Guest editors: Javier Cha, Matt Erlin, Susan Schreibman
The Journal of Cultural Analytics was founded a decade ago to advance original arguments about studying culture at scale. In this special issue, we intend to take stock of our progress in this endeavor as well as to open up new perspectives for future research. What have we learned from exploring the relationship between the forest and the trees using computational approaches? To what degree have these insights emerged from evolving theoretical or methodological frameworks in the humanities? To what extent should developments in computer science, especially the rise of transformer-based machine learning, inflect research in the humanities? Looking ahead, what changing paradigms might define the next ten years of cultural analytics? We welcome contributions on any relevant topic but are especially interested in the following areas and questions:
• Specific contributions of cultural analytics within a broader DH framework
• Changing notions of scale and the value of studying culture “at scale”
• Rethinking the relations among quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, and computational approaches.
• Cultural analytics as a recuperation of earlier trends in literary and cultural studies
• Advances in the study of non-textual materials, i.e. sound, images, 3D, material culture
• Cultural heritage preservation, digital archives and counter-archives
• Developments in the study of non-English and non-Western languages
• Cultural analytics and pedagogy
• Cultural analytics in the age of generative AI
Submission Details
The special issue will include two types of submissions. Original research articles aligned with the proposed theme will offer insights into the new and exciting directions that JCA readers can expect over the next decade. Shorter commentaries by those involved in the founding of JCA, as well as scholars representing its expanding purview and diversification of research areas, will reflect on the journal’s developments and how the term “cultural analytics” has evolved in the past ten years.
Abstracts (max. 500 words) for consideration are due to the editors at culturalanalytics10th@gmail.com by September 1, 2025. Please include the title, author name(s), author email, and type of contribution (research article/commentary) in your submission. Full-length articles will be due March 1, 2026.
Important dates
Date of call for issue open: 21 July 2025
Abstracts due: 1 September 2025
Full paper submission deadline: 1 March 2026
Notification of peer-review decision: 1 May 2026
Revision submission deadline: 1 June 2026
Final publication: July 2026
