[ecrea] Call for Papers "Digital Traces"

"Digital Traces in Context"

CALL FOR PAPERS
for a Special Section in
International Journal of Communication

Guest-edited by:
Andreas Hepp, Professor, Communication & Media Studies
Thomas N. Friemel, Professor, Communication & Media Studies
Andreas Breiter, Professor, Information Management & Education Technologies
University of Bremen

OVERVIEW

“Big data” has become a contested buzzword for media and 
communications research, but  remains a vague concept when it comes to 
empirical, contextualised analysis and interpretations. From the point 
of view of the media user and a critical analysis of media practices, it 
is rather “digital traces” that matter. The term “traces” puts 
emphasis on the fact that these data result from the practices of 
individuals, collectivities, and organizations while using digital 
media. To understand “digital traces” we have to relate them to the 
various actors who originate them, as well as the contexts that matter. 
When putting “digital traces in context,” we have to reflect the 
programmers who design and implement the related technologies, the 
features of the technologies (e.g., the underlying algorithms), the 
actors producing the traces through their practice, the procedures of 
data gathering, as well as the relation of these data with various kinds 
of other information. Hence, studying the context of digital traces goes 
beyond the mere analysis of “big data.” Investigating digital traces 
is a challenge for research methods (e.g., data mining, validation, 
research ethics, replicability, transparency), and theories (e.g., 
grasping general patterns, development of new theories), and a profound 
reflection of all of this (e.g., redefining the basis for academic 
critique). The aim of the Special Section is to bring scholars of media 
and communications research together with scholars of other disciplines 
to reflect the chances of researching “digital traces in context” as 
one way of making a  proper sense of “datafication.”

POSSIBLE TOPICS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
- Theoretical approaches to digital traces and their social, cultural 
and technological contexts
- Qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches to researching 
digital traces in contextualised ways, including internal and external 
validation of digital traces
- Implications and affordances of system design and infrastructures for 
digital traces
- New ways of visualizing digital traces
- Actors defining and producing digital traces (programmers, 
intermediaries, users, etc.)
- Relations between social practices, behaviour and digital traces
- Critiques of digital traces producing infrastructures and social practices
- Ethical issues concerning the collecting and analysing of digital traces

FORMATTING AND REQUIREMENTS

To be considered for this collection, a paper of maximum 7,000 words 
(all-inclusive, which includes the abstract, keywords, images with 
captions, footnotes, references and appendices, if any) must be 
submitted by June 16, 2016 and adhere to the following formal requirements:

- Formatting according to the most recent version of the APA style-guide 
(including in-text citations and references).
- Any endnotes should be converted to footnotes.
- Papers must include the author(s) name(s), title, affiliation and 
e-mail address. (Your paper will subsequently anonymized for 
double-blind peer review.)
- All articles should include an abstract of 150 words.
- All spelling must be rendered in American English. To change British 
or Commonwealth spellings to their American equivalents, please see the 
Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.
- See “Author Guidelines/ Submission Preparation Checklist” at 
http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/about/submissions#authorGuidelines.

Any papers that do not follow these guidelines will not be submitted for 
peer review.

The International Journal of Communication is an open access journal 
(ijoc.org). All articles will be available online at the point of 
publication. The anticipated publication timeframe for this Special 
Section is Q1 2017.

CONTACT INFORMATION

All submissions should be e-mailed to (ijoc /at/ uni-bremen.de) by June 16, 
2016. Late submissions will not be included for consideration.

THE TIME SCHEDULE

06/2016:
Submission of full papers

07/2016 – 09/2016:
Peer review

10/2016 – 12/2016:
Final revisions

Q1 2017:
Publication

http://www.kommunikative-figurationen.de/en/publications/ijoc-special-section-digital-traces-in-context.html





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