Call for papers | Vol. 52 | Communication and Science | From October 1, 2026 to December 15, 2026

2026-09-30

Thematic editors: Madalena Oliveira (CECS, Universidade do Minho, Portugal), Sandra Marinho (CECS, Universidade do Minho, Portugal) and Ángel Carrasco-Campos (Universidad de Valladolid, Spain)

The relationship between communication and science encompasses much more than disseminating scientific findings or translating science for non-specialist audiences. It also involves the fundamental conditions under which knowledge is produced, legitimised, published, funded, assessed, and contested. Communication thus has a dual status: it operates as a practice through which scientific work is shared, disseminated, and made visible, while simultaneously constituting an object of scholarly inquiry.

Amid accelerating information flows, the expanding influence of digital platforms, the proliferation of disinformation, and declining trust in institutions, the relationship between communication and science has gained heightened significance. Science is increasingly expected not only to generate knowledge but also to demonstrate impact and to inform, shape, and support decision-making in domains such as politics, the economy, the environment, and public health. Communication is integral to this process, facilitating relationship-building, fostering connections, and establishing the networks essential to social development and the effective application of scientific knowledge.

This thematic volume of Comunicação e Sociedade aims to bring together contributions that investigate the diverse dimensions of the relationship between communication and science from broad, interdisciplinary perspectives. It invites submissions that examine the practices, discourses, forms of mediation, policies, and communication ecosystems involved in producing, circulating, and receiving scientific knowledge, as well as the transformations affecting relationships among science, media, technology, and society.

The call is open to theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions from communication sciences and other disciplines that can enrich and deepen the scholarly debate in this field.

Topics of interest:

  • public communication of science;
  • science journalism;
  • the media and scientific literacy;
  • disinformation, pseudoscience and fact-checking;
  • artificial intelligence and science communication;
  • digital platforms, social media and the circulation of scientific knowledge;
  • public participation, open science and the co-production of knowledge;
  • science policies and publishing systems;
  • meta-research and scholarly communication;
  •  institutional communication of universities and research centres;
  • research funding, metrics and impact assessment;
  • representations of science in the media and popular culture;
  • the history of science communication;
  • epistemology, authority and the legitimacy of scientific knowledge;
  • internationalisation, multilingualism and the geopolitics of scientific communication;
  • communication cultures and practices within academic and scientific communities.

Proposal submission period (full manuscript): from October 1, 2026 to December 15, 2026

Publication period: continuous edition (July to December 2027)

LANGUAGE

Articles may be submitted in English or Portuguese. The articles selected for publication will be translated into Portuguese or English, respectively, and shall be published in full in both languages.

EDITING AND SUBMISSION

Comunicação e Sociedade is an open-access academic journal operating according to rigorous standards of the peer review system and following a double-blind review process. Each submitted work will be assigned to at least two reviewers previously invited to assess it, according to its academic quality, originality and relevance to the objectives and scope of the theme.

Original submissions should be made through the journal’s website. When accessing Comunicação e Sociedade for the first time, you must register before submitting your article (instructions to register here).

Refer to the guidelines for authors here.

For further information, please contact: comunicacaoesociedade@ics.uminho.pt