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Call for Chapters: Global Wikipedia: International and cross-cultural issues in online collaboration

Call for Chapters: Global Wikipedia: International and cross-cultural issues in online collaboration. Proposals due January 15th, 2013; full chapters due March 15th. Please send chapter proposals to editors Pnina Fichman and Noriko Hara of Indiana University, Bloomington, or contact them with any questions you have.

Introduction

Wikipedia offers articles in 285 languages and more than 80% of Wikipedia articles are written in languages other than English. In addition, the English Wikipedia itself attracts users from all over the world. This global nature of Wikipedia provides a rich socio-technical environment to examine a wide range of international and cross-cultural issues. Despite the global reach of Wikipedia, most of the published works about Wikipedia are based on the English site. More research should pay attention to the global, multilingual nature of Wikipedia to gain a better understanding of online international cooperation, on one hand, and of cross-cultural variations in mass knowledge production processes and outcomes, on the other. The purpose of this book is to explore a wide range of international and cross-cultural issues as they are manifested on Wikipedia. We are particularly interested in research that takes a socio-technical perspective on the global Wikipedia and integrates social theory to explain online interactions. For example, we invite studies on online global collaboration, coordination, and conflict management in this rich socio-technical environment. We hope that these works will highlight implications for other socio-technical environments or extend the use and development of social theory. This unique publication aims to be a collection of international and cross-cultural research on the Wikipedia. We expect that this edited volume will appeal to academic researchers, graduate, and undergraduate students interested in Wikipedia and, more broadly, in social studies of information and communication technologies, as well as to Wikipedia contributors.

Recommended Topics

We are seeking chapters that include both empirical and conceptual work and soliciting innovative analysis of international and cross-cultural aspects of Wikipedia to be part of this book.

Appropriate topics for chapters include (but are not limited to) the following list:

  • Case studies of Wikipedia in one of the 285 languages, with special interest in small and medium size Wikipedias; for example, focusing on policies, processes, interactions or information quality
  • Conflict and collaboration in editing international entries on any particular language of Wikipedia
  • International and cross-cultural collaboration; for example, international cooperation in fighting vandalism
  • Intercultural synergy across boundaries on Wikipedia or Wikimedia projects
  • Cross-cultural studies that compare more than one Wikipedia, for example, focusing on:
  • Cross-cultural comparisons of content, structures, and contributions
  • Comparative studies of policies, interactions, and processes
  • Efforts to understand similarities and differences across Wikipedia in multiple languages in user motivations, establishment and maintenance of local communities and challenges
  • Comparative analysis of editing policies around the globe
  • Information quality across two or more Wikipedia languages
  • Comparison of scope and representation of topics across Wikipedia in several languages
  • Vandalism and trolling behaviors across national and language boundaries

Chapters are expected to have between 4000 and 5000 words (excluding references, figures, and tables). Only original work whose copyright is owned (or cleared) by the chapter authors and not considered for publication elsewhere can be considered for inclusion.

Important Dates

January 15, 2013: submit 2-3 page chapter proposals and authors’ bios (200 words)
Feb 1, 2013: receive acceptance notification
March 15, 2013: submit first full chapters
May 15, 2013: receive reviewers’ comments
July 1, 2013: submit final versions

This book is scheduled to be published by Scarecrow Press, the publisher of, among other titles, Digital Media: Technological and Social Challenges of the Interactive World (2011). The publication is anticipated to be released in 2014.