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In 2008, Mark P. Orbe and Brenda J. Allen published a critique of race-related research appearing in the Journal of Applied Communication Research, and in doing so, conceptualized a typology of different genres of race-related scholarship in the field of communication (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10646170802218115). Within this work, they made an explicit call for research that moved beyond simply reporting the racial demographics of participants, manipulating race as a variable in unidimensional, tangential ways, and/or comparing racialized communicative experiences with white persons as the normative default. This proposed JACR special issue is designed to create an academic space that highlights applied communication research that centralizes race—and through intersectionality, other salient aspects of identity—in meaningful ways. In essence, the special issue situates JACR as a productive location for engaged research that centralizes race as both a theoretical anchor and powerful point of praxis. Authors are invited to submit proposals of theoretically-informed applied communication research that engages the social construction of race at the center of analysis. Consistent with the established values of JACR, “all theoretical and methodological approaches are welcome, as are all contextual areas. Of utmost importance is that an applied communication problem or issue is clearly identified as the motivation for the research.”

The guest editors for the proposed special issue are Mark P. Orbe, Western Michigan University, and Jasmine T. Austin, Texas State University.

All proposals must be prepared in accordance with the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. An electronic file of the proposal (not to exceed 500 words) prepared for blind review as a WORD document, and a separate file with title of the manuscript, author contact information, brief author bio (50-75 words) and research history (if applicable) should be submitted to Mark Orbe ([email protected]) no later than February 11, 2021. Each proposal will undergo a double-blind review by the editors and at least two reviewers. Initial editorial decisions will be communicated to authors by late February/early March, with an expectation that authors whose proposals receive a favorable review will submit completed manuscripts no later than August 5, 2021. All completed manuscripts should adhere to journal submission guidelines: https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=RJAC

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