The Communication Policy and Technology Section (CPT) of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites proposals for IAMCR 2025, to be held in Singapore from 13 July to 17 July, 2025.
The deadline for submission is 7 February 2025, at 23h59 UTC.
See the list of all sections and working groups and their remits
See the CfPs of all sections and working groups
General Conference Theme
IAMCR conferences address many diverse topics defined by our 37 thematic sections and working groups. We also propose a single central theme to be explored throughout the conference with the aim of generating and exploring multiple perspectives. This is accomplished through plenary and special sessions, as well as in many of the sessions of the sections and working groups. The 2025 central theme is Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet.
In an era defined by environmental crises and social disparities, the need for effective communication championing environmental justice has never been more urgent. Our theme, Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet, highlights the critical intersection of diverse voices from various stakeholders and their collaborative action in addressing the pressing challenges of our time.
Singapore, a vibrant city-state known for its cultural diversity and sustainability programs serves as an ideal backdrop for this discourse. Despite its small geographic footprint, Singapore is uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns. By hosting this conference in Singapore, we also aim to harness the multiplicity of perspectives that reflect its multicultural society and its numerous environmental initiatives. Here, we can explore how diverse voices can drive inclusive communication strategies that resonate with different communities, advocating for equity and justice in the face of environmental crises.
Consult a detailed description of the main theme
The Communication Policy and Technology Section focuses on the role of policy (broadly defined) in the development of media and communication technologies, both analogue and digital, in past, current and future societies.
For the IAMCR 2025 conference we invite papers that explore how the general theme “Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet” relates to media and communication policy and technology. We are interested in papers related to policy issues around media, communication technologies and online platforms, ranging from print-cultures to online applications and artificial intelligence in different domains of society. Over the last decade, the relations between (state and regional) institutions, citizens, and corporations have been fundamentally reconfigured. This development is accelerated and complicated by the rapid rise of transnational digital media platforms and their role in public discourses, leading to policy struggles to keep up with the dynamic changes in all societal spheres. In addition, we witness the emergence of social and populist movements, often related to new modes of governance and participation, which reconfigure the boundaries between culture, communication and politics. And lastly, we see increasing tendencies to “re-nationalize” policies and politics related to media and the digital, leading to an increasing fragmentation of regulatory frameworks.
The CPT section invites submissions that critically engage with these issues from a policy and technology perspective.
We welcome both papers and panel proposals addressing the following themes that fit in the general call for papers and are relevant to our section:
- Big Data and its implications for privacy, inclusiveness, respect etc.;
- Policies and debates around artificial intelligence and its ethical and social implications;
- Policies around automation, algorithms and quantification in different social domains (e.g. jurisprudence, health, social welfare, finance, policing, news and entertainment production) and their ethical and social implications;
- Policies and debates around recent and future communication technologies, including metaverse, blockchain, 5G, 6G, IPv6, Satellite Internet, etc.;
- Digital sovereignty, internet fragmentation and the challenges for global internet governance;
- Global media and communication governance (e.g., the WSIS+20; Global Digital Compact);
- National and regional policy initiatives, e.g. China's Belt and Road Initiative, ASEAN Plan of Action on Science, Technology and Innovation (APASTI), the DSA; DMA and AI Act in the EU, etc.;
- Comparative analysis of different policy regimes (e.g. trade policies and the resulting tensions between countries such as China and the US), their implementations and implications for communication and media practices;
- The effectiveness of international policies and laws related to ICTs and the Internet in different regions of the world;
- The roles played by different actors (both locally and globally) in shaping communication and media policies;
- Policies related to the digital divide, mobile access, media literacy, access and inclusion programmes etc.;
- Policies and governance regarding disinformation, social network bots, online harassment, hate speech, and cyberbullying, particularly as it relates to gender, race, class, ethnicity, nationality etc.;
- Policies related to online advertising and marketing, their implications for consumers and their privacy;
- Policies and debates around public service obligations, pluralism and diversity, convergence and net neutrality in broadcasting and internet/telecommunications services;
- Policies and regulations related to online activities that influence elections and electoral campaigns;
- Policies regarding the sustainability impact of communication technologies and data infrastructures (e.g. Singapore’s data centre moratorium or the EU directive on e-Waste).
