Special Issues

While Exchanges normally publishes two issues annually, often with papers on an invited theme, since 2019 the journal has collaborated with external scholars to create various special issues. Some of these have reached publication, while others are currently in preparation.

Published

Sustainability Culture [published March 2026]
Developed in collaboration with the National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) & College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), Taiwan, the Sustainability Culture special issue was inspired by the International Conference on Sustainability Culture, which was hosted by Taiwan's National Chung Hsing University in 2022 and 2023. This special issue seeks to further the debate on how culture defines our drive and thrust toward sustainability, taking an interdisciplinary approach and seeking to further the dialogue on what we mean by Sustainability Culture in the twenty-first century. 

Research Culture '25 [Published September 2025]
This issue is entirely comprised of papers drawn from and inspired by the International Research Culture Conference (IRCC) hosted at the University of Warwick (Sept '24). It contains a range of papers including elements of practice, policy, case study and personal reflection all relating to research culture, along with observations on the configuration of the conference itself. 

The MRC@50: [Published September 2024]
Developed in collaboration with the Modern Records Centre (MRC, Warwick), this special issue was driven by the papers and speakers at the MRC’s birthday conference (The MRC at 50: Research Informed and Inspired by the Modern Records Centre, September 20th 2023). The volume primarily comprises critical reflections, celebrating the MRC's people and history, as well as research it has inspired and enabled. For more on the MRC's celebrations and their birthday symposium, visit the above link.

Research Culture: IRCC '23: [Published August 2024]
Developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Research Culture (Warwick) this special issue presents papers derived from the International Research Culture Conference (IRCC) 2023. Presenters and delegates were invited to contribute following the September 2023 event, with a focus on criticial reflection articles. Published just ahead of the IRCC '24 conference, this forms the first of a series of research culture focused special issues.

The Effect of Plurality in Translation: [Published April 2024]
This special issue aimed to present contributions incorporating thought-provoking pieces which address the possible effects of plurality in linguistic, conceptual, and cultural translation. An open call for abstracts went live in October 2021, with a submission deadline of 1st November 2021. The first batch of papers from this call was published as a special theme within the April 2024 issue of Exchanges.

The Anthropocene and More-Than-Human World: [Published March 2023]
This special issue formed part of a project funded by The British Academy, led by the University of Nottingham and the Delft University of Technology, Netherlands. The volume contains work supported, inspired and  developed as an output from a series of academic workshops for early career scholars, which the Exchanges’ Editor-in-Chief helped facilitate. 

The Lonely Nerd: [Published August 2022]
This special issue collates a rich vein of scholarship concerning the cultural representations, perceptions and experiences of ‘nerds’ from around the globe. It comprises a range of invited papers selected from responses to an open call, early versions of which were presented at a workshop in spring 2021 at Warwick. The issue was developed in association with scholars at the University of Oxford and SOAS, University of London. 

Then & Now: [Published August 2021]
This special issue brings together an assortment of articles and critical reflections relating to the Then & Now student-led research project and exhibition, based at the University of Warwick. Published during summer 2021 it marked the culmination of 18 months of activity.

Climate Fiction: [Published February 2021]
This special issue brought an assortment of articles, reflections and discussions to our interdisciplinary readership, which this time derived from or were inspired by the 20th International Conference of the Utopian Studies Society, hosted in Prato, Italy in 2019. The journal issue was developed in association with the universities of Monash, Australia and Warwick. 

Cannibalism: [Published January 2020]
This special issue centred on material which was derived from the 2018 ‘Bites here and there’ conference on cannibalism, hosted at the University Warwick. It was also the first issue of the journal developed with the help of a team of associate editors. 

In Active Development

Research Culture ’26: Critical Reflections [Anticipated Publication September 2026]

A third collaboration with the International Research Culture Conference 2025, the Research Culture '26 issue is currently in active production following last September’s conference. Submissions were received in February 2026 and are currently under review. An all-Critical Reflections edition, the issue will be published to coincide with IRCC's 2026 conference, to be held in September.

A Woman's Labour: [Anticipated Publication mid-2027]

Inspired and developed by the collective of the same name, which was publicly launched in London in September 2025, the special issue A Woman's Labour will offer a broad and diverse field of critical engagement, interpretation, and evaluation underpinned by theory and/or practice that relates to the labour of women, considering various social-, spatial- and health-related inequalities. Bringing together scholars, practitioners, and experts by experience to interrogate the multiple meanings of labour across contexts and disciplines, A Woman's Labour aims to foreground how labour is gendered and unevenly valued. This special issue aims to highlight practices of radical care and sustainable resilience that emerge from women’s experiences of work, health, and emotional, physical, and social well-being, turning towards regenerative and restorative futures across geographies and disciplines. A call for expressions of interest will be announced in April 2026.

Special Issue Production & Proposals

Each special issue’s development has varied in terms of schedule, event connections as well as associate editor and author recruitment. These and other key aspects are explored during initial conversations between the Editor-in-Chief and the project initiators, and confirmed as each project nears formal launch. Ideally, special issues should resonate with Exchanges’ missions of enabling interdisciplinary discourse and researcher development. Alongside this, they also provide the journal with the benefits bringing novel, original and under-explored research, practice and discourse to our wide-ranging readership. Exchanges’ special issues particularly offer opportunities for early career researchers to become involved as associate editors, contributing to the issue’s production while developing greater publishing knowledge and experience.

While other special issues are in the preliminary stages of development, the Editor-in-Chief welcomes further approaches and expressions of interest from scholars around the world for further special issue projects. You will find more detailed guidance on proposing a special issue on the IAS' Exchanges pages and in this episode of our podcast. If you think you have a viable issue proposal please contact the Editor-in-Chief for an initial conversation. 

Special issues of Exchanges normally take 12 to 18 months from inception to publication, although the provision of additional support funding may reduce this period. Due to current issue commitments the earliest any further special issue projects could enter active development would be spring 2026.

Issues Under Discussion

Navigating Precarity in Higher Education: A collaboration between early-career research at Warwick and Cambridge University

Museum Studies: A collaboration between the University of Warwick and scholars from other institutions

Peace Studies: A collaboration with University of Bradford, NGOs and other scholars