Professor David Rapp is one of the Guest Editors for a special issue in Cognitive Research: Principles & Implications (aka CR:PI) on the Psychology of Fake News. The submission deadline has been extended, so if you think that you missed your chance to submit your work on this important topic in what is sure to be a must-read issue, you didn’t. Find out more about it in the interview below.
Interview with Professor Rapp
Mickes: The topic of this Special Issue is of great importance, especially during these trying times in which we are living through the COVID-19 pandemic and continued struggles for social equality. Can you say if and how the papers published in this issue can address the spread of fake news during these times?
Rapp: The special issue is focused on cognitive and social psychological mechanisms that are critically linked to people’s experiences with fake news.
The goal is to publish work that offers
(a) rich descriptions of interactions with misinformation, disinformation, and other inaccurate presentations,
(b) potential explanations for how and why people engage with these materials, and for predicting the consequences of exposures to inaccuracies, and
(c) psychologically informed interventions that support more evaluation and engagement with fake news.
Work along these lines should prove useful for informing theoretical understandings and practical applications for dealing with fake news and misinformation, including but not limited to political issues, health topics, STEM considerations, and everyday reasonings.
Mickes: This was announced back in April 2020, have you received many submissions?
Rapp: We have received a solid number of submissions, and are always hoping for more. The COVID-19 pandemic, focused attention on the Black Lives Matter movement, and people’s unfolding work-from-home challenges may have influenced submissions, all for good reason. We are nevertheless excited and hopeful that people will think about how their work fits broadly into the special issue topic, and submit their work for consideration.
Mickes: Are you still accepting submissions? What is the deadline?
Rapp: Yes. After receiving several requests, we extended the original deadline to August 1, again with full realization of the issues and concerns that are taking up people’s resources and attention.
Mickes: When will the Special Issue be available to readers?
Rapp: In an on-line journal, like CR:PI, accepted papers appear on the website as soon as they are ready. The whole collection appears when the last paper is accepted. The result is that your work gets two bursts of publicity; once on its own and once as part of the Special Issue.
Mickes: What can the readers expect of the Special Issue?
Rapp: Readers can expect theoretically-informed, empirically motivated work firmly embedded in the psychological literature addressing real-world concerns about fake news.
Mickes: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Rapp: I hope that people will take a look at the special issue call, and also read the issue when it is published. My co-guest editors, Jeff Zacks and Holly Taylor, are very excited about the issue, and hope readers will be too. If authors have questions or want to check whether their work might fit, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Submission information
Email if you have questions about submissions: