Category: Topical Issues CfPs

Dark Side Special Issue

Call for Papers & Editors

Published: 27 October 2019


Evils within virtual worlds

Evil – the intentions, motivations, forces or actions with malevolence, immorality, badness, wrongness, or harmfulness which are inflicted against humanity.  How do evil and darkness manifest themselves in virtual worlds? This is the topic of this special issue.

The Dark Side issue is for papers highlighting the interesting topic of how, why, and in what ways Augmented and Virtual Worlds are associated with so-called evil or wickedness or with dark intentions.

Authors and researchers keen on this subject are invited to submit directly to the ‘Dark Side’ issue and should do so by adding the words “submitted for the Dark Side” in the “Comments for Editor” on the 1st step of the submission process.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Evil or dark behaviors
  • Concepts of evil
  • Immorality
  • Corruption
  • Malevolence
  • Motives
  • Intentions
  • Forces

Submission Instructions

Authors are invited to submit original scholarly papers of 3000-5000 words including footnotes, references, and appendices. Interested authors should submit a full paper by the deadline indicated below. All submissions should be made via the JVWR publishing system – see https://jvwr.net/for-authors/ for instructions. All submissions will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published online in Volume 13, Number 1 (2020) of the Journal.

Deadlines and Timetable

November 15, 2019: Authors submit full papers
December 20, 2019: Editors final decision
January 25, 2020: Authors submit final revision
February 25, 2020: Camera-ready
March 2020: Publication

Login and submit here.

Editors

The JVWR (the Journal for Virtual Worlds Research) is also looking for 1-3 co-editors (you can join as a group) to lead the Dark Side issue (2020) due for publication in 2020 Q1.

The issue editors role includes assigning reviews, supporting the publication process, and communication throughout.

If you have an interest and background in this area please send your CV and supporting documents to [email protected]

Based on 10-15 submissions you will:

  • Review and decide on full papers.
  • Coordinate with reviewers.
  • Use our publication system and tools— extensively (be also versed with Google docs, Skype, Zoom, and other current tools.)
  • Be a deadline-targeted & an organized person.
  • Get academic credit as an editor.

 

CfP: Impact of Immersive Environments

Call for Papers – JVWR Special Issue


The Journal for Virtual Worlds Research (https://jvwr.net/) is pleased to announce the call for a special issue on the theme of the Impact of Immersive Environments edited by:

Professor Michael Thomas, University of Central Lancashire, UK (Prime)

Dr. Tuncer Can, University of Istanbul, Turkey

Professor Michael Vallance, Future University, Japan

You can access this call directly through our website here.

About JVWR – the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

Now in its 11th year, the JVWR is an online, open access academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship and welcomes contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect with virtual worlds research. Virtual worlds ignite a continuously evolving area of study that spans multiple disciplines and the JVWR editorial team looks forward to engaging a wide range of creative and scholarly research.

Motivation and Scope

Over the last two decades research on virtual worlds and immersive environments has engaged with a wide variety of stakeholders and beneficiaries across many disciplines and fields that naturally involve high stakes, engaging with participants with learning and physical disabilities to the military, citizen democracy, and digital civics.

In this issue we want to tackle the following issues:

  • What is the usefulness of such research?
  • Who are the main beneficiaries of the research?
  • What real-world problems does the research on virtual worlds address?
  • How can the effectiveness of the research be measured, if at all?
  • Can we identify short, medium and longer term conceptions of impact?

While study and research for their own sake or for character development have been core components of many disciplines, particularly in the humanities or social sciences, the consolidation of neoliberal values in higher education has led to questions about the practical application of research and its influence on and relationship with society and stakeholders.

Specifically, in the UK the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) adapted this approach to impact to help measure the real-world application of research, its public engagement, and use-value, in relation, for example, to health, the economy, society or culture. While impact has attracted much criticism and debate, it has been consolidated in the intervening period and with REF2021, the next UK Government exercise aimed at evaluating research excellence in higher education, impact, now defined as an activity that can take place both internal and external to universities, has increased its weighting in the exercise. While the impact agenda has been influential in higher education in the UK, we now find other governments and research councils around the world adopting similar definitions (e.g., Australian Research Council, Hong Kong, the AACSB in the USA).

Definitions of “impact” have proliferated alongside critique and it is important to consider the applicability of the term, as well as to reflect on how it can be shaped and defined to lead to productive and meaningful research and scholarly activity.

In terms of the REF exercises impact is defined in relation to “reach (the extent and/or diversity of the organizations, communities and/or individuals who have benefited from the impact) and significance (the degree to which the impact enriched, influenced, informed or changed the policies, practices, and understanding or awareness of organizations, communities or organizations)” (REF, 2012, p. 93).

