CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Special Issue of Journal of Family Communication: Communication in Global Families
Haley Kranstuber Horstman, horstmanh@missouri.edu
Publication Date: October 2025 (Volume 25, Issue 4)
The purpose of this special issue of the Journal of Family Communication (Volume 25, Issue 4), co-edited by Haley Horstman and Meng Li, is to spotlight scholarship on communication in global families. We seek research on family communication that 1) demonstrates global diversities in communication within and about the family and/or 2) reveals the impact of globalization (i.e., the movement of people, ideas, images, capital, goods, and risks on a global scale) on family communication. We call for research that would continue the efforts of the Journal of Family Communication to increase the diversity and inclusivity of family communication scholarship, which has primarily focused on families in the United States.
Scholars have highlighted the lack of research on global families in family communication (Soliz & Phillips, 2018; Turner, 2019; Turner & West, 2018) and there has been recent efforts to address this limitation. In fact, "the field of family communication is becoming increasingly globalized as more and more scholars use international samples, investigate transnational family issues, and test the utility of existing theories in non-Western cultural contexts (e.g., Affram et al., 2020; Dutta, 2017; Guan & Li, 2017; Li, 2018; Suter et al., 2022)" (Li, 2023, p. 134). The wider Communication discipline has recently reignited conversations about decolonizing and dewesternizing communication studies (e.g., Angel et al., 2023; Lechuga & Aswad, 2024; Sowards, 2019), partially inspired by Chakravartty et al’s (2018) article, #CommunicationSoWhite.
In this special issue, we celebrate and encourage this momentum in research on communication in global families. Diverse methodological approaches and innovative theoretical perspectives that reflect the complexities and diversities of communication in global families will be included. We also prompt researchers from a wide range of fields (e.g., communication studies, ethnic studies, family studies, health fields, psychology, sociology, and women’s and gender studies) to submit.
We seek two types of papers: data-based and critical reflections.
Data-based manuscripts should be theoretically grounded and methodologically robust. Broadly, these manuscripts should focus on communication in global families. Research may use diverse methods (e.g., qualitative, quantitative, critical, arts-based) from a broad range of fields in any global context in which communication within or about families is the central focus of the study. All manuscripts should include a Practical Implications section, which should be placed toward the end of the Discussion section. This section should provide several practical or social contributions/implications for audiences outside academia (e.g., early childhood and secondary education, counselors, and social service agencies) as a way to apply the study results to “real” families or “real” family situations. Manuscripts should be no longer than 8,000 words, excluding references, tables, and figures.
Critical reflection manuscripts should center on a pedagogical, theoretical, methodological, practical, or ethical problems or issues relevant to family communication scholarship in global families. Critical reflections should be as data-driven as possible, describe the problem or issue, and provide resolution to the problem or issue. Manuscripts should be no longer than 3,000 words, excluding references, tables, and figures.
For consideration of inclusion in this special issue of JFC, please submit an abstract detailing the intended submission to Haley Horstman at horstmanh@missouri.edu by October 15, 2024. Abstracts should be 500 words or fewer (excluding references), and should address the following:
- What is the goal of your proposed manuscript?
- Is the manuscript data-driven or critical reflection (outlined above)?
- How is the project appropriate for the special issue on communication in global families?
- If relevant, what were/will be the sample and methods for collecting and analyzing the data and any preliminary findings?
- What are the potential theoretical and practical implications of the work?
Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors by November 1, 2024. Invited manuscripts will be due January 15, 2025. Full submissions will undergo peer review. The special issue will be published in October 2025.
For questions, please contact the guest editors:
References
Turner, L. H., & West, R. (2018). Invited essay: Investigating family voices from the margins. Journal of Family Communication, 18(2), 85-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/15267431.2018.1435548