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ARSTM at the National Communication Association

2026 Call for Submissions: Move/ments in Communication

The Association for the Rhetoric of Science, Technology, and Medicine (ARSTM) invites submission of individual papers, paper sessions, and panel discussions for the 2026 NCA convention. We invite submissions that respond to the convention theme—Move/ments in Communication—as it pertains to the rhetoric of science, technology, and medicine.

The purpose of ARSTM is to promote research, teaching, and civic engagement that explores the communicative and persuasive dimensions of scientific, technical, and medical texts, genres, practices, materials, and settings. ARSTM is concerned with how scientific, technological, and medical discourses shape and are shaped by broader rhetorical, cultural, historical, and material forces.

Submissions may cover any area of the rhetoric of science, technology, and medicine, including but not limited to the rhetorical analysis and criticism of (1) scientific, technological, and medical texts, materials, practices, and genres; (2) the production, deployment, invocation, and contestation of scientific ideas and technological visions in political, professional or disciplinary, and literary or social contexts (e.g., policy debates, controversies, popular culture); (3) discourses of reason and rationality, including reflexive engagement with the rhetoric of science as a field; and (4) issues of social justice as they intersect with scientific, technological, and medical problematics.

General Submission Information

All submissions must be made electronically through NCA Convention Central. Emailed or mailed submissions will not be considered.

Submission Types

Submissions may take the form of individual papers, paper sessions, or panel discussions.

  1. Individual Paper submissions are for a single paper, which may have one or more authors. If accepted, the individual paper will be scheduled on a panel with other individual papers. Individual paper submissions should include a title, a paper description for the online convention program (75 words maximum), and an extended abstract of 500-1000 words (inclusive of footnotes/endnotes and references/works cited). The extended abstract should clearly outline connections to relevant scholarly conversations pertaining to the rhetoric of science, technology, and medicine, the contributions of the proposed project to that scholarship, the project’s methodology, and the texts or evidence (however broadly defined) on which claims will be based. Only PDF files will be accepted.
    TOP STUDENT PAPER AWARD INFORMATION: To be considered for the Ploeger Award for top student paper (detailed below), Submitters must submit a complete paper of no more than 25 pages of 12-point and double-spaced text, excluding references or endnotes, including a maximum of100-word abstract. All authors must be students at the time of submission to be considered for this award. Submitters should indicate they are students by selecting the appropriate box on the electronic submission form. 
  2. Paper Sessions are pre-conceived and complete sessions of papers. The papers are not submitted or reviewed individually and are not submitted by the author(s) but rather by the person submitting the paper session. The entire paper session is reviewed for consideration as a whole. Paper sessions must include chairs; respondents are optional. Paper Session submissions should include a title for the session, a session description for the online convention program (75 words maximum), a list of presenters, their institutional affiliations, and e-mail addresses, titles, and descriptions (250 words maximum) for each paper, and a session rationale (500 words maximum) justifying the theme of the session and the session’s significance to scholarship addressing rhetoric, science, technology, and medicine. 
  3. Panel Discussions are submitted as pre-conceived and complete sessions of presenters discussing a topic/issue. There are no papers presented at a panel discussion. Panel Discussion submissions should include a title for the panel, a panel description (75 words maximum) for the online program, a list of presenters, their institutional addresses and e-mail addresses, and a panel rationale (500 words maximum) justifying the theme of the panel and its significance to scholarship addressing concerns related to rhetoric, science, technology, and medicine. 

Joanna Ploeger Memorial Essay Award

Established in 2007 in honor of the late ARSTM past President Joanna Ploeger, this award recognizes the top student papers submitted to ARSTM in a given year. Each year the award recipient’s work will be featured on the ARSTM top papers panel at NCA. Award recipients also receive a plaque and are recognized at the ARSTM business meeting.

  • To be considered for the Ploeger Award, applicants must submit a completed individual paper following the submission guidelines above. Proposals and works-in-progress submissions cannot be considered for the Ploeger Award.
  • Ploeger Award submissions must be marked as “student-authored” on the electronic submission form at NCA Convention Central. Submissions not marked as “student-authored” will not be considered for the Ploeger Award.

Additional Notes

  • A paper, session, or panel may only be submitted to one NCA unit.
  • Individuals may present only one paper on ARSTM-sponsored panels, whether submitted as an individual paper or as part of a session. However, individuals may chair or respond to other panels in addition to presenting a single paper.
  • Individuals should serve only one role on a panel (i.e. a chair should not also serve as a respondent; a presenter should not also serve as a chair). 
  • Paper Sessions and Panel Discussions should be comprised of individuals from multiple institutions. ARSTM highly encourages the papers and panels of diverse presenters at different stages in their careers. 
  • Papers should not have been accepted for publication before the time of submission.
  • Each submission should express a coherent project that addresses relevant concerns related to scholarship in rhetoric, science, technology, and medicine. Submissions should exhibit sound methodology. Extended abstracts should clearly outline the contributions of the proposed project and its methodology, scope, and texts. 
  • Student papers should be marked as “student-authored” on the electronic submission form. Debut submissions should clearly indicate “Debut” status on the cover page of the uploaded document.
  • Equipment requests are available, and we encourage you to make any requests you require for accessibility. Requests for specific equipment must be submitted online and meet the same submission deadlines for papers, sessions, and panels.

