Against the background of rapid technological development and increasingly severe global challenges, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an action blueprint to advance human well-being, climate action, and responsible consumption and production, among other issues.
In the process of promoting the SDGs, emerging media—including artificial intelligence, digital platforms, immersive technologies (such as virtual reality and augmented reality), and social media—play a critical role. These new communication technologies not only lower the barriers to information access and foster cross-disciplinary collaboration, but also increase the visibility of marginalized groups, thereby empowering communities and accelerating the realization of sustainable development. However, the rapid penetration of emerging media and communication technologies also brings new challenges across ethical, structural, cultural, and communication dimensions, requiring us to think carefully and examine them with a prudent attitude.
Themes:
In light of this, this special issue invites experts and scholars to engage in critical and constructive inquiry—drawing on diverse methods and contexts—into how emerging media can promote, limit, or reshape the communication and implementation of the SDGs. Submissions are encouraged to focus on the following topics:
1. How emerging media and communication technologies reflect and represent SDGs-related practices and challenges at the individual and/or societal level.
2. How emerging media and communication technologies influence the ways individuals and/or societies recognize and put the SDGs into practice.
3. How governments, businesses, and organizations use emerging media and communication technologies to convey the idea behind the SDGs and to promote social participation and action.
4. New paradigms and challenges formed in SDG communication through smart media ecosystems and human–machine collaboration.
5. Research on the roles and impacts of emerging media and communication technologies in SDGs’ key areas—for example, responsible consumption and production (e.g., recycling, reducing, and reusing), environmental protection, social inclusion, and universal well-being.
6. Other discussions related to emerging media and communication technologies and the SDGs.
Submission Guidelines:
1. Submissions are welcomed from Chinese-speaking scholars worldwide who are interested in the aforementioned topics. Position and location are not restricted.
2. Submission deadline: Please submit your manuscript via https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/comsoc by September 30, 2026.
3. Manuscript format: Manuscripts must be written in Chinese (in either traditional or simplified characters). Each submission should include the following sections: (1) Title in both Chinese and English; (2) Abstract in both Chinese and English; (3) Keywords in both Chinese and English; (4) Main text; (5) References. Please also include the author’s name, institutional affiliation, title, and email address. All manuscripts should strictly adhere to the journal’s formatting requirements. For details, please visit: http://www.cschinese.com/submission04.asp.
4. Length: Manuscripts should be between 12,000 and 18,000 Chinese characters.
5. Review process: All submitted manuscripts will first be subject to an initial review by the editorial board. Those passing the initial review will be sent for external peer review. The process for initial and first-round review generally requires 3 months.
6. Simultaneous submission to multiple journals is not permitted.
