CALL FOR PAPERS
Submit by november 2, 2026 at 12pm EST
The theme for ICA 2027 invites scholars to reflect on the nature and aims of communication research in a time shaped by the transformative impact of artificial intelligence, and set against the backdrop of intensifying global crises, growing authoritarianism and democratic backsliding, geopolitical instability, and climate emergency.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping communication processes, societal institutions (including higher education), and research practices across the globe. From algorithmic curation of social media platforms to the use of Large Language Models for communication practices and scholarship, AI is transforming how communication is produced, circulated, researched, and governed.
These developments raise fundamental questions about the place of human agency in communication. They require us to reflect on the aims and preoccupations of communication research, accounting for technological change without losing our inherent focus on how humans communicate, and the role of traditional media organizations and platforms within this process.
Unequal access to AI and disparate impacts of the technology and its infrastructure throughout the world bring a new dimension to ongoing challenges of expanding communication research and growing a more inclusive community of scholars. These questions are both normative and practical, and reverberate across the varied fields and areas of research represented by ICA divisions and interest groups.
At the same time, the uncertainties confronting communication are not reducible to technological change alone. We are living through a period marked by overlapping and compounding forms of uncertainty. These include, but are not limited to, geopolitical conflict on a global scale; environmental crisis and climate precarity; economic instability and widening inequalities; and epistemic uncertainty in the form of misinformation, challenges to academic freedom and scholarly expertise, and declining trust in institutions, including universities and legacy media organizations. These conditions represent challenges for individuals, groups, civic society actors, and media organizations — as well as for communication researchers. The transformations we are witnessing are experienced unevenly across the world. This theme therefore invites broader reflection on the role of communication and communication scholarship, in understanding and addressing the challenges of our time.
To center the human in communication research means foregrounding lived experience and human agency in mediated communication, while coming to terms with the growing power of automated agents within communication processes. It means critically theorizing the impact of these transformations, informed by normative commitments. But it also entails examining how our engagement with ever-changing technologies shapes everyday communicative practices and institutional structures. It ultimately invites reflection on the role of scholars, methods, and epistemologies in shaping knowledge about communication under conditions of uncertainty.
We encourage submissions that examine how communication is evolving in this context, across diverse global settings. Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following questions:
What new methodological and theoretical frameworks are needed to study communication in rapidly changing environments?
How do technological, geopolitical, environmental, or epistemic uncertainties shape communication practices and institutions?
How is artificial intelligence reconfiguring human agency, creativity, and labor in communication? What are the main challenges and opportunities of these transformations?
In what ways are communication systems implicated in democratic backsliding, authoritarianism, polarization, and struggles over trust and legitimacy?
How are conditions of uncertainty unevenly experienced and mediated across different social and global contexts, and what role does communication play in structuring these inequalities?
What are the implications of global crises (including climate change, conflict and health emergencies) for human communication, broadly understood?
How do cultural, affective, and embodied dimensions of communication shape experiences of, and responses to, uncertainty?
What role can communication scholars play in fostering more just, inclusive, and sustainable futures?
Submission and Deadline
Individual submissions and session proposals can be submitted to the annual conference through the ScholarOne submission system until November 2, 2026 @ 12:00 noon ICA headquarters time (EST). Only online submissions will be accepted for the conference. Specific questions regarding a Division or Interest Group (DIG) program should be directed to the program planner for that DIG. All submissions and proposals should be written in English.
Participating as a co-author, session organiser, chair, or respondent does not count against this limit. As the submitter, you are presumed to be the first/presenting author — we recommend first authors submit on behalf of their teams.
Each unique paper/proposal may be submitted to only one Division or Interest Group, OR to the theme sessions. Submission of the same paper/proposal to more than one section is not permitted, and will disqualify the paper for presentation. You are welcome, however, to submit different papers or proposals to the same or different sections.
Popular Media and Culture (PMC) division is a forum for scholarly investigation, analysis, and dialogue among communication and media researchers interested in a wide variety of communication forms, phenomena and strategic systems of symbols within the context of contemporary popular culture. Division members employ a range of critical and empirical methods to understand diverse popular communication acts, artifacts, products and processes that constitute, entertain, inform and/or persuade audiences. We are an open-minded, international community of scholars invested in questions of ideology, identity, resistance, power and pleasure in the domain of popular culture.