It does not merely relate to measuring dissemination activity e.g., how many people read a book, or visited a gallery, or follow your research findings on Twitter. Rather, it relates to what measurable influence the research has had on its beneficiaries as a result of activities associated with it.

For the Economic and Social Research Council in the UK (ESRC), impact can be defined as “Academic impact”, which is the “demonstrable contribution that excellent social and economic research makes in shifting understanding and advancing scientific, method, theory and application across and within disciplines” and/or “Economic and societal impact”, which is the “demonstrable contribution that excellent social and economic research makes to society and the economy, and its benefits to individuals, organizations and/or nations” (https://esrc.ukri.org/research/impact-toolkit/what-is-impact/).

This special edition of The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research is a timely intervention into these debates in the context of educational technology and seeks to develop productive critical perspectives on impact, discussing in what ways, over what time periods and to what extent impact can be a valuable concept in this field.

Authors are invited to submit original scholarly manuscripts that will make significant contributions to the advancement of our understanding of research impact with respect to virtual worlds and immersive environments defined broadly.

We encourage transdisciplinary research as well as diverse methodological approaches and welcome both qualitative and quantitative research studies, as well as theoretical, conceptual, and empirical studies. Critical perspectives on virtual worlds research and what constitutes impact are encouraged, rather than merely small-scale experimental studies. Authors may wish to reflect on their work over a longer period of time and to produce narratives that combine findings from several studies. Meta-analyses of research in the field which adopt a longer-term perspective are also encouraged.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Impact on disciplines (e.g., health and wellbeing, politics, psychology, medicine, arts, and humanities)
  • Impact on people (e.g., special educational needs, the disabled, migrants and refugees, children, families and parents, communities, and/or in terms of race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality)
  • Impact on tools (e.g., AR, AI, eResearch methods, robotics, mobile applications, educational resources, gamification, serious games)
  • Impact on problems (e.g., real-world challenges, citizenship, big data, pedagogical etc.)

The editors welcome efforts to define and problematize “impact” as a category for evaluating research, and articles that seek to promote transdisciplinary research on immersive and virtual worlds, nationally and internationally, in established western contexts as well as in emerging contexts in Africa, South America, the Middle East, and Asia.

Submission Instructions

The vetting process will start with a 300 word abstract leading, if invited, to a full paper submission of up to 6000 words including footnotes, references, and appendices. All submissions (abstracts and papers) should be made via the JVWR publishing system (see www.jvwr.net> About JVWR > For Authors). All submissions will be double-open reviewed. Accepted papers will be published online in Volume 12, Number 2 (2019) of the Journal.

Deadlines & timeline

  • Authors submit an abstract of 300 words with an expression of interest: January 7, 2019
  • Editors return acceptance: January 21, 2018
  • Authors submit full paper: April 1, 2019
  • Editors return peer review report: May 15, 2019
  • Authors submit a revised paper: June 1, 2019
  • Editors return final decision: July 1, 2019
  • Publication: September 2019

Biographies of Editors

Dr. Michael Thomas is Professor of Higher Education and Online Learning at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. He has published over twenty books and special editions of peer-reviewed journals, coordinated several large-scale funded projects on immersive environments, and is the founding editor of the book series Digital Education and Learning (Palgrave).

Dr. Tuncer Can is Assistant Professor at the University of Istanbul in Turkey. His research interests are in computer-assisted learning and he’s been a partner in several EU funded projects on immersive environments and virtual worlds, particularly those involving gamification and video-based learning, including CAMELOT (2013-15) and GUINEVERE (2017-2019).

Dr. Michael Vallance is a Professor in the Department of Media Architecture (previously Director of the Center for Meta-Learning – CML) at Future University, Japan. He has a Doctorate in Education from Durham University, a Master’s Degree in Computer Assisted Learning from Stirling University, UK, and a BSc(Hons) Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Wales, UK.

More things you can do

  • Browse JVWR’s previous issues.
  • Subscribe to our mailing list (on the top left of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research home page) to receive our news and updates (no spam guaranteed.)
  • Connect with us on twitter @TheJVWR and on our Facebook page (TheJVWR).

Thankfully,

Prof. Yesha Y. Sivan

Editor-In-Chief
The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research
www.jvwr.net

Published: November 22, 2018

CfP: Pedagogy – Taking Stock and Looking Forward

Call for Proposals — Pedagogy in Virtual Worlds – Ten Year perspective

Published: August 2, 2018


Abstract submission by August 20, with publication Q4-2018

A special issue on pedagogy and learning in immersive environments to be led by Dr. Kenneth Y T Lim, from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore


Motivation and Scope

2019 marks the tenth anniversary of a landmark issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, which was themed on ‘Pedagogy.’ Volume 2 Number 1 of the journal was the fruition of a vision of the late Leslie Jarmon. Dr. Jarmon was a pioneer academic in the use of virtual worlds and immersive environments for learning, and the issue at the time (2009) – was the cutting edge of academic thought on what the affordances of virtual worlds are, and how they could be leveraged for learning.

