Digital Culture & Society (DCS) is a refereed, international journal, fostering discussion about how digital technologies, platforms and applications reconfigure social practices. It invites reflection on how culture unfolds through the use of digital technology and how it conversely influences the development of such technology. DCS offers a forum for critical analysis and inquiry into digital media theory. The journal encourages interdisciplinary research, empirical contributions, contemporary theory development and methodological innovation in digital media studies. Previous issues have addressed topics ranging from Mobile Digital Practices to Making and Hacking, Quantified Self, Big Data and Digital Materialism.
Special Issues
We invite special issue proposals for two of the following DCS issues: 01/2019 (March), 02/2019 (September) and/or 01/2020 (March). Suggested topics should address issues relevant to digital cultures, societies and technologies. We invite original, critical proposals related to digital media studies, the social sciences, science and technology studies, cultural studies, or other interdisciplinary fields. We particularly welcome proposals for journal issues on relevant themes which have not been explored in DCS so far (see http://digicults.org/callforpapers for previous and upcoming issues/CfPs).
All proposals for special issues will be double-blind peer reviewed. Should we receive more than 10 proposals, the editors will preselect proposals for the peer review. Based on the reviewers’ recommendations, the editors will then select (max.) 2 proposals.
Submissions
Please use this template for your submission. Your submission should include:
General proposal
- Title
- Proposal summary (600-800 words) outlining the topic of your special issue and the issues you aim to explore.
Section summaries
- DCS issues usually consist of the following sections: 1. Field Research and Case Studies; 2. Methodological Reflection; 3. Conceptual/Theoretical Reflection; 4. Entering the Field (early stage or experimental research; 5. In Conversation with…).
- Sections 1-3 include original empirical research as well as articles on theoretical and methodological debates.
- Section 4 is dedicated to initial and ongoing empirical work. This experimental section was created to provide a platform for researchers who would like to initiate a discussion concerning their emerging, yet maybe incomplete research material and plans as well as methodological insights.
- For each section (1-4), please provide short, general outlines (3-4 sentences) what kinds of papers you envision.
- Section 5 presents a dialogue between the editors and authors of recently published works in the field of digital media studies. These interviews should be closely related to the respective issue’s main theme.
- For the interview section (5) please provide the name(s) of (a) possible interviewee(s) and briefly explain your choice.
Should you wish to structure your special issue differently, please provide a short explanation and an overview of the planned sections.
Publication date
Please indicate whether you would want to prepare the special issue to be published in March 2019, September 2019 or in March 2020. The journal editors will provide selected special issue editors with further information on key deadlines to ensure the timely publication of the issue.
Biographical notes
Please include short biographical notes (2-3 sentences) of all prospective special issue editors. These will of course not be shared with the reviewers.
Please note
All papers submitted to DCS are double-blind peer reviewed and this peer review process will need to be coordinated by the special issue editors. Should your proposal be selected, this means that you are i.a. expected: to finalise the CfP based on your initial submission and the reviewers’ feedback; to organize and oversee the selection of abstracts; to coordinate the review and editing process; to write the introduction and to conduct an interview for the “In Conversation with…” section. Should your proposal be selected, you will of course receive further information and support from the journal editors and the publisher transcript.
Contact and submission
If you are interested in editing a special issue, please submit your proposal by Tuesday, 22nd May 2018 to Pablo Abend and Annika Richterich.
Publisher and open access
DCS is published by transcript. All articles will be published as open access on our website 12 months after the initial publication. Our first three issues are available here: http://digicults.org/issues.