Big Data & Society is a leading interdisciplinary academic journal publishing groundbreaking research at the intersection of social sciences, humanities, and computer science. It has become a crucial reference across diverse disciplines for research focusing on major transformations shaping our digital societies. It's one of the most important outlets for scholarly works that want to critically engage with themes such as the introduction of novel digital technologies or the governance of AI, or for works that want to develop novel approaches (from digital methods to computational social sciences to critical data studies).
Big Data & Society is a relevant journal for many researchers at VUB, notably (but not exclusively) researchers working on the intersection of technology, politics and law (e.g. LSTS), communication and media studies (SMIT), as well as on questions of digitalisation and policy (e.g. Brussels School of Governance) or urban studies and geography (e.g. Cosmopolis Centre for Urban Research). We welcome applications from such groups and beyond. For the second day of the workshop, we invite participation from broader research communities, and especially researchers engaged with Critical Data Studies, Science and Technology Studies and other interdisciplinary fields.
The workshop sets out to have an interactive format. For those with a concrete interest in publishing in an interdisciplinary journal such as Big Data & Society, a first session provides the opportunity to receive feedback on an abstract from a relevant editor. For this, prior submission of an abstract is required. A closed session on the first day will be held for accepted abstracts to be discussed in breakout sessions.
For all those interested, the second day of the workshop will have an open format, only registration is required. These sessions will include Q & A opportunities. The goal is to stimulate conversation surrounding the ins and outs of interdisciplinary publishing in leading journals, as well as editorial work itself. It will also be an opportunity to network with other engaged researchers.
Call for abstracts
We are launching a call for abstracts for sample papers to be discussed by the editors. The abstract should pitch a potential paper that is geared toward publishing in an interdisciplinary journal such as Big Data & Society. The abstract should have a maximum of 500 words (this higher word limit aims at allowing authors to provide some further information about their paper project). Co-authored abstracts are welcome. On Thursday January 30th, registered researchers will have closed sessions with a BD&S editor where they will receive feedback on aspects of their potential paper.
Please submit your abstract through the registration form by the registration deadline January 23.
In case of a co-authored abstract (individual submissions are also welcome):
All members of the group have to register individually via the registration form.
One member per group is asked to submit the group's abstract.
The organization team will timely inform all individuals and groups about the acceptance of submission and the allocated time slot.
Editor biographies
Jennifer Gabrys is editor of Big Data & Society. Gabrys is Chair in Media, Culture and Environment in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge. She is Principal Investigator on the ERC-funded project, Smart Forests: Transforming Forests into Social-Political Environments. She also leads the Citizen Sense and AirKit projects, which have both received funding from the ERC.
Matthew Zook is editor of Big Data & Society. He is a Research Professor of Geography at the University of Kentucky. He is a leading researcher in the field of digital and economic geography, heavily cited across a range of fields. His current research examines (1) How are digital technologies changing the spatial economy, globalization and cities? (2) How do big data and digital technologies provide new ways to study economic networks and cities? (3) What do big data and digital technologies mean for governance and policy?