Dear colleagues,
Huiling Ding, Xiaoli Li, and I are seeking article proposals for a special issue of Communication Design Quarterly on professional associations in technical communication, focusing on lessons learned from
from the dissolution of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and strategies for sustaining organizations and academic programs during times of disruption.
STC’s membership declined from over 20,000 in the early 2000s to 1,300 when it closed in January 2025. The forces behind this decline, including changing professional practices, technological disruptions, and the proliferation of educational resources, continue to impact professional organizations and academic programs across our field.
We seek research articles, experience reports, and industry insight papers addressing topics such as evolving professional identities, technological disruption, member engagement, and financial sustainability. We particularly encourage submissions from those directly involved with STC or similar organizations.
The full CFP is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WfPtSs41xZIRDNMKuSrrWll5PzVJgneq/view?usp=sharing
Proposals should be a maximum of 500 words (not including citations), though they may be shorter for experience reports and industry insights. Please include author name(s), affiliation(s), email(s), the working title for the article, article type, key terms, your specific topic, methods (if applicable), and reader takeaway. Please send your proposal as .docx file to stcspecialissue.
Key dates:
- December 15, 2025 – Proposals due
- January 31, 2026 – Editors’ decisions returned to submitters
- August 15, 2026 – Draft manuscripts due
- March 1, 2027 – Publication of special issue
Please feel free to get in touch. You can send any questions about proposals or the special issue to stcspecialissue.
Best,
Luke Thominet, Xiaoli Li, and Huiling Ding