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Call for papersPsychology and mental health

Call for Papers: Digital Minds: Assessing the interplay of social media on mental health (Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence)

Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence is hosting an interdisciplinary Research Topic on the computational, social and technical mechanisms through which social media environments produce harmful and supportive mental-health outcomes, including the use of social media as a data source. This guide outlines topic areas consistent with that scope, fit checks, contribution types editors tend to value and practical steps for submitting before the 16 March 2027 deadline.

Pubrica InsightsEditorial team, reviewed by a subject specialist
Deadline
16 March 2027
Last checked
10 November 2026
Reading time
5 min
Sources
1
Submit through the official call

Key dates

Manuscript deadline
16 March 2027
Details last checked
10 November 2026
Open the official call

About the journal

Journal
Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence
Publisher
Frontiers
Call type
Call for papers
Scope
Interdisciplinary Research Topic on the computational, social and technical mechanisms through which social media environments produce harmful and supportive mental-health outcomes, including social media as a data source.
Guest editors
Listed on the official collection page
Access and fees
Open access; an article processing charge normally applies on acceptance
Originality
Original work, not under review elsewhere; confirm on the official page

Topics consistent with the call

  • Recommender algorithms and their associations with exposure to harmful or supportive content
  • Natural language processing of social media posts to detect mental-health signals
  • Online peer support communities and their effects on wellbeing
  • Design features, engagement patterns and their links with anxiety or depression
  • Ethical, privacy and bias considerations in using social media data for mental health
  • Computational modelling of social contagion and emotional dynamics online

Based on the published scope; the full list of themes is on the official call page.

Is your work a fit? Check before you write

  1. Address mechanisms linking social media environments to mental-health outcomes, or use social media as a data source.
  2. Describe data sources, sampling, models and evaluation metrics transparently.
  3. Address ethics, privacy and potential bias in data and algorithms.
  4. Confirm accepted article types and article processing charges on the official call page.
  5. Submit a complete, co-author-approved manuscript before 16 March 2027.

Why This Call Is a Priority Now

Social media shapes how people connect, seek information and express distress, and its effects on mental health can be both harmful and supportive. Understanding these effects requires combining computational methods with social and clinical insight. Social media data also offer new ways to study mental health, raising methodological and ethical questions. An interdisciplinary Research Topic in an artificial intelligence journal gives authors a venue where technical and social perspectives can be presented together.

Who Should Submit

Academic backgrounds

  • Computer science and artificial intelligence
  • Computational social science
  • Psychology and psychiatry
  • Digital health
  • Information ethics

Institutions and sectors

  • Universities and AI research labs
  • Digital health and technology companies
  • Mental health services and research centres
  • Policy and regulatory bodies for online safety

Article types commonly published in Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence

  • See the journal’s article types

What the Editors Typically Value

  1. Computational studies that identify specific platform mechanisms associated with mental-health outcomes.
  2. Validated methods for detecting mental-health signals in social media data, with attention to bias.
  3. Interdisciplinary work combining algorithmic analysis with psychological or clinical measures.
  4. Research that examines supportive as well as harmful effects of social media environments.

Paper Ideas You Could Develop

Auditing recommendation exposureAn algorithmic audit examining how quickly recommendation systems surface self-harm or recovery content after simulated user engagement.
Detecting distress in postsA study developing and validating a language model for detecting depressive symptoms in social media posts, with fairness analysis across user groups.
Peer support network dynamicsA network analysis of an online peer support community examining how reply patterns relate to changes in expressed wellbeing.

Your Plan to the Deadline

A suggested schedule working back from 16 March 2027. Adjust it to the stage your work has reached.

  1. By 30 Jan 2027

    Open the official collection page and the Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence submission guidelines; confirm the scope, article types and guest editors.

  2. By 13 Feb 2027

    Write a one-paragraph statement of your research question, design and the contribution your paper makes to the collection.

  3. By 23 Feb 2027

    Complete the analysis and agree the key findings, figures and tables with your co-authors.

  4. By 6 Mar 2027

    Draft the full manuscript to the Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence article type and the relevant reporting guideline.

  5. By 11 Mar 2027

    Circulate the draft to co-authors and an independent reader; revise for clarity, accuracy and completeness.

  6. By 14 Mar 2027

    Complete final checks: formatting, references, declarations, data availability statement and cover letter.

  7. By 16 Mar 2027

    Submit through the journal’s online system, selecting the collection, after re-checking the official call page.

What you gain from publishing here

  • Publication in Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, reaching readers working on this topic.
  • A themed collection that groups your paper with related work.
  • Editorial and peer feedback that can strengthen the work, whatever the decision.
  • A peer-reviewed output for your CV, thesis or grant reporting.

What happens after you submit

  1. Submission: upload through the Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence online system and select the collection.
  2. Editorial screening: the editors check fit with the collection; papers outside its scope may be returned without review.
  3. Peer review: suitable papers are sent to reviewers under the journal’s review model.
  4. Revision and decision: respond to each reviewer comment and keep a record of the changes.
  5. Production: accepted papers move to proofs and open access publication, with the article processing charge set out by the publisher.

What the Collection Is Looking For

The Research Topic seeks interdisciplinary work on how social media environments produce harmful and supportive mental-health outcomes, through computational, social and technical mechanisms, and on the use of social media as a data source. Consistent with the journal’s remit, studies applying artificial intelligence and data science with rigour and ethical care are likely to be of interest. Authors should confirm accepted article types and article processing charges on the official call page.

Read the call itselfThis guide summarises the call. Open the official collection page before you plan a submission, and record the date you checked it and the guest editors listed.Open the official call

Expert help

How Pubrica Can Help With This Submission

Pubrica’s subject specialists can review, write, edit, format and prepare your manuscript for this call, planned back from the deadline. You remain the author of your work.

Pre-submission peer reviewAn expert review of the manuscript against the call and the journal’s requirements. Manuscript editingSubject-specialist editing for clarity, accuracy and consistency. Journal formattingFormatting of the manuscript, references, figures and tables to the journal’s guidelines. BiostatisticsStatistical analysis and review of results. Cover letterA cover letter that explains how the manuscript fits the call. Journal submissionPreparation of submission files and completion of the online submission.
Go to the official call

FAQs

Questions Authors Ask

The published deadline is 16 March 2027. Collections can close early or be extended, so confirm the date on the official call page before you plan your submission.

The guest editors are listed on the official collection page. Check their research interests, as they help to judge whether your manuscript fits the collection.

The Topic is interdisciplinary but sits in an artificial intelligence journal, so studies are likely to fit best if they engage with computational or technical mechanisms. Authors should check the official call page for further guidance.

Access model: Open access. Check the journal’s fees page for any article processing charge before you submit.

Sources

  1. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence. (2026). Digital Minds: Assessing the interplay of social media on mental health [Collection call for papers]. Frontiers. Retrieved 10 November 2026, from https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84031/digital-minds-assessing-the-interplay-of-social-media-on-mental-health

How to cite this page

Pubrica Insights. (2026). Call for Papers: Digital Minds: Assessing the interplay of social media on mental health (Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence). Pubrica. https://pubrica.com/insights/calls-and-conferences/digital-minds-assessing-the-interplay-of-social-media-on-mental-health/

  • Social media
  • Mental health
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Natural language processing
  • Digital wellbeing

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Digital Minds: Assessing the interplay of social media on mental health (Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence)Deadline 16 March 2027

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