Submissions

Articles

Articles –  4500-8000 words in length (including references). Articles are expected to make novel contributions to the futures studies field, build on the corpus of futures literature, be evidentially strong and develop clear themes and arguments. Articles are double-blind peer reviewed.

Essays

Essays – 2000-4000 words in length (including references). Essays are expected to provide new viewpoints and visions, expressed through strong and intelligent prose. Essays are blind peer reviewed. 

Perspectives

Please read carefully the following information about the submission requirements to Perspectives: 

• Content can be no longer than 3000 words, including references
• All images included in your piece need to be royalty-free or under a Creative Commons license. 
• References need to be in APA 7 Style. To learn more, click here. 
• If you use any AI language model, it must be referenced in the document. The reference should include the name of the platform and the prompts used for generating the written, audio, video, image, and other content. For more information, click here. Also see the JFS policy on use of AI.
• Ensure that the content has not been previously published anywhere. There might be some exceptions*

*In the event that your piece has been published elsewhere please let us know, the managing editors will carefully review it for consideration.

Special requirements when referring to COVID-19 (only if applicable)

The scientific name for COVID-19 has to be in capitals. Reference: Information from technical guidance naming of Coronavirus. Click here for more information.

If you understand the requirements and want to move forward with submitting your piece, just follow these easy steps: First, create an account and log in to our management system, OJS. And when you're ready to submit, remember to choose the "Perspectives" category. We're excited to see your work!

Important:

Perspective, though part of the Journal of Futures Studies, is not indexed as part of the regular journal. The articles and pieces are only indexed on Google Scholar (not Clarivate) and will not be issued a DOI number. If you want to submit a conventional article or essay to the quarterly journal, go here. 

Any questions you might have, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Reports

Reports – 3000-5000 words in length (including references). Reports are expected to provide coverage of futures studies related events (conferences, meetings, facilitated processes). Peer reviewed.  

Special Issue: What do our Futures look like?

What do our futures look like?

Guest Editors: Yelena Muzykina (CPPFS, Kazakhstan) and Dr Cheryl Doig (Aotearoa, New Zealand)

Call for Papers 

The popularity of Futures Studies has grown exponentially in recent decades. It overtakes all shears of human (and not only human) life and spreads out through generations. Futures studies is no longer a tool that works like magic in the hands of the Gandalf-age professional. Instead, it has become a practical instrument for younger people who apply it skillfully and creatively. Various programs and grants have emerged in the futures’ community in recent years to recognize the phenomena arising from emerging foresight practitioners contributing to the field. 

This special issue features this generational shift providing a space to the young, emerging futurists (under 35 years old) to share their insights, thoughts, and new perspectives in understanding and working with futures. Futures Studies is a young discipline itself in comparison with the others. The field is evolving and becoming, and we are very keen to hear those stories of growth and changes from the first hands of young practitioners. These personal contemplations could be submitted as essays and extensive research on a variety of topics that demonstrate critical reflection and use of futures methodologies.

What are the benefits to participants?

• Provides a supported introduction to the academic pursuit of futures studies.
• Mentoring support available online - support as a group, with peers and individually as needed.
• Those with greater experience in academic research and publication may wish to extend their skills by submitting a conventional academic paper
• Final manuscripts will be published in a special edition of JFS. This can be used as part of your CV, LinkedIn transcript and other documentation as formal recognition of your work.

Submission types:

Reflections or Essays: 1,000 to 3,000 words.

Conventional academic article: 4,000 to 8,000 words. 

Guide for writing a reflection or an essay:

• Introduction - the main statement of your essay.
• Content - unpacking this statement by sharing your experience in using futures methodologies and concepts.
• Conclusion - the summary can include questions you are still considering, comments and concluding insights and advice for your co-travelers through the space of Futures Studies.

The Journal guides, styles, and formats of papers can be found here

https://jfsdigital.org/invitation-to-authors/

  https://jfsdigital.org/information/ 

What is the expected time frame:

• June 15 - register your initial interest - form link here - name, email, the title
• During the week June 20-25 opportunity to attend an information session with the guest editors to find out more and to decide whether to proceed.
• June 30, 2023 - Submission Stage 1 - Register your initial statement of interest using the form linked here. This simply requires the following information - suggested title, your name, email contact, affiliation, 300-400 words summarising main idea and findings.
• July 14, 2023 We will let you know whether your submission has been accepted. 
• During the week July 17-21 initial online meeting.
• During the week September 11 - 16 final meeting.
• July - November - Submission Stage 2 - Writing with online mentoring support from guest editors. Opportunities to connect with others completing an essay or academic article. Peer sharing and support meetings
• November 15, 2023 - submission of full papers

We look forward to hearing from you!

Guest Editors,

Yelena Muzykina - yelena@andrews.eud

Cheryl Doig - c.doig@thinkbeyond.co.nz

For queries related the Journal of Futures Studies, email Anisah Abdullah tkufutures@gmail.com

Special Issue: AI and Future of Futures

This special issue looks at AI and Futures in light of transformative developments in the fields broadly described as artificial intelligence (e.g., machine learning, natural language processing, Large Language Models, or expert systems). How will AI help reimagine the practice of Futures? How would it shape the ways in which communities imagine and build Futures?  How might Futures evolve in an AI dominated environment? How might this emergence of knowledge shape the body of knowledge?

