Sage Journal Call for Papers
Special Issue: Emerging Media for Communicating SDGs
Homepage: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/emm
Guest Editors:
Ran Wei, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong; ranwei@hkbu.edu.hk
Nick Yin Zhang, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong; zhangyin@hkbu.edu.hk
I. Timeline
Deadline for Full Papers Submission: 15 September 2026
Submission website: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/emmed
Planned Publication Time: Early 2027
II. Description
Emerging media—including artificial intelligence (AI), digital platforms, immersive technologies such as VR, AR, and social media—are transforming how individuals, organizations, and societies pursue the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These technologies democratize access to information, foster cross-sector collaborations, and amplify marginalized voices, thereby consolidating communities and accelerating progress toward a more sustainable and inclusive future for all. Yet, their growing influence of emerging media and digital communication technologies also introduces new ethical, structural, cultural and communicative challenges that require critical reflection.
To explore these opportunities and complexities, this special issue of Emerging Media seeks submissions that examine the transformative potentials and inherent limitations of emerging media in advancing, implementing, and communicating SDG initiatives across diverse cultural and institutional contexts.
We welcome contributions that not only reflect on the insights of the potentials and limitations, offering innovative perspectives, conceptual frameworks, and forward-looking strategies for leveraging emerging media to support sustainable development, social inclusion, and global well-being.
Key Content: (not limited to the following themes)
- How emerging media and new communication technologies reflect and represent the current state of SDGs at the individual or/and societal level.
- How emerging media and new communication technologies influence the knowledge and implementation of SDGs at the individual or/and societal level.
- How governments, businesses, or organizations design and use emerging media and new communication technologies to advance SDGs.
- New paradigms of intelligent media ecosystems and human-machine collaboration in SDG communication.
- Studies that examine the processes and effects of emerging media and digital communication technologies on key SGDs, such as responsible consumption and production (e.g., recycling, reduction and reuse), environmental protection, social inclusion, and well-being.
- Other issues related to emerging media, new communication technologies, and their role in supporting the SDGs.
III. Articles
- Original research articles (Full papers): Manuscripts, including the abstract and references, should not exceed 9,000 words. All submissions will undergo a rigorous double-blind peer-review process, with at least one review conducted by a member of the guest editor team. Acceptance will be based solely on academic excellence, originality, and relevance to the special issue theme.
- Ongoing or exploratory projects that promise to advance theoretical, methodological, or practical understanding are encouraged to submit. Authors with high-quality submissions in the form of extended abstracts (5 pages) may be invited to revise or expand their work into full-length research articles for consideration in publication.