Much has changed since the heady days of the late 2000s, yet many aspects have proved enduring.

This issue aims to document both the present and emerging state-of-the-art, covering the adoption, design, enaction, scaling and translation of immersive and/or mixed-reality environments for learning, and in other contexts of education.

Topics that would be of relevance to this issue include, but are not limited to:

  • The use of virtual worlds and/or immersive environments for learning
  • Mixed-modality / mixed-reality learning environments
  • Augmented reality in contexts of education
  • Virtual reality in contexts of training and/or instruction
  • Emerging research / late-breaking research on such environments with respect to learning
  • Think-pieces on the future of virtual worlds / mixed-reality environments for learning
  • The scaling of such interventions and their translation into different contexts of learning

Submission instructions

This is a 2 phase submission process: abstracts and then the full paper.
Interested authors are requested to submit a 500-word abstract by Aug. 20, 2018, via email to [email protected] address. After review by the issue editors, authors of the accepted abstracts will be invited to submit original scholarly papers of 3000-5000 words (including footnotes, references, and appendices).
The guest editors are happy to discuss proposals for contributions, please contact Dr. Kenneth Lim at Kenneth.lim AT nie DOT edu DOT sg for questions prior to submission.

The full submissions should be made directly via the JVWR publishing system by October 20, 2018. For detailed instructions see  www.jvwr.net > About JVWR > For Authors. All submissions will be peer reviewed using the JVWR double-open policy, which means that authors do not need to anonymize their papers, and reviewers’ identity is known to authors. See more details at  JVWR site –> About JVWR –> For Authors –> Our double-Open Policy.

Deadlines & timeline

Authors submit abstracts: August 20, 2018
Editors’ decision on abstracts: August 25, 2018
Authors submit full papers: October 20, 2018
Editors return final decision after review: November 15, 2018
Authors submit final revision: November 25, 2018
Publication: December 25, 2018

Note: Call for co-editors

Potential co-editors for this special issue are invited to approach the journal editorial team ([email protected]) with CV and a cover letter depicting your interest and background in Virtual Worlds. The co-editors assist in managing the review process, supervise the final publications, and distribute the news about the release – all using The JVWR internal state of the art publishing process.

Further Information

Please contact: [email protected]

The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (https://jvwr.net/) is an online, open access academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship and welcomes contributions from the various disciplines and approaches that intersect with virtual worlds research. Virtual worlds ignite a continuously evolving area of study that spans multiple disciplines and the JVWR editorial team looks forward to engaging a wide range of creative and scholarly research.

CfP: Mind

Call for Editors and Papers on “Augmented Mind”

Published: August 4, 2017


Call for a prime editor, co-editor(s), and papers on “Augmented Mind”, for a special issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research to be published 2018 Q2.

The JVWR seeks to develop a special issue dedicated to an exploration of the Mindas an umbrella concept of research with relations to virtual worlds.

Suggested topics may include but are not limited to the following concepts:

  • Mindfulness
  • Flow
  • New ways of teaching
  • Psychology
  • Digital media studies
  • Games of the mind
  • Relevant hardware
  • EEG / fMRI

Call for Prime and Co- Editors:

We are looking for a prime guest editor (with potentially one co-editor) to manage the process. This is a great opportunity to influence the state of our field.

You will:

  • Develop a detailed call
  • Review and decide on abstracts and full papers
  • Coordinate reviewers
  • Use our publication system — extensively (be versed also with Google docs, Skype, and other current tools.)
  • Be a deadline-targeted & taking-charge person.
  • Work as single editor or add one or more co-editors.
  • Able to write a short intro including your view / vision / insight on the field.
  • Get the academic credit as an editor.

Please reply by August 15, 2018, to [email protected] with an academic CV and a cover letter listing your publishing and editing experience.

If you have colleagues who may be interested in becoming editors or co-editors, please feel free to forward this call further.

Call for Papers:

For papers, kindly email your ideas on the topic, abstracts, or send us your feedback. This will also help us develop the call.

Deadlines and Timeline:

To be announced

Full papers will be reviewed by expert referees using the JVWR double-open policy. Double-open policy means that in general, authors do not need to anonymize their papers, and reviewers’ identities are also known to authors. For more details about it see JVWR site –> About JVWR –> For Authors –> Our double-Open Policy.

