[Access Lunch] Fwd: [journals] Special Issue on Robots and Autism

[Kim Baraka CMU]

***** Apologies for cross-posting and multiple postings *****

Dear colleagues,

I have contacted you a few months ago regarding our special issue on Robots
and Autism (call for papers below). I just want to draw to your attention
that *submissions received in 2019 and accepted will be published free of
charge*. However, *starting 2020, the journal will be subject to an Article
Processing Charge* (APC) (only for accepted manuscripts – there still will
be no submission fees). The deadline for submission to the special issue is
February 29, 2020. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Link to the official CfP:
https://www.degruyter.com/view/supplement/s20814836_CFP_Robots_and_Autism.pdf
.

*Call for Papers:*
Increasing prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) emphasizes the
need for impactful research into more advanced and effective technology and
strategies used for intervention, assessment, and training. Social robots are
one technological domain that has been suggested as potentially effective
for individuals with ASD, due to robots’ repeatable and controllable social
behavior, as well as their ability to engage individuals with ASD. Although
existing research has demonstrated promising results in this domain, many
challenges remain to be addressed. From a design perspective, a better
understanding of suitable robot characteristics, scenarios, and tasks for
intervention and assessment is needed. From a technological perspective,
more algorithmic advances in modeling, sensing, decision-making, and
adaptation over interactive scenarios may unlock more powerful and flexible
solutions. From an empirical perspective, more evidence is required to
evaluate deployment, efficacy, and usability of these technologies in
different settings and by different users (caregivers, teachers,
clinicians). Finally, ethical and philosophical considerations when
designing and adopting such technologies are also notable areas of research
needing further examination.

This thematic special issue in Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics aims
at gathering the latest research addressing some of the above challenges.
It was launched as a follow-up to a web panel discussion (
https://bit.ly/2N568Hr) on the current state of socially assistive robotics in
ASD, held on June 27 and organized by Chartacloud | Robotteca. We welcome
high-quality submissions from authors, regardless of their affiliation(s)
and relationship to the panel. Full paper submissions may include: original
research, focused review papers, and opinion papers. In addition to full
papers, we will also consider submissions of brief research reports in the
form of a communication/note.

Contributions to the Special Issue may address (but are not limited) to the
following aspects:

   - intervention (clinical, school, and home settings)
   - assessment, diagnosis, and monitoring
   - clinician support and training
   - robot embodiment and behavior design
   - algorithms for intelligent robot behavior, including AI and machine
   learning for modeling, perception, and planning of social behavior
   - autonomy and shared control
   - programming interfaces for robot behavior (expert and non-expert)
   - ethical and philosophical issues
   - evaluation studies (hypothesis-driven, exploratory, and long-term)
   - novel applications of robots in the ASD domain

Authors are requested to submit their full research papers, complying with
the general scope of the journal. The submitted papers will undergo the
standard peer-review process before they can be accepted. Notification of
acceptance will be communicated as we progress with the review process.

*Guest editors:*
Kim Baraka (lead GE), Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA /
Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal
Rebecca Beights, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, USA / Irabina, Melbourne,
Australia
Marta Couto, INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal
Mike Radice (advisory editor), ChartaCloud | ROBOTTECA, Kensington, USA

*How to submit:*
Before submission authors should carefully read the Instruction for
Authors:
www.degruyter.com/view/supplement/s20814836_Instructions_for_Authors.pdf
<http://www.degruyter.com/view/supplement/s20814836_Instructions_for_Authors.pdf>Manuscripts
can be written in TeX, LaTeX (strongly recommended) - the journal’s LATEX
template. Please note that we do not accept papers in Plain TEX format.
Text files can be also submitted as standard DOCUMENT (.DOC) which is
acceptable if the submission in LATEX is not possible. For an initial
submission, the authors are strongly advised to upload their entire
manuscript, including tables and figures, as a single PDF file. All
submissions to the Special Issue must be made electronically via online
submission system Editorial Manager: www.editorialmanager.com/paladyn/. All
manuscripts will undergo the standard peer-review process (single blind, at
least two independent reviewers). When entering your submission via online
submission system please choose the option “SI on Robots and Autism:
Conceptualization, Technology, and Methodology”. Submission of a manuscript
implies that the work described has not been published before and it is not
under consideration for publication anywhere else. The deadline for
submissions is February 29, 2020, but individual papers will be reviewed
and published online as they arrive. Contributors to the Special Issue will
benefit from:

   - indexation in SCOPUS
   - NO submission and publication FEES in 2019*
   - fair and constructive peer review provided by experts in the field
   - no space constraints
   - convenient, web-based paper submission and tracking system – Editorial
   Manager
   - quick online publication upon completing the publishing process
   (continuous publication model)
   - better visibility due to Open Access
   - long-term preservation of the content (articles archived in Portico)
   - extensive post-publication promotion for selected papers

*There are no publication or processing fees for papers submitted till the
end of December 2019. Starting 2020, the journal will be subject to an
Article Processing Charge (APC) (only for accepted manuscripts – there
still will be no submission fees). Nevertheless, the journal will be able
to offer high discounts and also the possibility to apply for a waiver,
particularly for authors who do not have funds for publication in an open
access model.

We are looking forward to your submission !!! In case of any questions
please contact Dr. Justyna Żuk (Managing Editor of Paladyn.JBR;
Justyna.Zuk at degruyter.com).

Best regards,

*Kim Baraka, *PhD candidate
Robotics Institute, *Carnegie Mellon University* (Pittsburgh, USA)
Group on Artificial Intelligence for People and Society (GAIPS), *INESC-ID
/ Instituto Superior Té**cnico* (Lisboa, Portugal)
kimbaraka.com
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