Special Issue 16.2 - Call for Papers
'Disinformation, Fact-Checking and Civic Responsibility'
15 October 2023: deadline for abstract submission.
15 January 2024: deadline for full proposals (selected abstracts).
Guest Editors:
Dr Ruth Rodríguez-Martínez (Pompeu Fabra University)
Dr María-Ángeles Chaparro-Domínguez (Complutense University of Madrid)
Dr Fernando Oliveira Paulino ((University of Brasilia)
Dr Marcel Mauri-Rios (Pompeu Fabra University)
Dr Xavier Ramon (Pompeu Fabra University)
Why This Issue Now?
Disinformation is a global problem affecting institutions, media and citizenry, which are all immersed in ‘fake news culture’ (Magallón-Rosa 2019: 23). According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, the countries most concerned by this phenomenon currently include Spain, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil (Edelman, 2022). The loss of trust in and influence of the media and exposure to all types of messages on social networks in recent years have acted as a catalyst for disinformation, which has become a major journalistic challenge (Herrero and Herrera-Damas 2021). The global crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has also provided fertile ground for the spread of disinformation (Mauri-Rios, Ramon-Vegas and Rodríguez-Martínez 2020).
In order to combat this global phenomenon, fact-checking platforms have proliferated in the last decade outside the mass media, as the media itself has occasionally been a purveyor of hoaxes, albeit sometimes inadvertently (García-Galera et al. 2020; Cherubini and Graves 2016). Two factors explain the rise of fact-checkers, according to Stencel and Luther (2020): the extraordinary surge in disinformation on social media and Google, both of which have been appealing for the help of fact-checking platforms to curb it; and the proliferation of partnerships between these platforms and traditional media, particularly during electoral processes. As with disinformation, fact-checking is a global phenomenon (Graves 2018).
However, it is not only verification platforms that are tackling disinformation; media and education institutions worldwide are also implementing actions to help citizens discern fake content from legitimate content and thus foment their critical thinking skills (Vizoso and Vázquez-Herrero 2019). Various initiatives are also being developed in other fields, such as newsgames (García-Ortega and García-Avilés 2021; Gómez-García and Carrillo-Vera 2020).
Topics
This monograph invites researchers from the international context to submit studies addressing this global phenomenon, formulas to prevent its spread and social impact from different thematic, geographical, theoretical and methodological approaches. We welcome, for example, comparative research between countries (with particular attention to the ‘Global South’), systematic reviews, case studies or new theoretical proposals aimed at some of the key aspects of this far-reaching issue. As this is a multidisciplinary topic, contributions will be accepted both from the communication field and from other related fields such as education, sociology, psychology, economics and other related disciplines. They are invited to submit full articles and viewpoints on topics that may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Epistemology of verification and fact-checking
- Dynamics, methodologies, sources and supports for content verification
- Fact-checkers' professional competences and challenges
- Ethics and best practices for content verification
- Fact-checking within the media
- Independent content verification platforms
- Newsgames as a tool for combating disinformation
- Disinformation platforms (junk news)
- New business models related to fact-checking
- Socio-political implications of disinformation
- Journalistic and social challenges of fact-checking
- Fact-checking before global phenomena such as the climate crisis or COVID-19
- Journalistic perception of disinformation and fact-checking
- Citizen perception of disinformation and fact-checking
- Media literacy actions to counter disinformation
- Content verification, user-generated content and citizen journalism
Research articles should be 6,000 words in length, while Viewpoint articles should not exceed 3,000 words (including notes and references). The editors will carry out a preliminary selection of abstracts.
Publication Schedule
15 October 2023: deadline for abstracts
Abstract (maximum 500 words), title and selected biography, along with a 150-200 word author’s short bio (including your affiliation and contact information) should be sent to Ruth Rodriguez (ruth.rodriguez@upf.edu) and Marian Chaparro (ma.chaparro@ucm.es)
1 November: Editors’ decision on selected abstracts
15 January 2024: deadline for full articles
Full articles, based on the selected abstracts, should be submitted on the Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies web platform by 15 January 2024, following the Author Guidelines.
30 May 2024: final decision letters
Fall 2024: issue published
All selected contributions will be subjected to double blind peer review, except for the Viewpoint articles, which will be evaluated by the Editors.
General Call for Papers
Yearly cut-off date for miscellaneous issues: 1 October
We welcome miscellaneous contributions at any time from scholars, researchers and professionals from around the world who wish to publish their works in a journal with a truly international scope and readership. Each year on October 1st the deadline for submissions for the next miscellaneous issue closes.
CJCS accepts original contributions under the following headings and conforming to these guidelines:
Articles
Articles should be between 6,000-7,500 words (including references). They must be based on original research or offer well grounded theoretical contributions, they must be written in a clear and concise style in English and they must not be under consideration by any other publication. In the first instance the author(s) must sent one anonymous copy of the article containing an abstract (max. 150 words) and keywords (max. 6) and attach a separate sheet with the title of the article, name of the author(s), institutional affiliation, abstract, keywords, references of the article, biographical note and institutional address and e-mail. Authors must avoid any information within the article which make it possible to infer their identity (acknowledgements must be avoided at this stage and references to their own work must be done in the third person). All articles are submitted to a blind peer reviewing process. Manuscripts will be evaluated on the basis of their originality, the soundness of their theory and methodology, the coherence of their analysis and their ability to communicate to readers (including non-specialist readers).
All submissions and proposals must be uploaded through the Submit link on this page.
Please read the Notes for Contributors at the top of this page suggested by CJCS before submitting.
Viewpoint
This section will include research notes, short commentaries, reflections on current affairs, cultural and media events, short interviews, etc. Experts, leading scholars, experienced professionals and senior researchers are invited to submit their proposals, which will be selected also in accordance with academic criteria and depending on the availability of space. Contributions for this section should not exceed 3000 words in length and are submitted to a double-blind peer reviewing process.
Gateway
The Editors of CJCS will select an article from those previously published by Catalan academic journals for publication in this section. Gateway will give international coverage to the best articles written and published originally in Catalan. The Editors will select the work using the abovementioned criteria and the authors must seek permission for translation and publication in CJCS. We encourage researchers to suggest articles for this section along with an argument for their suitability.
Reviews
CJCS also publishes short book reviews, in English and commissioned by the Editors, about leading editorial projects in Catalan/Spanish or English in keeping with the aims and scope of the journal.
Journal contributors will receive a free PDF copy of their final work upon publication. Print copies of the journal may also be purchased by contributors at half price.
