JCASP-CFP-2026
| JCASP-CFP-2026 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Special issue, Other |
| Categories (tags) | Uncategorized |
| Dates | 2026/02/01 - 2026/04/30 |
| Link | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/10991298/homepage/call-for-papers/si-2025-001165 |
| Address | |
| Geolocation | |
| Abstract due | 2026/04/30 |
| Submission deadline | 2026/04/30 |
| Final version due | |
| Notification date | |
| Tweet | CFP: 30/4/2026: SI on 'Making Others' Misconduct Matter in the Public Sphere' for the Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, examining how third parties such as the public, social media users or institutions manage allegations of misconduct in public |
| Export for iCalendar | |
JCASP-CFP-2026:
Details:
Yarong Xie and Sue Widdicombe are seeking contributions to a Special Issue on Making Others' Misconduct Matter in the Public Sphere for the Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. Our aim is to collect papers which broadly examine how third parties such as the public, social media users or institutions, manage, dispute, judge, excuse, and respond to allegations of misconduct in the public realm.
Would you or your colleagues be interested in submitting a paper? If so, we’d be delighted to hear from you! We would also appreciate you forwarding this to anyone you think may be interested.
More details about the issue can be found on the Journal's website: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/10991298/homepage/call-for-papers/si-2025-001165
Please do get in touch with Yarong or Sue (s.widdicombe@ed.ac.uk) if you have questions or would like more information.
With best wishes Sue
Call for Papers Making Others Misconduct Matter In The Public Sphere Submission deadline: Thursday, 30 April 2026
Rationale of the Special Issue We invite submissions for a Special Issue devoted to examining how third parties manage, dispute, judge, excuse, and respond to allegations of misconduct in the public realm. We do so in recognition of the burgeoning exposure of misconduct in the news and on social media, which seems to trigger a multitude of responses and debate from members of the public or institutions of which they are members. For instance, the public responds to racist and sexual misconduct made by officers in the force, or social media users debate high-profile cases such as the murder of George Floyd, and Prince Andrew and the Epstein Scandal. ‘Third parties’ may thus refer to the public, social media users, and representatives of organisations.
Misconduct per se invites questions and judgements about the transgressor’s morality, character, and motive. It also calls for resolution and justice, especially from institutions in which the parties are members and wider society. Once misconduct is made public in the news or on social media, judgment about the incident and its transgressor/s is also opened up for public views and debate. By responding to the misconduct, the third party treats themselves as having a right to judge and react. This transforms the social and news media into a social court in which justice/injustice is negotiated publicly. Moreover, these third party’s responses reach a large audience and can inspire and fuel further actions from the protagonists, their affiliated organisations, and/or law enforcement bodies. For social psychologists, these public responses raise important questions on attitude, morality, accountability, interpersonal and intergroup relations, trust, and more. Addressing these questions through the viewpoints of the third party, in the public realm, also allows us to evaluate and position socio-psychological sciences in a world that is digitalising and globalising.
It is against this backdrop that we call for contributions that explore the third party’s responses to misconduct in the public domain, including their nature, how they are done in practice, how ratified or challenged, and their consequences. We welcome contributions that examine a range of aspects of the third party’s responses to misconduct. We invite articles from around the world, recognising the important role of the public voice and opinions, the growing communications that take place in the public sphere and online, and an urge to seek solutions for social problems.
The kind of questions and topics that we are interested include, but are not restricted to:
Topics of interest
How third parties (e.g., social media users, news reporters and/or commentators, and institutional spokespersons) respond to and/or debate the instances of misconduct
How third parties formulate their views, opinions, and reactions toward misconduct
The structure, organisation, and consequences of responses to misconduct
Attributions of blame, accountability, and morality to transgressors or institutions
Case studies or comparative investigations of third-party responses across platforms
Guest Editors: Dr. Sue Widdicombe The University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
Dr. Yarong Xie Newcastle University United Kingdom
Keywords: harassment; misconduct; wrongdoing