Further Information:

The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (#TheJVWR) (https://jvwr.net/) is an online, open access academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship. We welcome contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect with virtual worlds research.

Subscribe to receive announcements about new calls and issues.

For additional information about the journal, please contact: [email protected]

CfP: Real Virtual Relationships

Call for papeers

Published: February 22, 2017


Guest Editors:

Richard E. Ferdig, Kent State University, USA

Kristine E. Pytash, Kent State University, USA

Elyse Graham, SUNY Stony Brook, USA

Glenn W. Muschert, Miami University, USA


A special issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research to be published 2017 Q2

Motivation and Scope

We live in an era of digitally-mediated relationships. From finding a spouse online to daily interactions facilitated through social media, it is difficult for many people to imagine building and sustaining both platonic and romantic relationships without technology. Virtual worlds are no strangers to these interactions. Virtual world inhabitants will often initially use the space to develop alternative self-portraits (e.g., Black, Ferdig, DiPietro, Liu, & Whalen, 2009). They then create and maintain relationships with those avatars and other human players out-of-world, with other human players in-world, and with non-player-characters in-world (Ferdig & Pytash, 2012). This can lead to even more complex relationships as they balance their lives and relationships in-world and out-of-world.

This special issue of Journal of Virtual Worlds Research is dedicated to an exploration of such topics in a collection of articles exploring “real virtual relationships” to be published in Q2 (2017). The issue editors welcome empirical and theoretical research from all fields interested in this innovative area including, but not limited to: education, psychology, sociology, digital media studies, computer science, public health, game studies, literature, counseling, religion, family studies, and business.

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

  • Relationship building and maintenance in virtual worlds
  • Methods for studying digital relationships in virtual worlds
  • Economic impact of virtual relationships
  • Psychological impact of real-life events in virtual worlds (e.g. birth, marriage, death)
  • Education and training through relationships in virtual worlds
  • Virtual mentoring and collaboration
  • Technological aspects that impact relationship creation, sustenance, and termination
  • Love, hate, and other emotional responses to human and NPCs in virtual worlds
  • Political ramifications of heterogeneity or homogeneity in virtual worlds
  • Empirical case studies of player/user relationships
  • The impact of innovative technologies (e.g. AR/VR) on relationships in virtual worlds
  • Health and trust within medical virtual spaces
  • Analysis of literature featuring characters and their relationships in virtual spaces

Authors are requested to submit an abstract of their proposed paper by March 15, 2017. Abstracts should be no longer than 500 words (references are not included in this word count). We welcome papers from a variety of disciplines and methodologies, and encourage graduate students to submit their research to this special issue. The guest editors are happy to discuss proposals for contributions, please contact Rick Ferdig at rferdig AT gmail.com for questions prior to submission.

Submission Instructions

Interested authors should submit a 500 word abstract via email to rferdig AT gmail.com. After review by the issue editors, authors will be invited to submit original scholarly papers of 4000-8000 words (including footnotes, references, and appendices) via the JVWR publishing system (see www.jvwr.net > About JVWR > For Authors). Shorter manuscripts are preferred. Longer ones are optional and should be discussed with the issue editors. Accepted papers will be published online in Volume 10, Number 2 (2017) of the Journal.

Deadlines and Timeline

  • Authors submit abstracts: March 15, 2017 (via email to rferdig @ gmail.com)
  • Editors return comments on abstracts: March 31, 2017
  • Authors of invited papers submit full papers: June 1, 2017 (via JVWR system)
  • Editors return review report and initial decisions: July 1, 2017
  • Authors of accepted papers submit final versions: July 15, 2017

Publication: August, 2017

Review Process:

Abstracts will be considered by the guest editors.

Full papers will be reviewed by expert referees using the JVWR double-open policy. Double-open policy means that in general, authors do not need to anonymize their papers, and reviewers’ identity is also known to authors. For more details about it see JVWR site –> About JVWR –> For Authors –> Our double-Open Policy.

Further Information

The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (JVWR) (https://jvwr.net/) is an online, open access academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship. We welcome contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect with virtual worlds’ research.

For additional information about the journal, please contact: [email protected]

CfP: EVE Online

Call for a Special Issue of the JVWR


Guest Editors:
Kelly Bergstrom (York University, Canada) & Marcus Carter (The University of Sydney, Australia)

The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (JVWR) (https://jvwr.net/) is an online, open access academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship. We welcome contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect with virtual worlds’ research.

