Dear colleagues,
Please review the CFP and consider submitting a proposal to a proposed edited collection, "Data-Driven Approaches to Generative AI and Writing Research," edited by Jialei Jiang (University of Pittsburgh), Brent Lucia (University of Connecticut), and Matt Vetter (Indiana University of Pennsylvania).
Data-driven Approaches to Generative AI and Writing Research
Tentative publisher: WAC Clearinghouse
Editors: Jialei Jiang, Brent Lucia, Matthew Vetter
Call for Proposals
The rapid advancement of GenAI technologies has sparked widespread debate, from enthusiastic endorsements to doomsday predictions. Central to these discussions is the impact of AI tools like ChatGPT and other AI-powered platforms on writing research and practices. This book cuts through the noise to focus on the tangible effects of GenAI. While research in writing studies is still nascent, scholarship has so far focused on developing ethical frameworks (Vetter et al., 2024), theorizing writing from a “human-in-the-loop” perspective (Knowles, 2024), programmatic revisions (Cummings et al., 2024), social justice orientations (Aguilar, 2023), and centering author agency in professional writing (McKee & Porter, 2022; Hocutt, 2024). By focusing on empirical studies, this edited collection provides an evidence-based understanding of how these technologies are reshaping pedagogical practices, student outcomes, and academic integrity.
This edited collection seeks empirical studies that investigate the growing impact of GenAI on writing education. We invite proposals from scholars, researchers, and teacher-practitioners to engage in data-driven explorations of GenAI’s role in composition, rhetoric, technical and professional writing, and writing across the disciplines. Submissions should be grounded in empirical research, including qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods approaches. We encourage submissions that provide a robust, research-informed understanding of GenAI’s impact on writing instruction, student engagement, and institutional policies.
Book Sections & Suggested Topics
We welcome proposals that align with one of the following four sections:
1. Ethical Frameworks and AI Policies
Chapters in this section will explore the ethical considerations surrounding the integration of GenAI tools in writing pedagogy. We seek submissions that examine topics such as the following: How universities, writing programs, and instructors are establishing AI policies, ethical concerns surrounding plagiarism, authorship, and academic integrity in AI-assisted writing, student and instructor perspectives on AI ethics and disclosure policies, and the reliability and fairness of AI detection tools in academic writing assessment.
2. Human-in-the-Loop Writing Practices
This section will draw on the concept of “human-in-the-loop” writing (Knowles, 2024) to explore how students, instructors, and professionals interact with AI and co-create texts. We invite empirical studies that explore topics such as the following: How students use AI tools such as ChatGPT in brainstorming, drafting, and revising, the cognitive and affective dimensions of student-AI interaction in writing, the role of instructor feedback in AI-assisted writing workflows, and AI as a tool for multilingual or translingual composition.
3. Programmatic and Pedagogical Adaptations
This section focuses on how writing programs and classes are adapting to the rise of GenAI with innovative pedagogical strategies. Possible topics may include: empirical studies on teaching strategies that incorporate or restrict GenAI use, programmatic responses to GenAI’s impact on writing assessment and curriculum design, case studies of course redesigns integrating GenAI into composition classrooms, and the role of GenAI in digital literacy and technical writing programs.
4. Social Justice and Inclusivity in AI-Assisted Writing
This section situates GenAI within a broader social justice framework, with an emphasis on its potential to challenge inequities in writing education (Aguilar, 2023) while cautioning against its risks of perpetuating biases. We seek chapters that explore: The potential of GenAI to bridge or reinforce inequities in writing instruction, GenAI’s implications for linguistic diversity, multilingual writers, and accessibility, the risks of algorithmic bias and its impact on student writers from marginalized communities, and ethical considerations in data privacy, surveillance, and student agency in AI-assisted writing.
Proposal Submission Guidelines
Interested contributors should submit a 500-word chapter proposal (not including the bibliography) to datadrivencollection by May 1st, 2025. All proposals should include a discussion of which of the sections above authors believe their work best fits into. Additionally, please include a short author bio (100–150 words) for each contributor. We’ll respond by June 1st, 2025.
Proposals should outline:
- The chapter’s research question(s) and relevance to the book’s themes
- The empirical methods used (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods)
- A summary of key findings or expected contributions
- How the chapter aligns with one of the book’s four sections
Tentative Timeline
Chapter proposals due: May 1, 2025
Decisions to authors: June 1, 2025
Full chapters due: October 15, 2025
Send full manuscript to publisher for review: Nov 1, 2025
On behalf of the editor team,
Matt
Matt Vetter, PhD (he/him)
Professor of English
Dept. of Language, Literature, and Writing
Indiana University of Pennsylvania