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Home » NEWS » Special Issue Call for Papers: Organizing Truth in an Age of Polarization and Artificial Intelligence 

Special Issue Call for Papers: Organizing Truth in an Age of Polarization and Artificial Intelligence 

Submission deadline: 3 May 2027

GUEST EDITORS (alphabetical by first name)

Chidiebere Ogbonnaya, King’s College London, UK (chidiebere.ogbonnaya@kcl.ac.uk)

Claudia Gabbioneta, University of York, UK (claudia.gabbioneta@york.ac.uk)

Hannes Leroy, Rotterdam School of Management, The Netherlands (leroy@rsm.nl)

Johann Fortwengel, King’s College London, UK (johann.fortwengel@kcl.ac.uk)

Patrick Haack, University of Lausanne, Switzerland (patrick.haack@unil.ch)

Yasin Rofcanin, University of Bath, UK (y.rofcanin@bath.ac.uk)

BACKGROUND

I don’t know what to believe anymore!

Our shared understandings of truth are increasingly fragile in everyday life. The problem is not a shortage of information, but a growing loss of confidence in the sources, standards, and institutions people have traditionally relied on to assess what is true (Cooper et al., 2023; Knight & Tsoukas, 2019). This erosion of confidence extends beyond differences of opinions, values, and lived experiences to the facts, evidence, and forms of authority through which people make sense of reality (Knight & Tsoukas, 2019; Wright et al., 2024). Organizations therefore operate within a deepening ‘information crisis’ (Viner, 2026) where shared standards for judging evidence and authority are harder to establish and sustain (Lazer et al., 2018; Knight & Tsoukas, 2019). For individuals, teams, and stakeholders, this creates uncertainty about what information to trust, whose expertise to rely on, and which claims to take seriously (Cooper et al., 2023; Wright et al., 2024).

These challenges are further exacerbated by algorithmic systems that shape how information is assessed, interpreted, and made visible (Kellogg et al., 2020; Orlikowski & Scott, 2014; Sarala et al., 2025). AI-driven platforms, for example, curate content in ways that influence which narratives gain prominence and which claims come to appear credible or authoritative (Acemoglu et al., 2024; Hajli et al., 2022; Kellogg et al., 2020). As a result, perceptions of truth in societal and organizational life are mediated by systems whose operations are often difficult to scrutinize and hard to challenge (Kellogg et al., 2020; Martin, 2019). Additionally, wider social pressures, including political polarization and cultural and geopolitical tensions, can make people more likely to dismiss claims associated with opposing identities, ideologies, or worldviews (Gupta & Briscoe, 2020; Selling & Wettstein, 2025). Frequently, these tensions and struggles are emotionally laden (Zhang et al., 2024), leading to dynamics that are difficult to predict, steer, and rein in. Yet management research has not yet fully examined how these developments reshape perceptions of trust and credibility in organizational life (Knight & Tsoukas, 2019; Wright et al., 2024).

The 2026 Journal of Management Studies conference brought together emerging conversations on the role of truth across societal, organizational, and professional domains. These discussions underscored the importance of examining how and why competing claims about what is true influence outcomes in organizational settings. They also highlighted the need for management scholars to explain how organizations react when standards of evidence, expertise, and authority are challenged. In practice, different narratives about what counts as truth shape organizational decision-making, yet existing research has not fully explained how these dynamics unfold across contexts (Wright et al., 2024). While the conference generated important insights, it also pointed to unresolved questions about how truth, credibility, and authority are theorized in management research. Building on these conversations, this Special Issue examines how claims about what is true shape organizational life.

AIMS AND SCOPE OF THE SPECIAL ISSUE

This Special Issue seeks to advance theoretically grounded research on how truth is perceived, contested, and made consequential in and around organizations. It invites conceptually rigorous research on how organizations and institutions shape what comes to be accepted, questioned, or rejected as true (Knight & Tsoukas, 2019; Wright et al., 2024). It foregrounds how evidence, expertise, values, and authority are mobilized to validate some claims while challenging others (Cooper et al., 2023; Wright et al., 2024). With this in mind, the Special Issue asks how organizations build credibility in an age of polarization, how stakeholders decide what to believe, how professional expertise is defended, and how digital technologies shape what becomes visible or trusted (Vanneste & Puranam, 2025). In doing so, the Special Issue moves from diagnosing an information crisis to examining its implications for management and organization studies.

