Yearbook on Data Autonomy

The "Yearbook on Data Autonomy" (YoDA) is an independent, peer-reviewed, online first, and open-access academic outlet for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research on data autonomy published by University of Groningen Press.

Data autonomy is a concept seeking to explore the design and governance of digital infrastructures to promote human dignity in the digital age (read the FAQ here to find out more). At its core, data autonomy relates to questions surrounding the themes of personal and collective autonomy in datafied environments, as well as aspects relating to strategic autonomy.

YoDA invites contributions from academics, policy makers and the interested public on topics such as

• design and governance of cloud infrastructures in the context of preserving and promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law (e.g. exploring value-based strategies to achieve strategic autonomy);

• novel and original approaches to respecting, protecting and promoting individual and collective autonomy in the datafying society (e.g. in relation to privacy and data protection, freedom of expression, philosophical and ethical questions, digital identity, approaches to autonomy emphasising indigenous heritage, decentralisation in the context of distributed ledger technologies or the fediverse, decolonisation of data infrastructures, and associated topics);

• issues related to (academic) knowledge dissemination, visualisation, and communication in the light of the promotion of academic freedom;

• the (re-)development of data infrastructures for educational and public institutions, as well as public spaces for privacy/surveillance in the context of private/public relationships (e.g. development of 'smart cities', surveillance publishing, etc.);

• topics relating to data governance, data security, and the broader (ethical) implications of data management systems;

• the impacts of the adoption of new technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence/distributed ledger technologies, quantum computing, etc.) on democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

We encourage submissions that take an interdisciplinary perspective on these aspects, typically involving academic disciplines such as data science, economics, educational sciences, engineering, governance, international relations, law, media studies, philosophy, political science, science and technology studies, surveillance studies, or related disciplines.

YoDA publishes:

1. original research articles;

2. practictioner’s perspectives (e.g. relating to cloud infrastructure adoption in higher education or the public domain, as well as issues relating to science/academic communication); 

3. shorter commentaries;

4. book reviews.

The first two categories will have a length of min. 5000 words and max. 8000 words (excluding citations), whereas the opinion pieces and book reviews should be max. 2000 words. We use APA 7th edition citation style.

Submissions are subject to an Open/Double peer-review process. All publications are published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

If you have any questions please contact lead editors Oskar Gstrein or Malcolm Campbell-Verduyn. 

Th​​e  YoDA editorial board consists of:

Carolina Aguerre, Maeve McKeown, Noha El-Baz, Giulia Trentacosti, David Cheruiyot, Marianne Franklin, Lukas Linsi, Titus Stahl, Babette Knauer

Editorial assistants are:

Gisel Barbieri, Trevi Putri, Victor Toma, Lidia Yatluk