Call for Papers:

The ethics of generative artificial intelligence and related topics in communication practice
A special issue of the journal Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics
http://commlist.org/archive/all/2025-all/msg01198.html

Deadline for expressions of interest: October 15, 2025
Deadline for submission of full papers: March 2026

Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics, welcomes papers on the ethics of generative artificial intelligence and related topics in communication practice.

How do we sort the competing claims and concerns made for AI tools, including problems of bias, accuracy and hallucination, concerns over how it changes professional work or even displaces it, questions of transparency, control or ownership of content? How do these stack up against the opportunities that AI affords to make work more efficient, less prone to error or enabling professionals to extend their work? What ethical or regulatory boundary rails need to be put in place or what literacy is needed among both professionals and audiences? Underneath these questions are broader questions around these synthetic media, such as human autonomy or editorial independence and AI’s invisible role in shaping how knowledge is both produced and understood. Please send us an expression of interest in the first instance. From the expressions, we will invite authors to submit full papers for the editors’ consideration. Acceptance will be on the basis of peer review of the full papers.

We are looking for papers in two areas:

1) Critical-theoretical contributions on principles relating to the ethical use of AI in communication. This can include conceptual work on problems and issues, work on codes of ethics or other normative proposals, explorations of underlying ideas, analysis of the political economy of AI or similar approaches. This work may be empirical, but the focus should be on contributing to the analytical toolkit on AI.

2) Contributions on the use of AI in media and other communication practices. This can include analysis of media practice, case studies of good practice, reflections from practitioners on challenges and opportunities and the like.

We welcome work by scholars, research students and communication professionals. The deadline for expressions of interest is 15 October 2025. Full papers will be due in March 2026 and publication will be in July 2026. Expressions of interest should be 250 words and discuss, argument, approach and (where appropriate) the methods used. Papers in Ethical Space are usually 5000 words, excluding references. No payment from authors is required: ES is free to publish in.

More about the journal is available at https://ethicalspace.pubpub.org/

Please contact the special issue editors, Donald Matheson (donald.matheson@canterbury.ac.nz) and Stephen J.A. Ward (stephen.ward@bellaliant.net), with any questions.