18,563 Call for Papers: Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies

Call for Papers: Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies

Special Issue 16.2: ‘Disinformation, Fact-Checking and Civic Responsibility’

Abstract deadline: 15 October 2023

Submission deadline: 15 January 2024

View the full CFP here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/catalan-journal-of-communication-cultural-studies#call-for-papers

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 2023: 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.