The MIT Science Policy Review is a researcher-run journal at the intersection of emerging technology and public policy. Our goal is to impartially review policies that address current issues and bridge the gap between scientists, policymakers, and the general public.
We are looking to recruit Authors and Associate Editors to write on the Review Article topics listed below. Each article represents a collaboration between 2–5 experts on a given scientific topic. The authors submit three article drafts to their assigned Associate and Executive Editor and go through an anonymous peer-review process before receiving final publication approval.
We are also looking to recruit Interviewers to conduct interviews with experts at the intersection of science, society, and policy. Each Interview Article represents a collaboration between two or more authors who work with our Interview Editor to identify interviewees, research their backgrounds, prepare questions, conduct the interview, and publish a final transcript.
Candidates with a strong background in policy or one of the topics listed below are encouraged to apply. Please fill out the form found at the link below by 5pm on October 20th, 2023 if you are interested in becoming an Author, Associate Editor, or Interviewer for MIT SPR Volume V. Articles will be published in August 2024. If you are chosen, we will contact you shortly and provide additional information, including authorship team members, draft deadlines, and details on the editorial process.
We highly encourage pre-formed teams with article or interview topics in mind to apply. While we solicit for specific topics on this form, we will also consider new article and interview topics pitched by applicants, particularly when a team of authors/interviewers is already assembled.
Application Form: https://forms.gle/zQj3o1qF8skCsMZ46
Review Article Topic Solicitations
- Advancing public engagement with the sciences
- Tenure in higher education
- A status check on preprints in academic publishing
- Large language models
- Fair use of data
- Social media regulation
- Cryptocurrency
- Ownership for AI-generated art or work generally
- Energy demands of computation
- Cyberattacks on the grid / cybersecurity
- Maintaining critical infrastructure
- What would the end of Moore’s law mean to academia?
- Graduate student unions
- Graduate student mental health
- Loneliness epidemic
- Chronic pain
- Pharmacy benefit managers / managing drug supply chain to make drugs cheaper
- Post-Roe landscape of reproductive care
- Personalized / precision medicine
- The next frontier in treating neurodegeneration
- Neuroarts/neuroscience of art’s impacts on human health
- Fungi in the context of climate change and/or impacts on environment and humanity
- Changes to oceans in the Anthropocene
- Microplastics
- Carbon capture technologies
- Food security
- The Anthropocene
- Using biology to tackle climate change
- Climate change impacts in biology (e.g. disease spread)
- Geoengineering
- The science of wildfires & wildfire management policy
- Crafting policy around emerging technology in synthetic biology
- Harmonizing regulatory frameworks across the Atlantic for emerging technologies
- Implementing innovative technology in low middle-income countries (LMICs) in the context of global health
- COVID origins
- COVID learning gaps and possible interventions
- When should school start?
- (over)regulating education (could be explored at K-12 and/or higher ed level)
- Pitch your own topic
Interview Article Topic Solicitations
- Science writing at a prominent newspaper
- Improving implementation of academic research in city policymaking
- Science policymaking (at local, state, or federal level)
- Social media science communication (“science influencers”)
- Public outreach as a scientist
- Environmental disaster research / maintaining hope in the age of climate change
- Botany/forest ecology
- The Boston University Chronic Pain Management Clinic or similar program
- Intersection of literature/poetry and the sciences
- Pitch your own topic
Reviews
Review Articles are typically 6 – 8 pages and highlight the intersection of science, technology, and policy. As such, they include a discussion of requisite scientific fundamentals to understand the scope of policy options and review existing policies to contextualize potential solutions. All Review Articles are peer-reviewed by subject-matter experts in relevant topical areas.
Perspectives
Perspective Articles are similar to Review Articles, but present a narrower review on a more focused science policy topic and are typically 3 – 5 pages in length. During article solicitations, some authors may be identified to write Perspective Articles while other authors may be invited directly by the Editor-in-Chief. All Perspective Articles are peer-reviewed by subject-matter experts in relevant topical areas.
Interviews
Interview articles reflect transcripts of conversations with leaders in areas that intersect science, technology, and policy. These highlight the perspective of prominent scholars, industry experts, and policymakers in our core topic areas. Questions are judiciously prepared in advance and the final transcripts are edited to ensure that the language and presentation remain accessible to a broad, non- technical audience. The interviewee must approve of the final draft prior to publication.