General submission information
For the 2027 annual conference, the PMC division invites papers, panels, roundtables, and extended abstracts from scholars in all career phases, but especially those from traditionally underrepresented groups in academia. Papers can address the 2027 Conference theme, but can also focus on other topics that advance discussions in popular media and culture. We will also accept research escalator extended abstracts.
Submissions must adhere to the guidelines in the ICA general call for papers. Authors are not allowed to submit previously published papers. Please also make sure to anonymize your submission or it will be automatically disqualified.
It is also very important for you to choose the right keywords to represent your manuscript. These keywords are used to select reviewers for your submission. The more specific you can be, the better the match between reviewers and submission.
Submission of the same paper to multiple divisions is strictly prohibited. Submission of material that does not meet Division requirements will result in automatic rejection.
By submitting a paper to the division, you also agree to act as a reviewer. In one’s general profile set-up (the “Profile & Reviewer Sign-Up” tab), please do not forget to select “yes” to review and select keywords belonging to our PMC division.
Submission formats
We accept the following submission formats:
Full papers: Full papers should not exceed 8,000 words in length, excluding title, abstract, keywords, tables, images, appendices, and references (include the word count on the title page). Papers should be in 12-point type, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins and with all identifying information removed (i.e., blinded manuscript). Submitters should select 2-3 keywords that identify the thematic focus of the paper in ScholarOne. Please note that accepted full papers may be scheduled either on panels or in an interactive (“poster”) session.
Extended abstracts: Extended abstracts are intended for works in progress, offering the opportunity to present ongoing research. These submissions are limited to 1,500-2,500 words, excluding title, abstract, keywords, tables, images, appendices, and references (include the word count on the title page). A full paper must be submitted to the PMC division planner (arthur.sotovasquez@unlv.edu) copying (runchao.liu@de.edu) at least 6 weeks prior to the conference. Submissions should present in a concise way the purpose of the paper, main theoretical framework/assumptions, research methods, and preliminary and/or expected results. Submissions should also clearly state the contribution of the paper to popular media and culture. In the introduction, they should provide a good justification of why they are submitting an extended abstract instead of a full paper – this will be taken into account in the review. Submissions should be in 12-point type, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins and all identifying information removed (i.e., blinded manuscript). Submitters should select 2-3 keywords that identify the thematic focus of the paper in ScholarOne. Extended abstracts are not eligible for top paper awards.
Research Escalator Abstracts: The Research Escalator Session is a mentorship opportunity for PhD students only to receive feedback and support on a project that is being developed, with the goal of eventually turning part of this work into a conference submission or journal article. The submission of an extended abstract (between 800-1000 words) of the work, excluding title, abstract, keywords, tables, figures, and references, should be made using the submission portal. Please delete all identifying information before submitting the abstract. Do not submit a research escalator abstract in the category ‘Extended Abstract’ described above - this will result in automatic rejection. If the abstract is selected for mentorship, a full paper must be submitted to the PMC division planner (arthur.sotovasquez@unlv.edu; copying runchao.liu@du.edu) at least 6 weeks prior to the conference (April 23, 2027) to allow sufficient time for mentors’ review. During the Research Escalator Session, scholars present their projects in a 2-minute pitch (no slides) and then meet one-on-one with mentors for feedback.
We also welcome pre-constituted session proposals:
Paper panel proposals: Panels may include (1) four or five papers, or (2) four papers with a chair/respondent/discussant. Panel proposals are encouraged though not required to include a chair and/or respondent/discussant. Proposals should include contributions from at least two different countries, feature gender balance, and include not more than one contributor from a single faculty, department, or school. These points are all based on the honor system.Please follow these guidelines when creating your panels. More submission details below.
Roundtable proposals: Roundtable sessions involve more speakers/session leaders (6-10) who give shorter, more informal presentations of their work. Roundtables are intended to provide more time for audience interaction/discussion. Submissions should articulate specifically why a roundtable format is optimal and provide a clear rationale for how audience interactivity will enhance these sessions. More submission details below.
