, particularly with regard to methodologies, research objects, and theoretical frameworks? What is the place of scientific knowledge in public debates on migration?

I think that the phenomenon that has had the greatest impact on the field of migration studies recently in Spain was the irruption of the extreme right, which has led, among other consequences, to the almost disappearance of migration issues from the research agenda causing a significant reduction in the funding available for research in this field.

Moreover, I consider that scientific knowledge has little impact on public debates on migration in Spain. However, it plays a less visible role: it influences the development of public policies, in which many migration researchers are called to collaborate as experts.

How would you characterize the current publishing landscape in your country in the field of migration studies? What types of journals, formats, or readerships presently structure the circulation of knowledge in this domain?

In Spain, the level of publications on migration issues remains high, with a rising internationalization and publications in English-speaking journals of major publishing groups, partly due to the requirements of Spanish agencies for research evaluation. However, there are high-quality journals specialised in migration studies in Spain, such as Migraciones (from the University Institute of Studies on Migration, Comillas Pontifical University) or the Revista Internacional de Estudios Migratorios (University of Almeria). Many contributions on migration are also published in general journals of social science or journals specific to certain disciplines such as sociology, political science or anthropology. Moreover, there are many publishers in the field of social sciences, including others that publish popular science essays on the topic of migration. Among them, we can mention, to name but a few: Tirant, Bellaterra, Icaria, La Catarata, Traficantes de Sueños, etc.

How do you engage, in your research, with emerging modes of publishing and “journal-making” (open access, artificial intelligence, etc.)?

I think that all the efforts aiming at broadening the readership of a journal beyond the academic world are interesting, for its content to attract other actors working in the field of migration (organisations defending migrant’s rights and social movements, NGOs, public administration staff, etc.).

Moreover, open access is becoming more and more an ethical requirement regarding research results. It is now a required condition in many international and national calls for proposals.

I still do not have a clear position on the role of artificial intelligence in publications on migration, beyond the need to specify which tools were used and for what purposes AI has been used in the research and writing process.