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Call for Papers: Government Information Quarterly Special Issue

Homeland Security in a Digital Age: Issues and Implications for Policy and Governance

Government Information Quarterly (GIQ) is seeking scholarly manuscripts for a special issue on Homeland Security in a Digital Age, scheduled for publication in January 2015. GIQ is an international journal that examines the intersection of policy, information technology, government, and the public. In particular, GIQ focuses on how policies affect government information flows and the availability of government information; the use of technology to create and provide innovative government services; the impact of information technology on the relationship between the governed and those governing; and the increasing significance of information policies and information technology in relation to democratic practices. More information regarding GIQ is available at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/govinf. GIQ is an SSCI journal and has an impact factor of 1.910.

The editors for the special issue are: Dr. John Carlo Bertot (University of Maryland College Park), Dr. Paul T. Jaeger (University of Maryland College Park), and Dr. Jeffrey Seifert (Congressional Research Service).

Scope

This special issue targets high-quality research on Homeland Security in a Digital Age. Digital technologies enable a range of surveillance, intelligence, eavesdropping, and data gathering techniques to ensure national and international security.  These techniques, however, create tensions between security, civil liberties, privacy rights, and other key policy issues. Legislative efforts to keep pace with technological change are often inadequate to both meet advances in technologies and maintain a balance with societal and individual rights. Moreover, as recent disclosures through unauthorized leaks show, the public is not always informed of key elements of security efforts, running counter to open and transparent government. The special issue seeks manuscripts that explore the intersection of security techniques and technologies, policy, and civil liberties.

In particular, the special issue seeks to: 1) Bring together international high quality research to produce theoretical and empirical insights on aspects related to the adoption, use, results, and impacts of homeland security techniques and approaches, with a particular emphasis on policy, as opposed to technical, aspects; and 2) Provide an integrated perspective on homeland security in a digital age. To do so, the issue uses the structure that follows, based on three main aspects: topics, tools, and goals. Submissions should consider technical aspects in the context of social and policy implications of the different tools and applications. 

Topics

Submitted manuscripts may cover one or more of the following topics or any other topic related to the main focus of the special issue:

• Theories, frameworks, and models for Homeland Security. What theories, frameworks, and/or models can be applied to improve the analysis and understanding of homeland security in a digital age?
• Policies that enable and govern homeland security. Securing the homeland in a digital context implies new policy and governance structures. Often these are crafted with minimal public input and debate. What are the constitutional, legal, and social implications of homeland security policies?
• Governance and oversight strategies for homeland security. What mechanisms ensure that there is appropriate oversight over security agencies and the techniques they use? What accountability measures can ensure that the public trust is maintained?
• Openness and transparency. Secrecy and transparency are in perpetual tension, representing opposite values that are invoked to achieve nonequivalent policy goals.  How do governments remain open, transparent, and accountable when engaging in security-related activities?
• Impacts on the public sector. In what ways have homeland security initiatives affected the information activities of local, state, and national government agencies? How have the information access and dissemination roles of libraries changed?
• Impacts and effects of unauthorized disclosures. What are the security and policy implications for unauthorized leaks such as the WikiLeaks releases, the NSA surveillance disclosures, and various other incidents involving alleged disclosures by individuals to the press?

Other relevant policy-focused topics are welcome.

Submission procedure and important dates

The submission procedure will follow the usual norms and regulations of GIQ and Elsevier. In addition, proposals will be evaluated by the guest editors for scope and thematic appropriateness for the special issue, before starting the review process. Below are the expected dates to prepare the issue for publication in 2015:

• Article proposal due (500 words): February 1, 2014.
• Proposal notification: February 15, 2014.
• Full article draft due: May 1, 2014.
• Peer review results: July 1, 2014.
• Final revised article due: August 1, 2014.
• Notification of final acceptance: September 1, 2014.
• Anticipated Publication: January 2015.