Polarization measurements are important for understanding the vector mesons production mechanisms in proton proton pp and heavy-ion collisions. Quarkonium measurements in pp collision are crucial to constrain both perturbative and non-perturbative aspects of QCD calculations. The study of quarkonia polarization in pp collisions represents a powerful tool to discriminate among different QCD-based production models. Furthermore, quarkonium polarization measurement in pp collisions can also provide a reference for investigating the fate of charmonium in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formed in nucleus-nucleus collisions. When considering heavy-ion collisions, vector meson polarization, as charmed hadrons and quarkonia could, also be used to investigate the characteristics of the QGP. Recently, it has been shown that light vector mesons produced in PbPb collisions are polarized, an effect likely due to the presence of a large angular momentum of the strongly interacting system produced in non-central heavy-ion collisions. It has also been conjectured that vector mesons could be polarized by the strong magnetic field generated in the early phase of the evolution of the system.
In this contribution, the recent ALICE measurements of J/psi and Dstar polarization with respect to the reaction plane in PbPb collisions at forward and midrapidity are presented, respectively. The upsilon(1S) polarization with respect to the Collins-Soper and Helicity reference frames in pp collisions at 13 TeV are reported.