Please note that the CPT section does not cover all the spectrum of communication technology-related research. As such, it is not meant to be the primary submission venue forproposals which focus only on the role of technology for political communication (e.g. campaign effects on voters), on human-computer-interaction (e.g. user research without policy implication), on the political economy of technology without a clear connection to policy (e.g. media ownership and concentration) and similar topics without a clear policy dimension. Please note that, depending on the number of submissions received, we may not be able to redirect proposals covering such topics and submitted to CPT to more appropriate sections or working groups of IAMCR.
Guidelines for abstracts
The CPT section welcomes abstract proposals between 500 and 800 words for papers in line with the conference and CPT themes.
We encourage submissions by emerging scholars and plan to hold at least one joint session with the Emerging Scholars Network Section (ESN). To participate in this joint session submit your abstract to ESN and choose the topic CPT/ESN joint session on the submission platform.
Abstracts should contain a title, main question or research problem, brief descriptions of the theoretical framework and method(s) used, and summarise the findings and their policy relevance.
Abstracts must be submitted exclusively through IAMCR’s submission system from 3 December 2024 through 7 February 2025, at 23.59 UTC.
Proposals are accepted for both single Papers and for Panels with several papers (in which you propose multiple papers that address a single theme). Please note that there are special procedures for submitting panel proposals and kindly check carefully the IAMCR guidelines for such proposals which you will find on the submission platform.
Requirements and Evaluation
It is expected that authors will submit only one (1) abstract. However, under no circumstances should there be more than two (2) abstracts bearing the name of the same author, either individually or as part of any group of authors.
The same abstract, or a version with minor variations in title or content, must not be submitted to more than one Section or Working Group. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected. Authors submitting the same work to multiple Sections or Working Groups risk being removed entirely from the conference programme.
Within CPT, the review is conducted this way: after a first screening by the section chairs, submitted abstracts fitting the scope of the section and fulfilling the necessary requirements will be evaluated by double-blinded reviews on the basis of: (1) theoretical contribution, (2) methods, (3) quality of writing, (4) relevance of the submission to the work of the CPT section and (communication/technology/media) policy, (5) originality and/or significance of the work, and (6) depth of knowledge of the research, theory and/or literature related to the proposed topic as evidenced in the submission. The section heads reserve the possibility to reject submissions without requesting additional reviews if they do not fit the scope of the section or do not fulfill the necessary requirements.
If a proposal is accepted, the presenter must confirm and register for the conference. Only registered participants will be included in the final conference programme.
Prior to the conference, a full paper will need to be uploaded to the conference website.
To continue our pre-Covid tradition, a CPT best paper award prize may be awarded. Only full papers submitted by the full paper deadline of 16 June, qualify for consideration.
Statement on use of AI tools
IAMCR does not encourage or condone the use of generative AI tools to prepare abstracts submitted for consideration for our conferences. IAMCR values originality, integrity, and transparency in academic work, and believes that human-authored contributions best support rigorous and innovative scholarship in media and communication research. Should an author choose to use a generative AI tool in the preparation of an abstract, we require that they include a clear statement within their submission disclosing the tool's use. This statement must specify: (1) the name of any AI tool used; (2) how the tool was used in preparing the abstract, and; (3) the reason for using the tool. Failure to disclose the use of generative AI in accordance with these guidelines may impact the evaluation and acceptance of the submission.
Languages
We welcome submissions in all three official languages of IAMCR: English, French and Spanish.
Please note that if you wish to present in French or Spanish, we will ask you to prepare English language slides to facilitate communication.
Deadlines and key dates
The deadline to submit abstracts is 7 February 2025, at 23.59 UTC. For other key dates see https://iamcr.org/singapore2025/keydates. Dates are subject to change.
Contact
For further information on the CPT themes, submissions, panels and on the CPT section please contact:
Co-chair: Julia Pohle (WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Germany) <julia.pohle@wzb.eu>
Co-chair: Weiyu Zhang (National University of Singapore) <viyucheung@gmail.com>
Vice chair: Leah Komen (Daystar University, Kenya) <ledavid2002@gmail.com>
Vice chair: Guy Hoskins (Carleton University, Canada) <ghoskins@torontomu.ca>
