Theme: Reimagining AMR Communication and Engagement: Strategies, Stories, and Social Change

Editor-in-Charge: Marina Joubert; Stellenbosch University (South Africa)

Guest editors:
    • Phaik Yeong Cheah, University of Oxford (Thailand)
    • Paul Flowers, University of Strathclyde (UK)
    • René Gerrets, University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
    • Kym Weed, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA)

Rationale and significance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most pressing global health threats of our time. It is not merely a biological challenge but also a sociocultural, political, and economic issue that demands urgent, systemic change. Effective public communication and engagement are central to these efforts, yet they remain under-researched and under-theorised.
The proposed focus collection in JCOM will explore the crucial role of science communication, engagement, and creative approaches in addressing AMR, and how these may vary across microbial types (e.g., bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites). It aims to bring together diverse perspectives from scholars, practitioners, patients, and policy actors working at the interface of science and society. This issue will interrogate how AMR is framed and communicated across contexts; examine innovative practices and participatory approaches; and consider how communication can contribute to more just, inclusive, and effective responses to this global challenge.

Scope and themes
The special issue will invite contributions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
    • Framing and narratives: How AMR is framed and communicated across media, policy, and public discourse, and how metaphors, narratives, and language shape public understanding and action.
    • Behavioural insights: Evidence on what works (and why) in changing public awareness and behaviour related to AMR.
    • Social justice and inclusion: Decolonising AMR communication and ensuring approaches are equitable, context-sensitive, and responsive to the needs of marginalised and vulnerable communities.
    • Participatory and dialogic approaches: Beyond raising awareness—how dialogue, co-creation, and deliberative engagement can contribute to AMR containment.
    • Creative and arts-based methods: Innovative forms of engagement, including storytelling, theatre, art, playful learning, and other creative approaches.
    • Lived experience and patient voices: Integrating the perspectives of those directly affected by AMR into research, communication, and policy.

Article types and expected contributions
We anticipate the special issue will include a mix of research articles (empirical studies, comparative analyses, and systematic reviews), practice insights (case studies and practitioner perspectives), and commentaries and reflexive essays. We aim for approximately 10–12 articles, representing a range of disciplines, geographies, and methodological approaches.

Production timeline
    • February 2026: Announcement of call for papers.
    • 30 June 2026: Deadline for submission of abstracts
    • 3 August 2026: Authors informed about article selection
    • 30 November 2026: Deadline for submission of manuscripts
    • 15 February 2027: Deadline for peer review
    • 5 April 2027: Deadline for submission of revised manuscripts
    • 31 May 2027: Second round of peer reviews completed; final revisions
    • 31 July: Submission of final manuscripts; production process starts
    • August 2027: Publication of special issue.

Please complete the following template if you are interested in contributing to this special issue of JCOM and send it to marinajoubert@sun.ac.za by 30 June 2026.

    1. Proposed title: (max 20 words)
    2. Article type (select one)
See https://jcom.sissa.it/site/authors/ for more information about article types.
☐ Research Article
☐ Practice Insight
☐ Essay
    3. Corresponding author (title, name, email and institutional affiliation)

    4. Co-authors (title, name, email and institutional affiliation for each)

    5. Abstract (max 500 words)

    6. Novelty and relevance to this Special Issue (max 250 words)
Please indicate briefly what is novel or distinctive about your proposed contribution and explain why it is timely and relevant in the context of public communication and engagement around antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

    7. Conceptual and theoretical framing (max 250 words)
Describe the communication, engagement, or social theories that are (or will be) informing the work, and how it will engage critically with relevant science communication or AMR scholarship.

    8. For research articles, please describe your methodological approach, which may include the study design, data collection or source material selection methods, and analytical approach (max 250 words).

    9. For practice insights, please describe the communication/engagement initiative or intervention, the target audiences and context, the communication strategies that have been (or will be) used and impact assessment methods (max 250 words).

    10. For essays, please describe the central issue being discussed, why it is relevant to this special issue and how it is grounded in scholarship related to science communication research or practice (max 250 words).