We invite submissions from scholars and practitioners on a range of topics related to AI and human-centric futures. Here are some broad topics:

Topic 1: AI  and the Foresight Craft

Advancements in AI offer significant potential for supporting foresight activities, such as identifying weak signals, visualizing scenarios and even surfacing the different layers of CLA.  What might be some of the roles AI can contribute to in foresight activities? What are the possible  modes of interplay between AI and Humans in foresight engagement? What new foresight process might be made possible or practical?

Topic 2: Human Agency, Futures and AI

AI has the potential to be integrated with a wide variety of activities in the human domains, including Futures Studies. The increasing use of AI in Futures Studies raises questions about the role of human beings in the process, as well as, the transformative potential of AI in Futures Studies. How might the use of AI support or marginalize human experiences, values and judgements? Should widespread adoption of AI super-charges the acceleration of change, how might this threaten to shrink or help expand futures and policy horizons? And beyond a user of such tools, what are the ways foresight can help illuminate potentially harmful bias in AI systems?

Topic 3: AI and Outside the Box

As we are stepping into the unknown unknowns of the post-human era, we must also ask how ubiquitous near-AI could transform the Futures Studies field. The rise of new tools for processing and displaying information has historically yielded profound shifts in wider human endeavors such as governance, art, or music. These shifts were unexpected and outside the framing of the day. What might be some equivalently surprising elements of more distant futures in the world beyond the AI rupture? How might these possibilities be captured and conveyed? 

 We welcome essays from a range of disciplines, including foresight, AI, computer science, engineering, social sciences, and the humanities. Interdisciplinary papers that span multiple topics are especially wanted, and we are looking for contributions from diverse global sources. Ultimately, our goal is to create a platform for sharing insights and knowledge to help build better digital futures for all.

Important Dates:

Extended Abstract submission deadline: August 30, 2023

Notification of acceptance for JFS submission: November 30, 2023

Final paper due for JFS submission: February 29, 2024

Guest Editors:

Dr. Scott McLeod, Senior Advisor, Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI),Singapore, Samskara, Cofounder samsara808@gmail.com

Daniel Riveong, APF, Foresight Advisor to Mycelium Gastronomy, Futures & Foresight Learning Lead at NGFP. Co-Founder of the Participatory Futures Global Swarm Co-Op, Plural Futures Project, daniel.riveong@gmail.com

Nok Boonmavichit, Ph. D. Candidate, School of Public Policy,   Chiang Mai Universitym boonmavichit@hotmail.com

Special Issue: WFSF XXV

The Journal of Futures Studies is welcomes submissions inspired by the discussions, presentations, ideas and creativitiy stemming from the recent WFSF XXV World Conference 2023 Paris.

The editors invite contributors in the areas of foresight, forecasting, long-range planning, visioning and other related areas, from any of the main research frameworks of futures studies – empirical, interpretative, critical and action learning. The journal invites contributions which offer distinctive viewpoints on a broad range of futures and field-oriented issues.

Articles, essay and reports are expected to show an in-depth understanding of the field’s dimensions, content, research perspectives and methods. To stimulate the systematic use and growth of futures literature, one of the criteria for publishing in the journal is indicating how the article relates to others in the futures literature. That is, your paper should refer to material published in this journal and in the other journals in the futures field (including, the Journal of Futures Studies, Futures, Foresight, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, The European Journal of Futures Research, World Future Review, On the Horizon) as well as futures material contained in books, monographs, other field related journals, including visual resources and web resources. Editors strongly advise authors cite at least two or more works in the futures field. 

Contributors should comply with the Journal publication guidelines. Learn about JFS publication process here. As LLMs become an important writing tool - kindly refer to the guidelines The Use of AI and AI-assisted Technologies in Scientific Writing

The Future of Futures Thinking in Design Education

The Future of Futures Thinking in Design Education

Special Issue – International Conference on Design Futures 2022 (ICDF 2022) 

Website: http://www.designfutures.cn/en/

Deadlines:

Abstract (500 words) submission deadline: November 30, 2022

Please send your abstracts to: paper@designfutures.cn

Note: After submitting your abstract, please submit the complete paper here when you receive the acceptance notice. https://ojs.jfsdigital.org/index.php/jfs/about/submissions

Submission of the full paper deadline: January 15, 2023

Guest Editors:

Zhiyong Fu (Department of Information Art and Design, Tsinghua University, China)

Anna Barbara (Design Department, Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
Peter Scupelli (School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University, USA)

*****

On December 2-3, 2022, the International Conference on Design Futures 2022 (ICDF 2022), focusing on educational action and social transformation, organized by the Global Design Futures Network (GDFN). Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, Tsinghua University, and other universities and institutions to review the ideas of post-pandemic globalization development from the perspective of design innovation.