Breaking Conventions

EVE Online (EVE) — the space-themed massively multiplayer game released in 2003 by CCP Games — is a game with a reputation. Sometimes referred to as “Excel Online”, EVE has also become known as a game with a brutal learning cliff that is hostile to newcomers. And yet, it is also home to vibrant community of long term, dedicated players. In a number of important ways, EVE breaks from the conventions of the MMOG genre such as its single shard server, permanent death, robust in-game economy, and pervasive treachery. As a result, much of the research on other MMOGs is not necessarily applicable to this gameworld.

Motivation and Scope

For much of EVE’s history it has received little academic attention. Recent publications, including Internet Spaceships Are Serious Business (University of Minnesota Press, 2016), have only just begun to scratch the surface of EVE. This special issue of Journal of Virtual Worlds Research will serve as a collection of recent investigations into this MMOG and its community of players. Researchers currently working on EVE-related projects are invited to contribute to this special issue, to be published in Q4 2017.

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

  • The EVE metagame(s)
  • The history of EVE and/or CCP Games
  • EVE Online player communities
  • EVE’s avatar creation tools
  • Conflict and collaboration
  • “Fun” or “play” in EVE
  • EVE’s economy and/or its black/grey markets
  • Methods for studying EVE
  • Lessons from EVE

Authors are requested to submit an abstract of their proposed paper by May 15, 2017. Abstracts should be no longer than 500 words (references are not included in this word count). We welcome papers from a variety of disciplines and methodologies, and encourage graduate students to submit their research to this special issue. The guest editors are happy to discuss proposals for contributions, please contact Kelly Bergstrom at kellybergstrom AT gmail.com for questions prior to submission.

We are also open to alternative formats and shorter pieces such as “tales from the trenches” written from the perspective of players. Please contact the guest editors to discuss ideas for alternative submissions in advance of the abstract deadline.

Submission Instructions

Interested authors should submit a 500 word abstract by the deadline indicated below. After review by the guest editors, authors will be invited to submit original scholarly papers of up to 5000 words including footnotes, references, and appendices. Longer papers are optional and should be discussed with the issue editors. All submissions (abstracts and papers) should be made via the JVWR publishing system (see www.jvwr.net > About JVWR > For Authors). Accepted papers will be published online in the Volume 10, Number 4 (2017) of the Journal.

Deadlines and Timeline

  • Authors submit abstracts: May 15, 2017
  • Editors return comments on abstracts: May 30, 2017
  • Authors submit full papers: July 1, 2017
  • Editors return review report and initial decisions: September 1, 2017
  • Authors submit revised papers: October 1, 2017
  • Editors return final comments and decisions: November 1, 2017
  • Authors submit final versions: November 30, 2017
  • Publication: December 31, 2017

Review Process:
Abstracts will be considered by the guest editors.

Full papers will be reviewed by expert referees using the JVWR double-open policy. Double-open policy means that in general, authors do not need to anonymize their papers, and reviewers’ identity is also known to authors. For more details about see JVWR site –> About JVWR –> For Authors –> Our double-Open Policy.

Further Information

Please contact: [email protected]

Published: December 11, 2016

CfP: Futures

Call for papers – Futures of Real and Virtual Worlds

Published: March 10, 2015


A special exploratory issue edited by:
Yesha Sivan, Editor in Chief, the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (https://jvwr.net/) is an online, open access academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship and welcomes contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect with virtual worlds research. Virtual worlds ignite a continuously evolving area of study that spans multiple disciplines and the JVWR editorial team looks forward to engaging a wide range of creative and scholarly research.

Design the future

This call is about the future or more so “possible futures“. We are looking for reflective papers (1000-3000 words) that will describe specific angles to the real and virtual worlds.  We are exploring and defining our future. The collection of reflective futures will help us design the next 7 years of the journal.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

•    3D fun
•    Mini robots
•    Social networks that change our mind
•    Artificial limbs
•    New forms of hardware
•    Augmented and mixed environments
•    Wearables
•    User generated content
•    3D printing
•    Visual data streaming
•    Immersive technologies
•    Shopping from home
•    Projections of the real
•    Wireless people
•    Portable friends
•    The Internet of Things
•    Virtual currencies
•    E-readers
•    …
•    And more

Motivation & Scope

The journal, JVWR, is celebrating its 8th year anniversary in 2015. In 2015 we will also publish** the book 3D3C Platforms: Applications and Tools for Three Dimensional Platforms for Community, Creation and Commerce published by Springer, as a summary of the field’s state of the art.

In 2008, when Jeremiah Spence founded the JVWR, the excitement of flexible, user-generated world was very high. It seemed that the world of Second Life have taken years of hardware, software, and social-ware experience into a new level; that it will “change” the world. This was yet another wave of promise of virtual reality.

