Call for Guest-Editorship - Ethnoscripts 2026 Special Issue

Ethnoscripts is the peer-reviewed and fully open-access online anthropological journal edited by the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Hamburg. It is published through Hamburg University Press (HUP).[1]

Since its foundation in 1999 the journal has regularly provided a forum for in-depth analyses and first-hand ethnographic studies on numerous subjects of contemporary anthropology.[2]

Ethnoscripts publishes one special issue per year, devoted to a specific theme of current relevance.[3]

Ethnoscripts is seeking proposals for guest-editorship of the 2026 special issue. We invite single editors or groups of academic authors to suggest and edit a thematic special issue on a topic of relevance to contemporary anthropology and human social life – preferably on a subject that Ethnoscripts has not addressed in recent years. Ethnoscripts offers the possibility to use and embed additional materials for the representation of research such as photos, sound and video.

A thematic special issue consists of at least 5 and max. 10 articles, plus an editorial introduction of about 6000 words. Individual research articles should be 6000-8000 words in length.

Proposals should be sent to the Journal Editors by 15 October 2025.

Proposals should include the name/s, contact details and position/s of the guest editor/s and all author/s. The proposed title and an abstract of 750 words outlining the thematic focus of the issue, titles and 200-word abstracts for all individual contributions should also be included.  

Timeline planned by Ethnoscripts:

15.10.2025    Deadline for proposal submissions by potential guest-editors
30.10.2025    Decision by the editorial board of Ethnoscripts
01.04.2026    Submission of final peer-reviewed papers to the editorial board of Ethnoscripts
02.04.2026 – 31.07.2026 Internal revisioning process by Ethnoscripts
01.08.2026 – approx. October 2026  Copy-editing, proof-reading, layout, publication

[1] https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/ethnoscripts

[2] https://www.ethnologie.uni-hamburg.de/en/ethnoscripts.html

[3] https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/ethnoscripts/issue/archive