Cambridge Forum on AI: Culture and Society publishes research both about and produced with artificial intelligence (AI): research about the social and cultural implications of AI as well as studies employing AI to develop new methodologies for critical research. Its goal is to understand the social and cultural situatedness of AI, how AI is socially and culturally enacted, how AI influences wider social and cultural formations, and how this might change with different culturally sensitive manifestations of AI. The journal takes up a core challenge of our times: how to make sense of and intervene in our entanglement with the emerging regimes of smart machines in order to both harness their positive potentials and mitigate their harmful effects. 

Cambridge Forum on AI: Culture and Society will publish humanities and social science research on epistemologies, histories and practices of AI, casting light on how AI applications translate, undermine or advance the diversity of social and cultural values and lifeworlds. Responding to wider public and political debates, and encouraging critical inquiry with AI as well as about AI, the journal will foster new methodologies, critical capacities and computational practices. Importantly, while the journal employs the terms ‘artificial intelligence’ and ‘AI’ , it joins those concerned to probe critically how it is that these terms have come to be established and reproduced uncontroversially. The journal will publish themed issues that tackle questions and problematizations that are shared, disputed and debated across disciplines.

All issues of the journal are guest edited and curated around a theme.

Proposals for themed issues should use the template included at the bottom of this page and include a title, a 300-word description of the proposed topic, a list of potential article topics or titles, and a list of confirmed or potential authors.

Proposals should take into account the journal’s aim to publish groundbreaking or agenda setting collections on key topics relevant to the scope of the journal, to engage multiple subject disciplines, and to promote dialogue between policymakers, practitioners, professionals and academics. They should also take into account the aim to include regional perspectives and to seek to engage a broad global readership. 

Proposals will be evaluated based on their quality, their fit with the journal’s remit, their original contribution to academic and policy discussions, the diversity of perspectives reflected in the proposed issue, the timeliness of the topic and the feasibility of the issue being completed within the specified timeframe. We encourage submissions developed by or including scholarship from groups under-represented in academia and welcome the inclusion of early-career researchers.

All articles submitted for a selected themed issue will be subject to the standard peer-review process operated by the journal. We expect Guest Editors to ensure that articles are of suitably high quality before submission to the journal and reserve the right to reject, before or after peer review, any that are not.

Guest Editors will be asked to draft a call for papers in the style used by the journal if their proposal is accepted. It is anticipated that themed issues will include papers initially invited by the Guest Editor(s) along with papers originally submitted in response to an open call.

Questions and proposals can be sent to the Editors-in-Chief of Cambridge Forum on AI: Culture and Society, at [email protected].

Themed issue proposal template

Guest Editor(s): Names, affiliated institutions, email addresses.

Guest Editor(s)' bios: No more than 100 words (each).

Issue title

Issue description: 300 words. Summarize the topic of the proposed issue, explaining its scope and the basic questions, problems, texts, people, events, ideas, and/or arguments that it will explore. 

Keywords: Provide 3-5 keywords describing the issue.

Is the issue linked in any way to an existing symposium, working group, project, etc.? Please provide details.

Anticipated number of articles and likely article types: List of confirmed authors (full name and affiliation), article titles, article types with short description for each one where available; if none confirmed, please list authors you propose to approach with topics and article types.

(Note: We will post an open call for papers for each themed issue to complement commissioning activity in order to foster openness, transparency and diversity within the journal.)

Publication timeline (author submission deadline): Please provide an expected submission deadline for authors (this will inform the closing date for the open call).

We expect that the issue will publish in its entirety 6-7 months after the author submission deadline (following peer review, manuscript revision and production).

Additional notes: Please include any additional context (e.g., intended audiences, key differentiators, notes for marketing, previous conversations about your proposed issue with members of the Editorial Team).

Note on peer review model: Journals in the Cambridge Forum series follow a double-anonymous peer review model. Guest Editors are expected to consult with the Editors-in-Chief when selecting reviewers. Following peer review of each paper, Guest Editors make a recommendation to the Editors-in-Chief, who have responsibility for all final decisions. Guest Editors may desk reject unsuitable contributions