In 2008, users, business analysts and academics alike used to be at awe because Second Life had millions of users; commerce was done virtually; there were grievers in virtual worlds, and people could create 3D objects by themselves. In 2015, today, 7 years later, Facebook has more than 1.35 billion monthly active users*; commerce is done with a fingerprint via Apple pay; cyber criminals are attacking real companies, and people are printing their own outfits and objects.

Much has changed.  The virtual is becoming the real and the real is becoming the virtual. It seems that the term “virtual worlds” as a key term for an academic domain, does not make sense anymore.

It is time for us, as an academic journal, to take an “academic sabbatical” to define the future of our journal in light of the possible futures of both worlds (real and virtual). Of course, this will be an active Sabbatical where we try to grapple with several questions that revolve around the nature of the field, and on how we best advance it as an academic journal.

* http://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/

** Update from October 2015: the book was published with 2016 publishing date. See the Springer page about the book.

Submission Instructions

Authors are invited to submit original scholarly papers of 1000-3000 words including footnotes, references, and appendices. Interested authors should submit a full paper by the deadline indicated below. All submissions should be made via the JVWR publishing system (see www.jvwr.net > About JVWR > For Authors). All submissions will be peer reviewed. Accepted papers will be published online in the Volume 8, Number 2 (2015) of the Journal.

Deadlines and Timeline

Authors submit full papers: June 30, 2015
Editors return review report and initial decisions: July 15, 2015
Authors submit the revised papers: September 15, 2015
Editors return final comments and decisions: September 20, 2015
Authors submit final versions: October 20, 2015
Planned Publication: October 31, 2015

Further Information

Please contact:

Yesha Sivan yesha.sivan AT jvwresearch DOT org
Tzafnat Shpak tzafnat.shpak AT jvwresearch DOT org

CfP: 3D3C Virtual Worlds – Topical Lantern Review

Call for papers

Published: March 22, 2013


Versions:

  • 07 March 2013: Save the date & a preliminary call.
  • 22 March 2013: First call. Added editors, updated name.
  • 05 May 2013: Second call.
  • 09 May 2013: Split issue call and the event call.

Deadlines and Timeline

  • March 23, 2013 – Call published
  • May 19, 2013 – Authors submit proposed extended abstract or initial papers
  • June 3, 2013 – Editors make decisions about proposals
  • August 4, 2013 – Authors submit the full paper
  • September 2, 2013 – Editors return review reports and initial decisions
  • September 29, 2013 – Authors submit the revised papers
  • November 3, 2013 – Editors return final comments and decisions
  • December 15, 2013 – ICIS JVWR workshop (Milan, Italy)
  • January 12, 2014 – Authors final submit, based on comments, directly to JVWR coordinator
  • February 16, 2014 – Publication: Q1 2014

Editors

Yesha Y. Sivan, Metaverse-Labs and The Academic College of Tel-Aviv Yaffo School of Management and Economics, Israel.

Maged N. Kamel Boulos, University of Plymouth’s Health Informatics, Devon, UK.

David Gefen, Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Abhishek Kathuria, Hong Kong University’s School of Business, Hong Kong, China.

* Lantern – see at the end of this call why we chose this image.

Motivation and Scope

The first thematic issue of our 7th year (next year) will focus on a literature review of 3D3C worlds according to specific topics. The issue will connect with our JVWR workshop in Milan, Italy, on December, 15 (as part of AIS ICIS 2013). (Submitted papers for this issue will also be invited to submit an extended chapter for  the 3D3C Handbook, to be published by Springer in 2014.)

For this issue, “topical review” means a review of corpus of knowledge on one aspect of virtual worlds. It can be a classic literature review, a more formal statistical meta-analysis or other forms suggested by authors.

For this issue, “3D3C Worlds” is defined as a combination of four factors:

  • 3D as in the three-dimensional representation of worlds as seen in Google Earth, Augmented Reality, 3D printing and the like;
  • Community as in the collection of people work, play and act together. Consider Facebook and Twitter as one example, and enhance it by the dynamics of World of Warcraft guilds;
  • Creation is the ability to create new artifacts, as seen for example in Second Life or in Open Source movement;
  • Commerce is the ability to harness these previous factors to gain monetary real value (consider Bitcoin, exchanges, etc.)

The issue will include three sections: Applications, Technologies, and Policies, each includes several papers:

  • Applications: Medical, Commerce, Defense etc.
  • Technologies: 3D, AR, Money, etc.
  • Policies: Standards, Privacy, Taxation, Legal, etc.

