Friday, January 31, 2020

CFP: Research Methods & Social Justice in LIS: Special issue of IJIDI (International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion)

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
A Special Issue of The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion (IJIDI)
INTERSECTING THEORIES AND METHODS
TO RESEARCH SOCIAL JUSTICE IN LIS SCHOLARSHIP
We invite contributions for a special issue of TheInternational Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion (IJIDI) (http://publish.lib.umd.edu/IJIDI) on the topic of “Intersecting Theories and Methods to Research Social Justice in LIS Scholarship.” We welcome full research papers that make a novel contribution to library and information science (LIS) scholarship, whether empirical, methodological, theory-based, pedagogical, and/or practical in nature. We also ask for Expressions of Interest contributions for a special section on notes-from-the-field, LIS student work, works-in-progress, opinion pieces, and professional reports.
The goal of this special issue is to bring together voices of both emerging scholars and established researchers from a wide range of interdisciplinary perspectives and paradigmatic roots that embrace social justice as an intentional and deliberate strategy in LIS scholarship to generate impact via their information-related work. The term “scholarship” is intentionally used to include documentation and analysis through intersecting lens of diverse theories and methods to implement social justice in LIS practice and research, education and teaching, policy development, service design, and program implementation, among other areas. This collection will showcase exemplars of LIS scholarship from across local, regional, national, and international contexts.

Thus, this special issue will provide examples of study that adopt rigorous models, frameworks, theories, methods, and approaches in LIS research to further social justice and inclusion advocacy in the field. In the process, this collection will fill gaps in showcasing intersections of LIS and interdisciplinary theories with traditional and non-traditional methods of research to further social justice principles of fairness, justice, and equality/equity for all people, including those on the margins of society.

Topics and subjects that expound the intersection of LIS theories and methods may include:
·       Implementing social justice within various domains (e.g., agriculture/rural, diversity, economy, education, health, information technology, law, manufacturing and industry, public policy, social welfare, etc.);
·       Addressing social justice issues related to the information creation-organization-management-dissemination-use processes, critical research design of socio-technical systems, or human information behavior of underserved or disenfranchised populations;
·       Examining problematic dimensions associated with information poverty, marginalization, information literacy of diverse patrons, privileged access and use, biased communication behaviors, information “expert” versus information user, and oppressive technologies;
·       Exploring ways in which LIS programs worldwide are seeking to develop and implement systematic approaches to integrate social justice, social equity, inclusion advocacy, critical information literacies and engaged scholarship while partnering with minority and underserved populations to make meaningful changes in LIS curriculum and discourse.

We invite fully developed research papers for the Articles section (original empirical research, conceptual and theoretical papers), as well as shorter submissions for the Special section (notes-from-the-field, LIS student work, works-in-progress, opinion pieces, and professional reports).

Submission Process – Important Dates
This special issue of IJIDI is scheduled for publication in January 2021. The following submission timeline applies:
31 March, 2020: Abstracts and Expressions of interest (name, role and affiliation: extended abstracts of up to 1,000 words for full research papers, and 250-500 words for contributions to the special section). Please email your submissions to: bmehra@ua.edu
30 April, 2020: Notification of acceptance
1 July, 2020: Full papers due
January 2021: Special issue published
This issue will be guest edited by: Bharat Mehra, Endowed Chair in Social Justice and Professor, University of Alabama, USA (bmehra@ua.edu
Author Guidelines and Peer Review Process
Please consult IJIDI Author Guidelines and IJIDI Peer Review Process at: 
https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

Any questions related to this issue should be addressed to: 
bmehra@ua.edu