Call for proposals 2026
The International Communication (INC) Section invites the submission of abstracts for its 2026 conference, to be held from 28 June to 2 July 2026 in Galway, Ireland, hosted by the University of Galway.
The deadline for submission is 3 February 2026 at 23:59 UTC.
Theme
The general theme for this year’s conference is Peripheries and Connections: Media, Communication, and Transformation. In line with the general theme, the International Communication Section invites abstract submissions that explore the dynamic relationships between centers and peripheries in global communication systems, and how these configurations are being challenged, reconfigured, or reinforced in our interconnected world. This year’s conference theme encourages us to examine how communication flows, media infrastructures, and knowledge production systems connect or not, diverse communities across geographical, political, and cultural peripheries.
Consult a detailed description of the main theme
Building on the International Communication Section's interdisciplinary foundations, some of the key topics related to the general theme this year include (but are not limited to):
Decolonizing Communication Flows
How are scholars, activists, and practitioners challenging Western-centric models of international communication? Examine initiatives that center knowledge from the Global South, Indigenous communities, and other marginalized regions. What are the barriers and opportunities for creating more equitable global communication networks?
Media Infrastructures and Connectivity
Explore the material and digital infrastructures that shape communication access across peripheral regions. Analyze the politics of connectivity, including broadband expansion, satellite technologies, and platform capitalism in underserved areas. How do infrastructure inequalities reinforce or challenge existing power relations?
Transnational Journalism and News Flows
Investigate how journalism practices are evolving in an era of digital transformation. Examine the representation of peripheral communities in global news media, the role of diaspora journalism, and innovative models for transnational reporting that decenter metropolitan perspectives.
Cultural Exchange and Hybrid Identities
How do media facilitate cultural connections across borders and between peripheries? Explore transnational popular culture, diaspora media, and the role of communication in shaping hybrid identities. Examine case studies that illustrate creative appropriation, resistance, and cultural transformation.
Digital Activism and Social Movements
What role do communication technologies play in connecting grassroots movements across peripheral regions? Analyze strategies for solidarity-building, coalition-forming, and collective action that bypass or challenge traditional centers of power. Explore both successes and limitations of digitally-mediated activism.
Special Focus Areas
Since the International Communication Section is inherently interdisciplinary, we particularly welcome abstracts that engage with the general theme Peripheries and Connections: Media, Communication, and Transformation in the following critical areas:
- Research examining how peripheral regions are represented in global media systems, including analysis of framing, bias, narrative structures, and the visibility (or invisibility) of voices from marginalized geographic locations.
- Research studying how international communication facilitates connections between peripheral communities, including the role of South-South communication networks, diaspora media, and alternative information systems that bypass traditional centers.
- Research investigating the transformation of communication practices in peripheral contexts, including how communities adapt, resist, or innovate with communication technologies to address local needs and assert agency.
- Research focusing on communication strategies that challenge center-periphery dynamics, including campaigns, policies, and initiatives that promote more equitable representation, resource distribution, and participation in global communication systems.
We encourage submissions that employ critical theoretical frameworks to interrogate power relations, inequalities, and structures of domination in international communication. This includes scholarship informed by postcolonial theory, decolonial approaches, critical political economy, feminist theory, critical race theory, and other perspectives that challenge dominant paradigms. Research that reflexively examines the researcher’s positionality, questions taken-for-granted assumptions about centers and peripheries, and proposes alternative epistemologies for understanding global communication is particularly welcome.
Guidelines for abstracts
We welcome diverse methodological approaches including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research, as well as theoretical, critical, and applied scholarship.
Abstracts for papers to be presented in person at one of the International Communication Section’s conference sessions should be between 800 and 1000 words, including a brief statement of theoretical framework and methodology (where applicable) and 3 to 5 keywords.
They must be submitted exclusively through IAMCR’s submission system from 28 November 2025 through 3 February 2026 at 23:59 UTC. Abstracts submitted by email will not be considered.
Proposals are accepted for both single papers and for panels with several papers (in which you propose multiple papers that address a single theme).
It is expected that each person will submit only one abstract. However, no author’s name should appear on more than two abstracts, either individually or as part of any group of authors and authors should not submit more than one abstract to any single section or working group. The same abstract, or a version with minor variations in title or content, must not be submitted to more than one Section or Working Group. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected. Authors submitting the same work to multiple Sections or Working Groups may be removed entirely from the conference programme.
Evaluation criteria
Submitted abstracts will generally be evaluated on the basis of:
- Technical merit
- Readability
- Originality and/or significance
- Use of or contribution to theory
- Depth of knowledge of the research, theory and/or literature related to the proposed topic as evidenced in the submission
- Relevance to the section and current trends or controversies in its field
Acceptance of proposals may also be conditioned by programme diversity and balance criteria.
Languages
Abstracts in English, French or Spanish are welcome.
Statement on use of AI tools
IAMCR does not encourage or condone the use of generative AI tools to prepare abstracts submitted for consideration for our conferences. IAMCR values originality, integrity, and transparency in academic work, and believes that human-authored contributions best support rigorous and innovative scholarship in media and communication research. Should an author choose to use a generative AI tool in the preparation of an abstract, we require that they include a clear statement within their submission disclosing the tool's use. This statement must specify: (1) the name of any AI tool used; (2) how the tool was used in preparing the abstract, and; (3) the reason for using the tool. Failure to disclose the use of generative AI in accordance with these guidelines may impact the evaluation and acceptance of the submission.
Intention to attend
Each abstract submitted to IAMCR represents a real cost to the Association and contributes to the workload of volunteer reviewers and organisers. As the number of submissions each year far exceeds the available presentation slots, we ask authors to submit only if they genuinely intend to attend and present their work at the conference if accepted.
Deadlines and key dates
The deadline to submit proposals is 3 February 2026, at 23:59 UTC. Other key dates. Dates are subject to change.
About the International Communication Section
Learn more about the work and scope of the International Communication Section
Contact the Section
Chair: Sudeshna Roy, Marquette University, Wisconsin, USA: sudeshna.roy@marquette.edu
Vice Chairs: Pinar Aslan, Uskudar University, Turkey: pinar.aslan@uskudar.edu.tr and Anilesh Kumar, Beijing Normal University, PRC: rjanilesh@gmail.com
