Call for Submissions: Environmental PIC Special Issue
Call for Submissions: Special Issue on Environmental Public Interest Communications
The Journal of Public Interest Communications invites original research submissions for a forthcoming special issue devoted to the intersection of environmental communication and public interest communications (PIC). We seek theoretically informed, empirically grounded, and practice-oriented manuscripts that examine how communication strategies, media practices, stakeholder engagement, and messaging can advance the public interest in environmental domains.
Scope and Rationale: Environmental challenges—from climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution to sustainable development, environmental justice, and resilience—are fundamentally communication issues. They involve complex science, diverse stakeholders, competing values, institutional power, and urgent public interest imperatives (e.g., health, equity, democracy). From a PIC lens, key questions include: How do communicators engage publics around environmental issues? How are marginalized voices and communities represented and empowered? How can communication actors (government, NGOs, educators, industry, media, civil society, etc.) foster deliberative and inclusive processes around environmental decisions? How might message framing, narrative, visual communication, or social media campaigns support behavior change, policy adoption, or public awareness?
In this special issue we encourage seek work that bridges environmental issues with PIC concerns: engagement, access, voice, policy influence, stakeholder dynamics, equity, media and message framing, and outcomes for the public good.
Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
PIC strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation
PIC strategies for the wider adoption of Best Management Practices
Environmental justice communication: engaging underserved or historically excluded communities
Media representations of environmental risk, disaster messaging, and public trust
Stakeholder and citizen engagement in governance of environmental issues
Narrative, storytelling, or visual communication in environmental public interest campaigns
Social media, digital activism, and networked publics on environmental issues
Cross-cultural, multilingual, or global south perspectives on environmental PIC
Measurement and evaluation of environmental PIC campaigns or initiatives
Institutional and organizational communication in public interest environmental contexts (e.g., NGOs, governmental agencies, educators, industry stakeholders, international bodies)
The role of misinformation, counter-messaging, or contested science in environmental PIC
We welcome full research articles, mixed-methods studies, case studies, and theoretically oriented essays, so long as they clearly articulate relevance to PIC.
Submission Timeline: All submissions will undergo double-blind peer review according to JPIC’s standard guidelines. Authors should submit their extended abstract via the JPIC online submission system. In the cover letter please indicate that submission is for the “Environmental PIC Special Issue.”
Submission Deadline: December 31, 2025
As needed, prospective contributors interested in submitting for the special issue may choose to submit an Extended Abstract (minimum 1,500 words) by December 31, 2025, for preliminary review, with a full draft due January 31, 2026.
Manuscript Preparation & Submission Guidelines: Please refer to the journal’s Author Guidelines (on the JPIC website) for formatting, word-limits, reference style, and ethics requirements. Manuscripts must adhere to the journal’s standard peer-review and publication policies. All papers accepted will be clearly marked as part of the special issue. We also encourage authors to consider how their work speaks to interdisciplinary audiences (e.g., communication scholars, educators, environmental scientists, policy practitioners, public interest advocates) and to highlight implications for practice, policy, or public engagement.
Guest / Special Issue Editor: The special issue will be overseen by the regular JPIC editorial board together with a guest editor selected for their expertise in environmental communication and PIC. The guest editor will coordinate review, selection, and thematic coherence of the issue, working in dialogue with the JPIC board.
Contact & Further Information: For questions about the submission process for this special issue, please contact the JPIC editorial office via the journal website or email (Managing Editor: Dr. Joseph Radice; jradice@ufl.edu). We look forward to receiving your submissions and to curating a substantive and timely collection advancing the scholarship and practice of environmental PIC.
