IJMR call for papers - misinformation and democratic engagement
18 March 2026

The International Journal of Market Research (IJMR) has requested papers for a special issue on the topic of 'Innovation in Public Opinion and Market Research: Challenges of Misinformation and Trust for Democratic Engagement'.

The issue has the following Guest Editors:

• Dr Christopher Pich, University of Nottingham, UK
• Dr Kristina Harrison - Indiana University, USA
• Professor Dianne Dean – Sheffield Hallam University, UK
• Chris Curtis MP - Member of Parliament for Milton Keynes North, UK

Overview

Sustained democratic engagement is essential for a healthy and inclusive democracy, yet citizens are becoming increasingly disconnected from democratic participation due to rising mistrust, exclusion, and alienation. This global decline, evident since the early 1990s, raises serious concerns for policymakers, researchers, and elected officials, as continued disengagement threatens electoral integrity, state stability, and may amplify disruptive voices
and ideologies.

These challenges are intensified in a “post-truth” information environment, where misinformation persists despite correction, undermining trust in institutions and weakening informed participation. AI-driven algorithmic curation further shapes what information citizens encounter, reinforcing selective exposure and influencing attitudes and behaviours. Understanding what drives citizens to engage, or disengage, from democracy is therefore vital for developing strategies to address barriers such as apathy, misinformation, mistrust, cynicism, and feelings of exclusion and alienation.

Despite progress in the field, significant gaps remain, including the need for research across sectors, population segments, disciplines, and international contexts. As democracies and political systems continue to evolve, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners must work collaboratively to co-design and co-develop impactful research. This involves critically reviewing existing concepts, activities, and methodological approaches to develop effective strategies that can sustain democratic engagement. Accordingly, this special issue of the International Journal of Market Research supported by our strategic partner – Shout Out UK, aims to provide new insights into democratic engagement and advance methodological thinking in this area.

Call for Abstracts:

We welcome conceptual, empirical, and methodological contributions, including cross-sector and cross-disciplinary studies. Submissions should generate strong theoretical and/or practical implications for a wide range of stakeholders. The following is a non-exhaustive list of potential topics for this special issue:

• Investigate the drivers and/or barriers of democratic engagement from the perspective of different stakeholder groups including young voters, hard-to-reach, and/or seldomheard voters.
• Explore the democratic journey of voters across political events and identify instances
  of changes in engagement.
• Assess the impact of democratic engagement educational programmes and media
  literacy activities. This also includes research on citizenship, and civic life.
• Capture insights related to changes to electoral systems in national and/international
  contexts and settings, such as ‘Votes at 16’.
• Understand the role of mistrust, misinformation and/or disinformation in democratic
  engagement.
• Identify new/creative research methods or methodologies to capture public opinion
  and attitudes of hard-to-reach and/or seldom-heard citizens.
  - Investigate approaches to strengthening the safety and resilience of political
  candidates.
• Examine approaches to tackling misogyny in political and online environments.
  - Assess the impact and effective nature of traditional polling methods in relation to
  alienated, radicalised and/or excluded citizens.
• Investigate the value of collaborative, co-designed and coordinated research
  partnerships as a systematic approach in market research studies.
• Understand how political and social marketing strategies and campaigns (online
  and/or offline) attempt to strengthen and sustain democratic engagement in different
  contexts and distinct political events.
• Investigate the role of AI and Algorithmic curation in democratic engagement from
  the perspective of political parties/actors and/or citizens.
• Assess research ethics and/or ethical issues associated with conducting research on
  democratic engagement.

Submission Details:

Authors wishing to propose an article for the special issue should initially send an abstract (no more than 500 words) via email to the Special Issue Editor christopher.pich@nottingham.ac.uk by 1st May 2026.

Authors will be informed by in May 2026 if their abstract has been selected to be invited to progress further. Successful authors will be invited to attend an in-person ‘Impact Event’ in the UK Parliament. The issue will be published in late 2027.

Abstracts for both full papers and shorter research notes are welcome.Details of word length and article formats are available here.

Potential authors are welcome to contact the special issue editors via
christopher.pich@nottingham.ac.uk for advice on suitability of a proposed paper