73rd Annual ICA Conference Theme
Call for Papers

By Eun-Ju Lee, ICA President-Elect, Seoul National U

The ICA 2023 conference theme of Reclaiming Authenticity in Communication invites communication scholars to examine how authenticity has become a variable, rather than a constant, in public discourses and popular culture across the globe, and with what relational, social, political, and cultural implications.

Until not long ago, truth was safely assumed in most communication, most of the time. We routinely followed unspoken rules, such as “Do not say what you believe to be false” and “Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence,” (Grice, 1975, p. 46) and assumed the same for others. As such, the presumption of honesty (vs. deception), also known as truth-default, was deemed functional, enabling efficient communication (Levine, 2014).

Perhaps not anymore. Most notably, a recent surge of false and/or misleading communication across contexts and borders has ushered us into a global authenticity crisis. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, devastating consequences have followed false information regarding the cures and prevention measures of the virus. Political leaders’ faulty claims and outright lies tainted democratic processes and posed imminent threats to the society. To make matters worse, falsehood is often coupled with hatred and prejudice, targeting vulnerable groups and subpopulations. Authenticity crisis, however, goes well beyond mere factuality of messages (Lee, 2020).

When we call in for a customer service, we no longer can tell for sure if we are talking to a human or an algorithmic agent. Deepfake videos of politicians go viral, not only damaging the reputations of those featured but lowering public trust in politicians as well as political systems. With authenticity becoming the new currency, illusions of authenticity abound in media such as reality TV shows and docusoaps, where carefully crafted ordinariness and imperfections are presented as signs of authenticity (Enli, 2015). Politicians compete for voter attention and affection by disclosing intimate details of personal affairs (which may or may not be genuine) in talk shows or via their social media posts. Social media influencers share their experience of particular products without necessarily informing that they were, in fact, sponsored. Selective and strategic self-presentation on social media platforms has long been the subject of scholarly inquiry about the notion of true self, but with the recent hype about the metaverse, which is populated by disembodied, avatar-based individuals, the construction and reconstruction of self-identity seems more relevant than ever, raising the question of what comprises an authentic self.

With the countless and increasing instances of authenticity scandals, authenticity illusions, and authenticity puzzles as part of communication practices, this theme invites scholars to consider a host of related questions and issues, including (but not limited to) the following:

• What are the key pillars of authentic communication? What makes communication more or less authentic? What differentiates authentic and inauthentic communication?
• What kinds of roles does (perceived) authenticity play in interpersonal, social, political, and cultural communication practices?
• How is authenticity construed similarly or differently across contexts, such as in journalism, politicians’ election campaigns, public health campaigns, reality TV shows, MMORPG, interpersonal/intergroup encounters, PR and advertising, and the like?
• How do the changes in the communication systems (e.g., emerging media platforms) as well as actors (e.g., AI agents) affect the ways in which authenticity is expressed and materialized in communication?
• How do people authenticate messages they encounter? What factors are involved in the authentication process and how do they affect communication outcomes?
• What are the common authenticity markers people rely on when making authenticity judgments? How are they exploited to create authenticity illusions?
• When do people mind “faked” or “manufactured” authenticity? Under what conditions does authenticity become an important attribute of communication?
• How does mediation of reality contribute to authenticity perceptions? When the boundary between the real world and the virtual world collapses, how is authenticity defined and negotiated? - What does the notion of authenticity imply for research on self-identity, social relationships, and community?
• What are the short-term and long-term consequences of the apparent authenticity crisis? What can or should be done to restore authenticity and trust in social exchanges?
• Are there any particular groups or subpopulations that are more vulnerable to false information?

• All submissions to the theme category must focus on the concept of authenticity;
• Work that debates, advances and critiques the concept of authenticity can be submitted as papers so as to allow the theme committee to create panels that discuss and/or showcase open science practices;
• Panels for the theme should be cross-divisional (having broad appeal across all units of ICA) and adhere to the diversity considerations highlighted under the general guidelines below;
• Innovative (and interactive) and educational formats are encouraged.

Submissions to theme sessions must follow all general guidelines put forward by ICA. Proposals for papers and panels on the conference theme are invited from all sectors of the field, and will be evaluated competitively by anonymous reviewers selected by the theme committee. Submissions deemed to fit only the interests of one division or interest group rather than the conference as a whole will be forwarded to that group for consideration. Papers or panels submitted to the theme must not be submitted simultaneously for consideration to any division or interest group. Panel proposals on the conference theme must include a 400-word rationale explaining how the panel fits the conference theme plus a separate 75-word summary of the rationale to appear in the conference program.

GENERAL PROPOSALS

As always: papers, posters, and panels that apply to general communication topics not having to do with the theme are also welcome, though it should be noted that themes of inclusion, care, equity, justice, and diversity are not “niche issues,” and examining or addressing these topics even within seemingly unrelated papers (i.e., in both theme and non-theme submissions) is encouraged. All panel submissions (general and theme) should include contributions from at least two different countries; not more than one contributor from a single faculty, department or school; and generally be mindful to consider panelist diversity. Paper and panel submissions that involve direct collaboration with community partners, both in work and in authorship, are encouraged.

ICA strives to be a truly international and equitable association. Therefore, those considering a submission to the ICA23 conference may rest assured that ICA provides more than US$100,000 annually in ICA-wide travel grants for conference attendees (whose work has been accepted) from:

• tier B and C countries,
• scholars experiencing unemployment/employment exceptions, or
• scholars who identify as members of an ethnic minority or another equity-seeking/historically excluded group in their countries of residence (regardless of Tier).

In addition, ICA has a generous waiver program (both ICA-wide and individually for each of the 33 decisions and interest groups), in addition to grants awarded by all 33 groups. ICA automatically provides an official invitation letter to all scholars stating one's acceptance to the program, the rigor of the competition, and the absolute necessity of each scholar appearing to present their work. Those who need extra levels of effusiveness in letter writing or in a call placed to the consulate may submit those requests to the ICA office through a webform that will be available during the submission period. ICA has also awarded one escalator (mentorship) session to each division/interest group beginning in 2023, in the hope of stimulating the submission of a greater number of works in progress. ICA believes strongly that a lack of funding should not stand as a barrier to the participation of a scholar whose work has been accepted for presentation.

This theme is also being distributed in the top five U.N. languages other than English: Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese. Those versions are linked at the top of this page in red.

References

Enli, G. (2015). Mediated authenticity: How the media constructs reality. Peter Lang.

Grice, P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole & J. Morgan (eds.). Syntax and semantics. Vol 3: Speech acts (pp. 41-58). Academic Press.

Lee, E.-J. (2020). Authenticity model of computer-mediated communication: Conceptual explorations and testable propositions. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 25(1), 60-73. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmz025

Levine, T. (2014). Truth-Default Theory (TDT): A theory of human deception and deception detection. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 33(4), 378-392. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X14535916