We have initial submissions in the following topics:

  • Collaboration
  • Medicine
  • Learning
  • ART
  • Taxation

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

Applications

  • Defense-related virtual worlds
  • Relations and Love and virtual worlds
  • Ambient Life
  • Music and virtual worlds
  • Virtual Worlds for Sales

Technologies

  • The state of GPU
  • Measuring virtual worlds
  • Sensors
  • Robotics
  • Virtual Worlds and mobile
  • Virtual worlds and the web  (HTML5)
  • 3D Printing

Policies

  • Economics and Virtual Worlds
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Submission Instructions

Interested authors should submit a two-page extended abstract by the deadline indicated below. Authors will then be invited to submit original scholarly papers of up to 7500 words including footnotes, references, and appendices. All submissions (abstracts and papers) should be made via the JVWR publishing system (see www.jvwresearch.org > About JVWR > For Authors). All submissions will be reviewed under our double open policy http://jvwresearch.org/index.php/2011-07-30-02-51-41/for-authors.

Accepted papers will be published in Volume 7, Number 2 (2014) of the Journal (subject to change).

Questions? email us to: info AT jvwresearch DOT org

More about JVWR

The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (http://www.jvwresearch.org/) is an online, open access academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship. JVWR welcomes contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect with virtual worlds research. Virtual worlds ignite a continuously evolving area of study that spans multiple disciplines. The JVWR editorial team looks forward to engaging a wide range of creative and scholarly research.

Connection with 2013 International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2013)

Authors with accepted and conditional accepted papers will be invited to the JVWR yearly workshop at ICIS 2013 in Milan Italy where we will meet with the editors, fellow authors, and other JVWR community members.

p.s. Why Lantern?

The field of virtual worlds is vast, interconnected and expanding. In this issue, we take a review lantern and shed some light on some of the fields’ sides. Clearly, we will not cover everything. We will often see shadows and not the full image. Ultimately, we hope to encourage further exploring of the field.

CfP: JVWR Special Issue on Arts and Virtual Worlds

Call for Papers

Published: February 4, 2013


To be edited by:

Celeste Guichard, Savannah College of Art and Design, GA, USA

Laura Salciuviene, Lancaster University Management School, UK

Gary Hardee, the University of Texas at Dallas, TX, USA

Motivation and Scope

At the end of the year (2012) we looked at all past submissions to find the best papers for the Assembled issue. We had more than 50 submissions.

Apparently, we had several unique papers connecting virtual worlds and the arts. Thus we have decided to make a special issue about “Arts and Virtual Worlds” as Volume 6 No 2 (due for publication around June 2013 — this year!)

So…

  1. We are looking for 1-2 co-editors for this issue — if you have an interest and background in the field as well as experience in academic editing please let us know by sending your CV and cover letter to [email protected].
  2. Current authors who have already submitted relevant papers will be notified, as their papers will start the review process.
  3. Also: if you have a ready FULL paper that you think may fit this issue please submit it ASAP (deadline: 20-Feb-2013).

New authors are invited to submit papers that are innovative, original, and contribute to the advancement of understanding of arts as it applies to virtual worlds. Papers will be considered by the Guest Editorial Board and reviewed by expert referees using our double -open policy. Double-open policy means that in general, authors do not need to anonymize their papers, and reviewers identity is also known to authors. For more details about it see JVWR site –> About JVWR –> For Authors –> Our double-Open Policy.

Submission Instructions

Authors are invited to submit full papers  via the JVWR publishing system (see www.jvwr.net> about > for authors). Accepted papers will be published online in Volume 6, Number 2 of the Journal, 2013.

Deadlines and Timeline

Please use the Journal publishing system (login at the top right of the journal site, state that your submission is for the Arts issue.)

Tentative Deadlines: (updated)

  • Authors submit full paper: 20 February, 2013
  • Editors send Reviewers’ feedback on the paper, and an indication of acceptance or rejection: 20 March 2013
  • Submission of revised paper (if necessary): 5 April 2013
  • Editors’ decision and comments for accepted papers: 20 April 2013
  • Authors Submission of final version: 5 May 2013
  • Staff editors & authors work till planned Publication Date: 15 June 2013

Further Information

The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (http://www.jvwresearch.org/) is an online, open access academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship and welcomes contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect virtual worlds research. The field of virtual worlds research is a continuously evolving area of study that spans across many disciplines and the JVWR editorial team looks forward to engaging a wide range of creative and scholarly work.

Please contact:

Tzafnat Shpak, Coordinating Editor

[email protected]

CFP: Enterprises Welcome Virtual Worlds

CFP: Journal of Virtual Worlds Issue on Enterprises Welcome Virtual Worlds

Call for papers on “Enterprises Welcome Virtual Worlds” in the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research.

