Communicating Complexity: In Honor of Sharon Dunwoody
Guest Editors: Lee Ann Kahlor and Robert J. Griffin
Editor-in-Chief: Susanna Priest
Call for Papers
Sharon Dunwoody was a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison whose scholarly excellence, down-to-earth demeanor, and generous personality were absolutely critical to the emergence of science journalism and science communication as areas of global scholarship. She passed away on February 4, 2022. For more on her life, please see here. Sharon was a former science writer who spent the majority of her career as a scholar and professor teaching science and environmental writing and conducting research on the communication of science, environment, and health. She published works on all aspects of this area of mass communication. Her most recent research concentrated on how individuals use information to inform judgments about environmental and health risks. Sharon once described her specialty as "explaining complicated stuff in writing." She published extensively in peer-reviewed journals (including Science Communication) on a broad array of topics ranging from informal science education to credible sources for scientific news to psycho-social predictors and moderators of risk information seeking and processing.
Research articles accepted for this issue will build on Sharon's academic work and contributions. They should be based on both theory and empirical evidence from quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods approaches. We publish two types of peer-reviewed research papers, full research articles (usually 7-9000 words) and research notes (usually 4-6000 words, presenting emerging insights). We also publish a limited number of commentary articles, which can present personal experiences and viewpoints (around 3000 words, not peer reviewed). Queries about the "fit" of your idea are welcome. All research papers will undergo a version of our regular review process; commentary receives editorial review only. (Our acceptance rate for research is around 15%; special issue rates are typically slightly higher.) All contributions must relate directly to science communication, broadly defined to include most topics in environmental and health communication. The following themes are only suggestions, offered as "food for thought":
● New approaches to communicating complex ideas● Interactions between scientists and journalists, other communicators● Roles of scientists in public or professional communication● Science communication research in the age of misinformation● Information seeking, sharing, and processing in decision making● Inequities and other social factors affecting access to risk information● Communication and the social construction of risk
Try to make clear in your manuscript how the paper is connected to Sharon's work, whether through citation, notation, or discussion; this can probably be quite brief in many cases. If you had a personal connection with her (such as student, collaborator, or colleague), feel free to include mention of that in your biography file (see submission directions at the site). However, this call is not limited to people who knew her directly. Our journal's submission site is mc.manuscriptcentral.com/sc. Submission deadline for this issue is September 15, 2022; earlier submission is encouraged, while late submissions and those requiring extensive revisions may be accepted on a space-available basis or considered for a future regular issue. Please be certain to add the phrase "DUNWOODY ISSUE" at the beginning of your title (to be removed for publication). For questions, you may contact any of us directly at editorscicom@gmail.com (Susanna), robert.griffin@marquette.edu (Robert), or kahlor@austin.utexas.edu (Lee Ann).
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