PROGRAM PLANNER:
Dr. Dustin A. Greenwalt
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Email: Dustin.Greenwalt@siu.edu

ARSTM Web: https://www.arstmonline.org/

ARSTM listserv: arstm@artsservices.uwaterloo.ca

2026 ARSTM Preconference at NCA

Theme: Circulation and Trust

The Association for the Rhetoric of Science, Technology, and Medicine (ARSTM) invites submissions for the annual NCA preconference to be held in November 2026.

In 2026, the ARSTM preconference theme will be Circulation and Trust.

How does scientific and medical knowledge circulate, and how does that circulation shape whether publics trust what they hear? This question has never been more urgent. In recent years, the very digital tools meant to increase access to information and ease the methods of knowledge production have been used to undermine these efforts. Misinformation spreads across the globe in minutes, and retracted journal articles continue to circulate and garner public attention. The foundation of scientific knowledge production and circulation are being stress-tested in ways that scholars of science, technology, and medicine could not have imagined 15 years ago.

Rhetorical circulation refers to the ways texts and discourses move through time and space, transforming as they travel. As Michael Warner (2002) has argued, circulation creates publics; as Jenny Edbauer (2005) has suggested, rhetoric circulates through “ecologies of effects, enactments, and engagements.” The recent special issue of POROI (Volume 19, Issues 1-2) and the 2025 special issue of Rhetoric Society Quarterly have both noted the challenges that rhetoricians of science technology, and medicine face and the unique opportunity to reframe how the discipline addresses these challenges. Our field needs to determine how we can connect with our colleagues in the sciences and medicine, as Leah Ceccarelli asks us to consider in her seminal article “To Whom Do We Speak? The Audiences for Scholarship on the Rhetoric of Science and Technology” (2013). Circulation and trust, then, can serve as our lens for the preconference, focusing on these two mutually reinforcing concepts. Circulation is not neutral. What circulates, how fast, through which channels, and to whom are perennial questions to address in our field.

The theme Circulation and Trust invites inquiries into the movement of scientific, technical, and medical discourse, its consequences for public trust, and how we, as rhetoricians of science, technology, and medicine, can not only address these questions but also connect with our colleagues in other disciplines. We are interested in submissions that investigate how trust is built, eroded, or rebuilt as knowledge circulates; how rhetorical velocity and kairos shape the uptake of scientific claims; how publics are constituted (or fractured) through the circulation of health information; and how rhetoricians might intervene to foster more trustworthy communication ecologies.

Possible topics include:

  • Rhetorical circulation of scientific knowledge across platforms, genres, and publics
  • Trust and mistrust in science communication
  • The rhetorical dynamics of misinformation, disinformation, and “fake news” in scientific contexts
  • How retracted or debunked studies continue to circulate and persuade
  • AI-generated content and the transformation of scientific communication
  • Rhetorical velocity and rhetorics of science, technology, and medicine
  • Kairos and the timing of scientific interventions in public discourse
  • The role of ethos and credibility in an era of declining institutional trust
  • Circulation and the formation of counter publics around science, technology, and medicine
  • Health communication and vaccine hesitancy as problems of circulation
  • Digital platforms, algorithms, and the infrastructures of scientific circulation
  • Digital platforms, algorithms, and the infrastructures of scientific circulation
  • Decolonize and indigenous perspectives on knowledge circulation and trust
  • Historical case studies of scientific circulation and public reception
  • The rhetoric of fact-checking, pre bunking, and inoculation interventions
  • Trust-building practices in science communication and public engagement

We also welcome submissions broadly related to science, technology, and medicine.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions may be in the form of individual abstracts or panel proposals and should detail the main topic and approach in 500 words or fewer. Panel proposals should include three or four presenters and an additional 100-word rationale for the panel that carefully details how each paper contributes to the overall theme. To facilitate diversity of ideas and panelists, we encourage panels that include speakers from multiple institutions.

Submissions should be made through the online form by July 31, 2026. You can find the form here: https://forms.gle/U4rU7TYiXxRjpLxUA

Questions about this CFP may be addressed to Dr. Gabriel Cutrufello at gcutrufe@ycp.edu

For more details about the preconference, please subscribe to the ARSTM listserv at arstmonlin.org/listserv and sign up for ARSTM membership at arstmonline.org/membership.