 

A special issue edited by: Imed Boughzala, Telecom Business School, Institut Mines-Telecom, France; Gert-Jan de Vreede, The Center for Collaboration Science, University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA and Moez Limayem, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, USA.

The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research – JVWR  is happy to announce this call for a special Issue number 3 of Volume 6 to be published on Q3/ 2013.

JVWR (http://jvwresearch.org) is an online, open access academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship and welcomes contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect with virtual world research.

Motivation and Scope

Virtual worlds provide a visual window to a persistent and synthetic world inhabited by avatars that are deeply involved in social interactions, along with economic, organizational and commercial activities. They present challenges and opportunities for enterprises. Enterprises have to overcome limitations originating from sharing different physical space and opportunities while virtual worlds offer possibilities that are sometimes impossible in the real world. Today’s virtual worlds bring a variety of opportunities with respect to team collaboration, virtual project management, immersive virtual education, product marketing, simulation and design. Several companies are already using virtual worlds but others are hesitating to jump in for different reasons: technology readiness or investment, evidence of proof of value and proof of use in the field.

This special issue on “Enterprises Welcome Virtual Worlds” will highlight research that makes a significant and novel contribution in theory and practice about virtual worlds in the enterprise field domain.  We are looking for papers that provide new directions for research by examining organizational, individual/group, design, and/or social perspectives of virtual worlds in intra or inter organizational and business activities and environments. We especially welcome innovative and creative research that enables our audience to see the opportunities and obstacles offered by virtual worlds.

Authors are invited to submit original manuscripts that will make significant contributions to the advancement of our understanding of enterprise applications with virtual worlds (experiments, case studies, action research, design science, empirical investigation, comparative research, prototyping and experimental engineering emphasizing technical and methodological dimensions of virtual worlds). There are no preferred methodological stances for this special issue: it is open to qualitative and quantitative research, to research from a positivist, interpretivist, or critical perspective, to studies from the lab, from the field, or developmental in nature.

Themes and Topics of Relevance Include, but are not limited to:

– The impact of virtual world on organizational and business performance

– Success factors of virtual worlds applications

– Change management using virtual worlds

– Factors influencing virtual world adoption, adaptation, and diffusion in the field

– Introducing virtual world technologies and processes in organizations and cross organizational collaborations

– Facilitation, management and leadership styles in virtual worlds

– Skills, knowledge, and abilities to successfully work, play and learn in virtual worlds

– Creativity and innovation in virtual worlds

– Approaches and processes for repeatable tasks in virtual worlds

– Best practices, collaboration techniques, and pattern languages for virtual world processes

– Theories, guidelines and strategies for designing virtual world processes, technologies and systems

– Policies, risks and phenomena in virtual worlds

– Enhancing robustness, flexibility, and longevity of virtual world applications, processes, and technologies

– Modeling techniques and frameworks to support virtual world processes and applications

– Embedded technologies for virtual worlds

– Information access, processing, and dissemination in virtual worlds

– Collaboration and co-creation styles in virtual worlds

– Cultural perspectives on virtual worlds

– Approaches to training virtual world skills

– Serious games and Mobile learning applications

– Knowledge management through virtual worlds

– Knowledge transfer from virtual to real world

– Ethical issues surrounding virtual worlds

Submission Instructions

Authors are invited to submit original scholarly papers of up to 6000 words including footnotes, references, and appendices. Interested authors should submit a two-page extended abstract by the deadline indicated below. All submissions (abstracts and papers) should be made via the JVWR publishing system. All submissions will be reviewed in accordance with JVWR double-open policy. See details on the Journal’s site in About JVWR> For-Authors. Accepted papers will be published online in Volume 6, Number 3 (2013) of the Journal.

Deadlines and Timeline

Authors submit abstract: September 15, 2012

Editors return comments on abstracts: September 30, 2012

Authors submit full paper: March 1, 2013

Editors return review report and initial decision: May 1, 2013

Authors submit revised paper: June 1, 2013

Editors return final comments and decision: July 1, 2013

Authors submit final version: September 15, 2013

Publication: November 1, 2013

HICSS46 logo

Connection with HICSS 46: 7-10 January 2013, Grand Wailea, Maui, Hawaii

Interested authors are welcome but not required to submit papers to the  “Enterprises Welcome Virtual Worlds” minitrack at HICSS. This is a good opportunity to receive feedback and comments to enhance your paper. See original call here (PDF) or http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu.

Please Contact:

Imed Boughzala: imed.boughzala AT telecom-em.eu

Gert-Jan de Vreede: gdevreede AT mail.unomaha.edu

Moez Limayem: MLimayem AT walton.uark.edu

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