The “Future Design-Education” and “Future Literacy” panels focus on promoting the reconstruction of the design education system and research ecology and spreading future literacy education, collaborating with the UNESCO future literacy team and members of the international future literacy network.

Facing the challenges of social change and survival caused by Anthropocene and globalization crisis, rethinking and foreseeing the future social landscape is becoming the new direction of the design discipline. From the perspective of design innovation, the conference call on participants to re-examine the diversified evolution trend of design concepts and tools in the post-epidemic era and explore the sustainable transformation direction of society and industry led by futures thinking. There are many different versions of futures thinking. How can they be integrated into design education? In the post-pandemic era, the problems that designers and educators should consider and deal with have changed significantly. On the one hand, new design problems require people to participate in constructing the new design value system actively. On the other hand, the ideas and methods to solve the problems have also changed. In order to cope with the uncertainty and common global issues, it is urgent for new design concepts and methods and corresponding reference cases to support. What role can design and the future play in training the next generation of designers so that they are ready to face such challenges after graduation? Thus, the cultivation model and approach for futures thinking in design education need to be clarified further.

This special issue aims to develop the knowledge system and design methodology and to integrate futurology into design education and practice for cultivating compound talents much more with future literacy.

We welcome your contributions in the form theoretical/conceptual paper, research framework, course pedagogy, practical experience, etc., based on educational action. That would reference the rethink of the responsibility and mission of design education.

 Papers may approach the theme of futures thinking in design education from various scenarios, ranging from resilient community, environmental education, low-carbon environmental protection, food system, crisis response, health well-being, clean energy, green transportation, and circular economy to analyze design opportunities and models for talents cultivation.

Paper submissions can be in the form of :

1. Essays – 2000-3000 words in length (including references). Essays are expected to provide new viewpoints and visions, expressed through strong and intelligent prose.

2. Reports – 3000-4000 words in length (including references). Reports are expected to provide coverage of future studies related events (conferences, meetings, facilitated processes).

3. Articles – 4000-7000 words in length (including references). Articles are expected to make novel contributions to the futures studies field, build on the corpus of futures literature, be evidentially strong and develop clear themes and arguments. Articles are double-blind peer-reviewed.

Manuscript submission guidelines : https://jfsdigital.org/invitation-to-authors/

Special Issue: Recipes for Change: Co-Creating Post-Pandemic Futures Today

In September 2021, we gathered online for the 7^th Annual Asia-Pacific Futures Network (APFN) Conference titled “Recipes for Change: Co-Creating Post-Pandemic Futures Today”. The conference focused on fostering the co-creation of equitable, inclusive, and sustainable futures for Asia-Pacific and beyond.

We tasted many dishes from the full menu ranging from future studies theoretical evolution to actual experiences of using the futures approach in tourism, higher education, the Blue Pacific Continent, fake news, climate change, post-normal pandemics, social media, natural disasters, youths, food, citizens, conflict transformation, the Philippines, and more. We introduced numerous methods and tools for advancing future literacy. They include games, applications, quizzes, and well-designed and well-facilitated open discussions. The conference generated countless interesting new ideas, approaches, and profound reflections about the world, our systems, human nature, and where we are heading.

We could taste all the above because we all co-produced the menu. All the dishes and recipes were put together by us. And because we were a mix of academics, policymakers, practitioners, early and veteran learners, young and not so young people from all kinds of backgrounds, the dishes were very flavorful, especially when we agreed to disagree and when we discovered new flavors from the interactions. Like all good meals, we all want to have the recipes in writing, in other words, a cookbook!

We would like to invite you to document the ideas, key points, debates, cases, nuances, methods, reflections, unfinished stories, open-ended enquiries, questions answered and the key discussions. This would capture the conference for a wider audience and further advance the development of our collective recipes.

The Journal of Futures Studies is hosting the platform for our cookbook. Thus, we are calling for papers for this special issue based on the conference. As you were a contributor to the conference, you are strongly encouraged to put your speech, the session you facilitated, or the presentation you made, into an article for this special issue. As a participant, if you have an exciting idea inspired by APFN, you are also welcome to contribute. Join us in documenting the stories we passionately discussed so that they become the seeds for a brighter and more sustainable future.

Paper submissions can be:

1. Essays – 2000-3000 words in length (including references). Essays are expected to provide new viewpoints and visions, expressed through strong and intelligent prose.
2. Reports– 3000-4000 words in length (including references). Reports are expected to provide coverage of future studies related events (conferences, meetings, facilitated processes).
3. Articles– 4000-7000 words in length (including references). Articles are expected to make novel contributions to the futures studies field, build on the corpus of futures literature, be evidentially strong and develop clear themes and arguments. Articles are double-blind peer-reviewed.

All papers should include material related to Futures Studies from other scholars’ works, such as those found in the Journal of Futures Studies, Futures, Foresight, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, The European Journal of Futures Research, World Future Review and On the Horizon.

Deadlines:

Abstract (500 words) submission deadline: February 10, 2022

Submission of the full paper deadline: March 30, 2022

Please send your abstracts to:

ora-orn.p@cmu.ac.th and 50000action@gmail.com