The International Journal of Digital Economy, Data Sciences and New Media

Telecommunications Policy is concerned with the impact of digitalization in the economy and society. The journal is multidisciplinary, encompassing conceptual, theoretical and empirical studies, quantitative as well as qualitative. The scope includes policy, regulation, and governance; big data, artificial intelligence and data science; new and traditional sectors encompassing new media and the platform economy; management, entrepreneurship, innovation and use. Contributions may explore these topics at national, regional and international levels, including issues confronting both developed and developing countries. The papers accepted by the journal meet high standards of analytical rigor and policy relevance.

Special Issue on Celebrating 50 Years of Telecommunications Policy – A Retrospective and Prospective View
Submission Date: 2026-01-31

The first issue of Telecommunications Policy was published in December 1976, and the final number of Volume 1 concluded in December 1977, with Volume 2 starting in 1978. It is time for a 50 year celebration for Telecommunications Policy! To further develop the research agenda and policy relevance of the journal, this call for papers now solicits papers that review the research literature and identify pending and open questions. Paper could critically document theoretical, empirical, or methodological perspectives or they could integrate these as relevant for a specific topic. The papers should preferably include a retrospective and prospective analysis, with implications for the future development of the journal. It will be important to address future research and policy needs.

Special issue information:

The first issue of Telecommunications Policy was published in December 1976, and the final number of Volume 1 concluded in December 1977, with Volume 2 starting in 1978. It is time for a 50 year celebration for Telecommunications Policy!

The topicality and relevance of the journal has not been diminished by these 50 years – consider the opening lines of the first editorial, by the first editor, Lawrence H. Day:

A host of pressures and issues has brought telecommunications into unusual prominence in the past decade. Technological evolution, if not revolution, in the merging telecommunications and information arenas has been spectacular and has often diverted attention from the fundamental impacts that are developing on a macroscale unforeseen by earlier communication planners. National and regional governments have been jolted into the realisation that telecommunications is a key agent of social change within the emerging Information Society. New corporations, institutions, and governmental agencies have developed or have been created.

Policy issues in telecommunications have been reviewed in many diverse fora to date. Professionals in telecommunications have been forced to track a wide variety of national and international conferences, symposia, journals, magazines and societies in a number of disciplines to keep up with this field. Telecommunications Policy provides an opportunity to integrate these disciplines and will present a continuing discussion on telecommunications futures and policy options.

These lines could certainly have been written in the current times. Many of the fundamental issues identified in the first year of the journal still remain vibrant today: competition, privacy, convergence, security, national interests, internationalization, and need for regulation, to name a few.

As stated in the aim and scope (revised in 2018), Telecommunications Policy is concerned with the impact of digitalization in the economy and society. The journal is multidisciplinary, encompassing conceptual, theoretical and empirical studies, quantitative as well as qualitative. The scope includes policy, regulation, and governance; big data, artificial intelligence and data science; new and traditional sectors encompassing new media and the platform economy; management, entrepreneurship, innovation and use. Contributions may explore these topics at national, regional and international levels, including issues confronting both developed and developing countries. The papers accepted by the journal meet high standards of analytical rigor and policy relevance.

This aim and scope of the journal both reflects the publication history of Telecommunications Policy, as well as the need to evolve and develop the journal. Reflecting the updated scope, the subtitle of the journal was revised to be The International Journal of Digital Economy, Data Sciences and New Media.

To further develop the research agenda and policy relevance of the journal, this call for papers now solicits papers that review the research literature on an important topic and identify pending and open questions. Paper could critically document theoretical, empirical, or methodological perspectives or they could try to integrate these as relevant for a specific topic. The papers should preferably both include a retrospective and prospective analysis, with implications for the future development of the journal. It will be important to address future research and policy needs.

Given the unique nature of this call for papers, we seek full papers as well as review articles at an early stage of development, and papers may exceed the usual length of 8,000 words. The editorial team will work closely with the authors to meet the overall goals of the planned special issues. Completed papers will be subject to regular, double-blind, peer review, with high level of editorial involvement.