Importantly, panel and roundtable submissions should cohere around a single topic (one that is timely and directly relevant to the division), with each paper providing a distinct perspective. Sessions should aim to reflect and juxtapose different interregional, international, transnational, and global perspectives. Proposals whose participants and topics reflect the cultural, geographical, and gender diversity of the Division’s scholarly community, and which include both junior and senior scholars, will be viewed most favorably. Sessions consisting of multiple panelists from a single institution are strongly discouraged, as are panels that closely mirror one from a recent ICA, in either composition or topic.
Proposals for panel and roundtable sessions must enter the following through the ScholarOne submission website:
A title
A 75-word description of the session to be published in the conference program.
Suggest divisional and interest group co-sponsors (if applicable).
A 400-word abstract for the session.
If you are submitting a roundtable proposal, following the abstract, provide a brief rationale (< 200 words) explaining why a roundtable is the preferred format. If you are submitting a paper proposal, this rationale is optional and should be used only if there is a need for explaining something above and beyond what has been included in other aspects of the proposal (e.g., a unique format, further clarification of how the papers fit together, connection to an external event, etc.).
Enter the name and affiliation of all participants on the panel/roundtable, including presenters and chair/discussant/respondent (if applicable). Include a title and a 150-word abstract for each presenter, followed by a very brief (< 100 words) description of each presenter’s background and qualifications regarding the proposed topic.
ICA’s submission system ScholarOne may offer different word-length limits, but the limits stated above take precedence. If the work is accepted by the division, a presentation is expected from the submitter, who must be a registered attendee at the conference.
We are open to proposals for alternative formats, but these should be discussed with the Division’s Conference Program Planner before being submitted for review.
PRESENTING REMOTELY
Divisions and interest groups are not permitted to accept remote/hybrid/virtual submissions. Those who need to present remotely should submit to the theme or the interdivisional sections (both of which will have hybrid capabilities) INSTEAD of to a division/IG. In the submission system’s drop-down list, the interdivisional section and the conference theme are separate options from the names of the 34 divisions and interest groups. If there is a chance you won't be able to attend in person (due to visa restrictions or financial limitations, for instance), DO NOT submit to the division/IG unless you have a disability accommodation (see below).* Please note that asking the Chair to allow you to “DIY” Zoom-in to present in an in-person DIG session is not permitted.
*Exceptions will be made for disability accommodations: If you plan to submit a paper or panel to a Division/IG and you or someone on your panel will require accommodation due to a disability (whether that accommodation is remote presentation access or some other intervention), please submit to the division/IG and note the accommodation needed in the comments box so that the planner knows in advance and can flag this requirement for conference organizers. (These comments will not be seen by reviewers.) Please note that ICA only has two rooms for hybridity so there is still a limit to the number of exceptions that can be made until we run out of space.
How to submit:
Reviews -Please Help Out!
We are a community of researchers. It is therefore expected that everyone who submits to the Popular Media and Culture Division will volunteer to review papers.
In one’s general profile set-up, please do not forget to select “yes” to review and select keywords belonging to our PMC division. This is very important, so we can match papers with each reviewer’s interests and expertise.
If submitting a panel or roundtable proposal, be sure to remind fellow panel members to volunteer to review for the Division.
We would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone of the importance of following the ICA’s rules and fulfilling our membership obligations. We also appreciate those who are willing to do a couple of extra reviews for the coming conference. Those who have been especially helpful are nominated as ‘rock star reviewers’, among whom one of them is chosen across ICA to receive complimentary registration.
Thus, please be a good citizen and if you can do a couple of extra reviews, let us know: runchao.liu@du.edu and arthur.sotovasquez@unlv.edu
Chairs
Scholars interested in chairing sessions should email the PMC Division program planners. The sooner, the better so interests can be matched.
Awards
Every year, we honor the Top Faculty Paper and the Top Student Paper submitted to the division. Papers submitted via the conference submission site are automatically eligible for consideration for these awards.
Get in Touch!
We always want to know more about what our members are doing. Please let us know about new publications, upcoming events and anything one wants to promote. We can give more visibility to one’s work through our website (Icapopular.com), Twitter/X (https://x.com/ICAPopular) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/groups/popularmediaculture/).
Contact
Those seeking help with the submission process are invited to contact the Division’s Conference Program Planners, Runchao Liu, runchao.liu@du.edu and Arthur Soto-Vásquez, arthur.sotovasquez@unlv.edu