Several streams of management research already speak to this broader problem, including work on how knowledge is produced and evaluated in organizational contexts (Cronin et al., 2025; Muzio, 2022), how authority is reshaped in the light of new technologies (Mayer, van den Broek & Karačić, 2026), and how questions of responsibility are discursively contested in sophisticated blame games (Roulet & Pichler, 2020). Studies of digital platforms and algorithmic systems, for example, show how online environments shape the visibility and perceived credibility of information exchanges (Kellogg et al., 2020; Vanneste & Puranam, 2025). Research on trust explains how perceptions of agency shape whether AI systems are treated as credible under conditions of uncertainty (Vanneste & Puranam, 2025). Work on polarization and sensemaking further shows how individuals and groups interpret information through moral and political lenses, often reinforcing existing beliefs (Acemoglu et al., 2024). These studies show that misleading information can disrupt organizational processes, influence decision-making, and alter judgments of credibility (Hajli et al., 2022; Petratos & Faccia, 2023; Vosoughi et al., 2018). Yet these streams of research remain fragmented, as debates about how truth claims emerge, gain authority, and become contested have largely evolved in parallel (Knight & Tsoukas, 2019; Wright et al., 2024).

This Special Issue welcomes research that examines how truth claims take shape, acquire credibility, and guide action in organizational life. We are especially interested in why particular claims are accepted or resisted, and how these processes influence organizational decisions and practices. Contributions may focus on individual, organizational, institutional, or societal levels of analysis and may examine these issues across public, private, hybrid, or transnational settings. In keeping with the Journal of Management Studies’ broad and inclusive tradition, we welcome theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions drawing on diverse disciplinary perspectives and research approaches. Submissions may employ qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method, computational, interpretive, or conceptual designs, provided they speak clearly to organizational and managerial questions and offer clear implications for management and organization studies.

We particularly encourage work that connects previously separate conversations, develops new theoretical insights, or challenges established assumptions about knowledge, credibility, and legitimacy in organizational life. As such, we welcome submissions that place truth at the center of their theorizing effort. Against this backdrop, illustrative topics include:

  • What constitutes “truth” in management and organization studies, and how do different epistemological traditions approach its construction, critique, and application?
  • How do organizations navigate tensions between competing “truths” arising from diverse stakeholder groups (e.g., shareholders, employees, communities, regulators)?
  • What happens when internal organizational truths (e.g., values, mission) conflict with external ones (e.g., public opinion, market pressures), and how are these reconciled?
  • How do organizational structures and processes shape truth-telling practices, particularly in high-stakes contexts like whistleblowing, crisis management, and corporate scandal?
  • How can organizational leaders construct and use “truth narratives” to maintain legitimacy and authority?
  • How do organizational change initiatives reframe or reconstruct truth to gain acceptance and legitimacy among employees and stakeholders?
  • How do organizational identities and cultures embed truth claims about purpose, values, and legitimacy, and how do these evolve over time?
  • How do truth claims become emotionally and affectively loaded?
  • In what ways do polarized stakeholder environments influence organizational truth-telling, transparency, and legitimacy strategies?
  • How do organizations navigate competing truths in the age of geopolitical tensions?
  • In what ways do AI-generated content and fake news influence organizational transparency, truth-telling, and legitimacy strategies?
  • How do strategic narratives reshape institutional perceptions of truth during periods of transformation, innovation, or disruption?

SUBMISSION PROCESS AND DEADLINES

SPECIAL ISSUE EVENTS

This Call for Papers builds on the 2026 JMS conference in Cambridge, ‘Truth in the Age of Polarization and Artificial Intelligence’, while remaining open to all relevant submissions. Presentation at the conference is not a precondition for submission to the Special Issue, nor does it guarantee acceptance.

Post-submission: The Special Issue editors will organize a revision workshop in late 2027 (exact date, time, and format TBA). Authors who receive a first “revise and resubmit” (R&R) decision on their manuscript will be invited to attend this workshop.

Participation in the information sessions or workshop does not guarantee acceptance of the paper in the Special Issue and attendance is not a prerequisite for publication.

REFERENCES

Acemoglu, D., Ozdaglar, A. and Siderius, J. (2024). ‘A model of online misinformation’. Review of Economic Studies, 91, 3117–3150.

