We at the Journal of Electronic Publishing (JEP) are incredibly excited to announce the publication of our new special issue on Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences, edited by Samuel Moore, Jenni Adams, and Miranda Barnes. 

This important collection considers how the dominant understandings of open research and open science relate to HSS disciplines and how they are resisted, and also asks whether these disciplines need their own conception of openness, considering whether open research itself needs to ‘humanise’ through ideas such as Sabina Leonelli’s ‘judicial connection’ (Leonelli 2023) or more general theoretical frameworks relating to knowledge commons (Chan and Costa 2005; Bell 2019).

The contributions to this issue all share a desire to further the dialogue about open research in the humanities and social sciences, highlighting the tensions that exist in the current STEM-focused discourse and policy applications. But they also reveal the many opportunities for discussions of openness to broaden out to encompass a greater variety of practices and applications across a range of disciplines.

Please share this special issue with anyone in your network who may be interested in Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences. 

Contents: https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jep/issue/456/info/ 

Volume 29 • Issue 1 • 2026 • Special Issue: Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Adams, J., Barnes, M., Moore, S. (2026) “Open Research for the Humanities and Social Sciences: Editors’ Introduction”, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.9283 

Adams, J. (2026) “Open at the Level of (Para)text: Critical Intertextuality and Discursive Notation as Open Research Practices in the Humanities”, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7845 

Davin, C., Beck, J., Ma, L. (2026) “Open Practices, Closed Realities? Archaeological Perspectives on Open Research Practices”, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7833  

Elfenbein, T, LaFlamme, M., Hoffman, A.S. (2026) “Emerging Forms of Open Research in Social/Cultural Anthropology”, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.8085  

Eze, A. (2026) “What Does Openness Mean for the Humanities? Redefining Ethical and Reflexive Practices in Open Research”, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7873 

Faïta, I. (2026) “Tensions et zones d’ombre autour de la science ouverte en SHS en France”, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7854  

Fathallah, J. (2026) “Open Scholarship in the Humanities: An OA Author Intervention”, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7812 

Ferreira, B.B. (2026) “Open for Debate: Situating Open Research for the Humanities in a Neoliberal Setting”, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7850 

Fillaud, C., Boukacem-Zeghmouri, C., Fei, Y., Favel-Kapoian, V. (2026) “The French HSS Community Speaks Out on Open Science: A Top-Down and Bottom-Up Taxonomy Approach“, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7835

Jensen, G., Ghosh, S., To, A., Siemens, R. (2026) “Open Infrastructure and the Threat of ‘Vanishing’ Journals: Leveraging Open Knowledge Commons, Open Source Software, and DIY Solutions to Preserve Humanities and Social Sciences Research“, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7860 

Kiesewetter, R. (2026) “Doing Openness Otherwise: Democratization and OA Publishing in the HSS“, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7944 

Le Foll, E. (2026) “‘Well, Parts of Linguistics Is Open…’: Insights into Linguists’ Diverse Understandings of Open Science“, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7974 

MacDonald, C. (2026) “Mobilizing Knowledge in the Humanities and Social Sciences: Exploring Competing Articulations of Openness in Policy and Practice“, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7849 

Maxwell, J.W., Bordini, A. (2026) “A Prototyping Renaissance: Form, Content, and Scale in Open Publication in the Humanities“, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7837 

Primbault, S.D. (2026) “Do Infrastructures Have Epistemologies? Studying an Open Access Infrastructure for SSH from Within“, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7803 

Wong, L.L.H., Wong, T.Y. (2026) “Negotiating Openness under Authoritarian Risk: Feminist Open Data Sharing in Hong Kong“, The Journal of Electronic Publishing 29(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7839