Call for Papers
Call for Papers
We invite you to join us for Information, Medium & Society: Twenty-Fourth International Conference on Publishing Studies, the annual meeting of the Information, Medium & Society – The Publishing Studies Research Network, taking place 22–23 April 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal and online, in partnership with our host institution, NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities. The Network brings together scholars, publishers, technologists, librarians, editors, writers, designers, policymakers, and cultural workers who study publishing as a distinctive mode of social knowledge production. We welcome proposals that examine the infrastructures, practices, technologies, and politics through which information circulates and cultural meaning is made.
In 2026, our special focus “Beyond Borders: Democratizing Knowledge in a Polarized World” explores how publishing—as both an industry and a practice—can help dismantle linguistic, geographic, and ideological barriers to create more equitable knowledge infrastructures. This focus invites contributions that reconceptualize access to texts, images, and data across borders, and that chart pathways toward democratic, plural, and resilient knowledge ecosystems.
Against the backdrop of intensifying concerns about misinformation and disinformation, we ask what responsibilities publishers, platforms, editors, technologists, and cultural institutions hold in strengthening fact-checking, source transparency, and media literacy. We encourage proposals that examine cross-border collaborations among journalists, scholars, and technologists capable of building editorial workflows that anticipate harmful narratives before they spread. The focus also raises questions about the political, ethical, and logistical challenges of moving content across national and digital frontiers: how trade agreements, censorship regimes, and intellectual property frameworks shape what circulates and what is suppressed; and how informal or community-driven networks—diasporic presses, underground zines, guerrilla translations—may provide alternative channels of distribution.
Finally, in an era defined by algorithmic curation and automated visibility, the focus considers how entrenched hierarchies of “worthy” knowledge are reproduced or disrupted. What responsibilities do publishers and platforms bear in shaping these systems? How might traditional metrics of impact be recalibrated when the legitimacy of knowledge itself is contested? We welcome insights into how publishing’s platforms, policies, and practices can transcend existing boundaries and contribute to genuinely democratic knowledge futures.
Alongside this year’s special focus, the conference also welcomes proposals aligned with the Network’s ongoing themes: Informational Foundations; Mediums of Disruption; and Social History and Impacts.
Knowledge Experience and Format
The conference is organised as a hybrid knowledge experience, integrating in-person and online participation within a unified scholarly environment. All accepted proposals become Presentation Pages on CGScholar Event (KX), where presenters upload abstracts, media, and reflections, and where delegates engage in discussion before, during, and after the event.
In-person presentations, live online sessions, and asynchronous contributions are woven into a single, shared program. Regardless of participation mode, delegates have access to the full schedule, digital content, and a growing archive of session media. Across all formats, the emphasis is on reciprocal, human-scale engagement—conversation, exchange, and collaborative inquiry rather than one-way presentation.
Publication Pathways
Presenters are invited to develop their conference contributions for possible publication in Information, Medium & Society: Journal of Publishing Studies, which examines the nature and forms of media and information as expressed through publishing practices, or in the Information, Medium & Society Book Imprint, which publishes monographs and edited volumes advancing research on knowledge production and publishing cultures. Both outlets offer options for traditional and Open Access publication.
Membership and Community
We welcome new and returning members to the Information, Medium & Society – Publishing Studies Research Network. By purchasing a Presenter Pass, you automatically become—or renew as—a Network Member for the year, with benefits that span both our online environment and our in-person programs. Membership places you inside our online Knowledge Experience, a shared scholarly space that connects the full cycle of our work—and your work: preparation, presentation, reflection, and publication. Scholar-led and inclusive by design, it functions as a living commons for reciprocity, rigor, and continuity. Online, you can access everything in one place—conference updates and media, calls for papers, programs, archives, and journal and book content—and use it to share your ideas and ongoing projects. All member posts undergo peer-facilitated community review before being added, strengthening collective knowledge and community.
Alongside this online experience, membership also supports and is activated through our in-person conferences and events, where participants meet, exchange ideas, and build collaborations with our host partners and global community. Membership sustains the Research Network, ensuring continued access to programs, archives, journals, and books—and keeping ideas in motion over time, where belonging is defined by contribution and care.
Join Us
We warmly invite you to submit a proposal and to join us—either in Lisbon or online—for the Twenty-Fourth International Conference on Publishing Studies, the annual meeting of Information, Medium & Society – The Publishing Studies Research Network. Together, we will explore how publishing’s platforms, practices, and policies can move beyond borders and support more democratic and equitable knowledge futures.
The 2026 conference is convened by Dr. Inês Thomas Almeida (Local Conference Chair, NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities), Phillip Kalantzis-Cope (Research Network Chair; Chief Social Scientist, Common Ground Research Networks), and the wider community of editors, partners, and members who sustain the Publishing Studies Research Network.