Cooper, B., Cohen, T. R., Huppert, E., Levine, E. E. and Fleeson, W. (2023). ‘Honest behavior: Truth-seeking, belief-speaking, and fostering understanding of the truth in others’. Academy of Management Annals, 17, 655–683.

Cronin, M. A., Galvin, B. M., George, E., Gruber, M., Lindebaum, D., Markman, G. D., Miller, C. C., Rose, E. L., Thatcher, S. M. B. and Wood, G. T. (2025). ‘From a portfolio of journals to a system of knowledge production’. Academy of Management Annals, 19, 1–8.

Gupta, A. and Briscoe, F. (2020). ‘Organizational political ideology and corporate openness to social activism’. Administrative Science Quarterly, 65, 524–563.

Hajli, N., Saeed, U., Tajvidi, M. and Shirazi, F. (2022). ‘Social bots and the spread of disinformation in social media: The challenges of artificial intelligence’. British Journal of Management, 33, 1238–1253.

Kellogg, K. C., Valentine, M. A. and Christin, A. (2020). ‘Algorithms at work: The new contested terrain of control’. Academy of Management Annals, 14, 366–410.

Knight, E. and Tsoukas, H. (2019). ‘When fiction trumps truth: What “post-truth” and “alternative facts” mean for management studies’. Organization Studies, 40, 183–197.

Lazer, D. M. J., Baum, M. A., Benkler, Y., Berinsky, A. J., Greenhill, K. M., Menczer, F., Metzger, M. J., Nyhan, B., Pennycook, G., Rothschild, D., Schudson, M., Sloman, S. A., Sunstein, C. R., Thorson, E. A., Watts, D. J. and Zittrain, J. L. (2018). ‘The science of fake news’. Science, 359(6380), 1094–1096.

Martin, K. (2019). ‘Ethical implications and accountability of algorithms’. Journal of Business Ethics, 160, 835–850.

Mayer, A.-S., van den Broek, E. and Karačić, T. (2026). ‘‘Let me explain’: A comparative field study of how experts enact authority over clients when facing AI decisions’. Journal of Management Studies, 63, 366–398.

Muzio, D. (2022). ‘Re-conceptualizing management theory: How do we move away from Western-centred knowledge?’. Journal of Management Studies, 59, 1032–1035.

Orlikowski, W. J. and Scott, S. V. (2014). ‘What happens when evaluation goes online? Exploring apparatuses of valuation in the travel sector’. Organization Science, 25, 868–891.

Petratos, P. N. and Faccia, A. (2023). ‘Fake news, misinformation, disinformation and supply chain risks and disruptions: Risk management and resilience using blockchain’. Annals of Operations Research, 327, 735–762.

Roulet, T. J. and Pichler, R. (2020). ‘Blame game theory: Scapegoating, whistleblowing and discursive struggles following accusations of organizational misconduct’. Organization Theory. https://doi.org/10.1177/2631787720975192

Sarala, R. M., Post, C., Doh, J. and Muzio, D. (2025). ‘Advancing research on the future of work in the age of artificial intelligence (AI)’. Journal of Management Studies, 62, 1863–1884.

Selling, N. and Wettstein, F. (2025). ‘Corporate engagement with polarizing morality issues: Conceptualization and implications’. Academy of Management Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2024.0181

Vanneste, B. S. and Puranam, P. (2025). ‘Artificial intelligence, trust, and perceptions of agency’. Academy of Management Review, 50, 726–744.

Viner, K. (2026). ‘How to survive the information crisis: ‘We once talked about fake news—now reality itself feels fake’.’ The Guardian, 6 May 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/media/ng-interactive/2026/may/06/how-to-survive-the-information-crisis-we-once-talked-about-fake-news-now-reality-itself-feels-fake; last access: 20 May 2026).  

Vosoughi, S., Roy, D. and Aral, S. (2018). ‘The spread of true and false news online’. Science, 359(6380), 1146–1151.

Wright, T. A., Emich, K., Pearce, J. L., Ramoglou, S., Ashkanasy, N. M., Bartunek, J. M., et al. (2024). ‘Advocacy and the search for truth in management scholarship: Can the twain ever meet?’. Journal of Management Inquiry, 33, 11–25.

Zhang, R., Voronov, M., Toubiana, M., Vince, R. and Hudson, B. A. (2024). ‘Beyond the feeling individual: Insights from sociology on emotions and embeddedness’. Journal of Management Studies, 61, 2212–2250.

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