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Seeking Contributors to iThrive's New, Peer-Reviewed Journal of Games, Self, and Society

By iThrive Games
July 3, 2018

UPDATE: We have extended the deadline for the new Games, Self, and Society, (edited by iThrive Games, in cooperation with ETC Press) to September 30th, 2018. We look forward to the additional submissions that examine the many social, emotional, and societal impacts games have on players and beyond!
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iThrive Games, in cooperation with Carnegie Mellon's ETC Press, has released a call for submissions to the inaugural issue of iThrive's peer-reviewed Journal of Games, Self, and Society. Our team of highly respected game scholars, education experts, and mental health specialists recruited from around the United States will review papers submitted to kelli.dunlap@ithrivegames.org by Aug. 31, 2018.

Journal of Games, Self, and Society aims to encourage and advance interdisciplinary scholarship on games, players, and how their interactions impact society. Of particular interest is research into the ways in which games, game design, and gameplay can have a helpful or positive impact on players, their communities, and the world. The journal will serve as a platform for game scholars and designers, educators, and mental health professionals to disseminate their work and propel knowledge, research, and innovation around games as a medium for change, growth, and exploration of self and the wider world. We place special emphasis on works that value interdisciplinary collaboration and embrace diverse perspectives. iThrive Games believes in building supportive and inclusive communities. Accordingly, we encourage submissions from — and which include a focus on — people of all genders, gender expressions, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, nationalities, religions or beliefs, socioeconomic standings, body sizes, ages, backgrounds, and abilities.

Papers submitted to Journal of Games, Self, and Society can be data-driven or theoretical. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Identifying and building personal strengths and abilities through gameplay
  • Designing games for positive social and emotional outcomes including empathy, compassion, inclusion, personal growth, and resilience
  • Cooperative gameplay and prosocial outcomes
  • Designing and using games as a space for self-exploration and identity experimentation
  • The therapeutic impact of role-playing games
  • Game design for promoting health and well-being
  • Game design and gameplay as tools for mental health interventions
  • Game-based experiential learning in formal and informal education settings; especially as a path toward acquiring and practicing social and emotional skills such as self- and social awareness, self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision making
  • Games as tools for teaching and learning social and emotional skills in classrooms, afterschool programs, and therapeutic settings
  • Game design and gameplay as platforms for transforming learning and society

Manuscripts should be no longer than 40 double-spaced pages including references. References and in-text citations should be in APA (American Psychological Association) format. For all other formatting guidelines, please follow the ETC Press Style Guide for Authors, available at: [http://press.etc.cmu.edu/index.php/for-authors/etc-press-style-guide-for-authors/].

Blinded submissions should be sent to Kelli Dunlap at kelli.dunlap@ithrivegames.org by Friday, Aug. 31, 2018. Peer reviewers will review the papers through a blind process. We will notify all authors of manuscript status by November 1, 2018. We intend to publish Journal of Games, Self, and Society twice a year. The next call for papers will be released in early 2019.

We welcome reports of original research, theoretical and review articles that present a new and original contribution to the field, theoretical design articles, and case studies of games in development, user experience testing, and other relevant topics that aim to advance knowledge or raise a new question.

More specifically, we encourage the submission of:

  • Articles that present or discuss theoretical formulations of games and gameplay that provide innovative commentary, design techniques, or analysis on timely topics of inquiry.
  • Comprehensive reviews of a relevant area of inquiry which may contain a meta-analysis, thorough and up-to-date literature review, and/or a novel theoretical, methodological, or design perspective.
  • Case studies that raise relevant and important questions or new areas of inquiry for the field.

ETC Press is an academic and open-source publishing imprint that distributes its work in print, electronic, and digital form. It represents an experiment and an evolution in publishing, bridging virtual and physical media to redefine the future of publication.

Please contact kelli.dunlap@ithrivegames.org with any questions. We look forward to reading your submissions!