Manuscript submission information:

Important Date 

Full paper submission deadline: 31 January 2026

Submission guidelines

Submissions will be competitively selected by overall quality and relevance to the focus of the special issue. All papers will undergo a standard refereeing process, with high degree of editorial involvement and judgment. Early stage papers may be addressed to the Special Issue Editors (see below) for advance comment.

Full papers submissions should use the Telecommunications Policy website for on-line submission: http://ees.elsevier.com/jtpo/default.asp. Choose “SI: 50 Year Celebration” as Article Type in the drop down menu.

Submissions should follow the standard author guidelines, available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/telecommunications-policy/publish/guide-for-authors

Journal information is available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/telecommunications-policy

Special Issue Editors

Editor-in-Chief
Erik Bohlin, Ivey Business School at Western University and Chalmers University of Technology, erik.bohlin@chalmers.se

Associate and Advisory Editors:

Teodosio Pérez Amaral, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, teodosio@ccee.ucm.es
Johannes Bauer, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States, bauerj@msu.edu
Robert M. Frieden, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States, rmf5@psu.edu
Bronwyn Howell, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand, bronwyn.howell@vuw.ac.nz
Seongcheol Kim, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea, hiddentrees@korea.ac.kr
Chun Liu, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, psuchunliu@gmail.com
Yu-Li Liu, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China, yuliliu2009@gmail.com
Khuong Vu, National University of Singapore, Singapore, vuminhkhuong@nus.edu.sg
Jason Whalley, Northumbria University, Newcastle, United Kingdom, jason.whalley@northumbria.ac.uk
Jenifer Sunrise Winter, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, jwinter@hawaii.edu

Keywords:

Telecommunications policy; demand; markets; innovation; economy

Special Issue on Policy Responses to Generative AI
Submission Date: 2026-02-28

As generative AI disrupts and pervades industry, politics, national security, education, and beyond, scholars should assess the need for new/updated law and regulation. This special issue aims to expand the literature on AI policy responses, addressing the extent to which existing policy frameworks are applicable to challenges posed. Submissions may address national or international AI policymaking approaches, as well as governance modes for aspects of AI technologies (e.g. training data, algorithms/automation, product/service marketplace, implementation, user experience, etc.). Against this background we seek empirical, conceptual, and/or theoretical contributions at micro (users), meso (organizations, government), or macro (international, comparative, temporal) levels of analysis. Comparative and integrative approaches (as opposed to systematic literature reviews) are preferred. All submissions should include policy recommendations.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of potential topics to be the focus of policy considerations and/or analysis:

1. Synthetic media (e.g. deepfakes)
2. AI fairness, transparency, and/or bias
3. Ownership/intellectual property
4. Content moderation
5. Risk and security standards
6. Privacy and reputation management
7. Public participation in AI governance
8. Critical/cultural approaches to AI governance

Guest editors:

Dr. Jonathan Obar
York University, Toronto, Canada
jaobar@yorku.ca

Dr. Christoph Lutz
BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway
christoph.lutz@bi.no

Dr. Madelyn Sanfilippo
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, USA
madelyns@illinois.edu

Manuscript submission information:

You are invited to submit your manuscript at any time before the submission deadline, 28 February 2026. For any inquiries about the appropriateness of contribution topics, please contact Dr. Jonathan Obar via jaobar@yorku.ca.

The journal’s submission platform (Editorial Manager®) is now available for receiving submissions to this Special Issue. Please refer to the Guide for Authors to prepare your manuscript, and select the article type of “VSI: Policy for Generative AI” when submitting your manuscript online. Both the Guide for Authors and the submission portal could be found on the Journal Homepage here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/telecommunications-policy

All the submissions deemed suitable to be sent for peer review will be reviewed by at least two independent reviewers. Upon its editorial acceptance, your article will go into production immediately. It will be published in the latest regular issue, while be presented on the specific Special Issue webpage simultaneously. In regular issues, Special Issue articles will be clearly marked and branded.

Keywords:

Generative AI policy, AI policy, AI governance, AI law, artificial intelligence policy, governing artificial intelligence, internet governance