This special call asks the question, what is the climate of publics-based research in public relations, and what are current challenges and approaches to the strategic segmentation of publics by organizations? The purpose of this special issue is to re-examine and question the basic set of assumptions and will serve as the natural extension of Vasquez and Taylor's (2001) call to explore publics in greater depth and through multiple prisms: "The challenge for public relations scholars and professionals is twofold: to demystify the ambiguity of a public and to link theory with practice for more effective relationships with publics" (p. 154).

This call for papers invites research that explores new facets and approaches to conceptualizing and segmenting publics.

Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

· Cultural identity factors in understanding and segmenting publics

· Intersectionality and the use of this theory in understanding publics

· Evaluation and measurement of segmentation

· Impact of culture, ethnicity, and globalization on the segmentation of publics

· Development of methods to segment publics

· Use of social media and Web 2.0 technologies to explore segmentation

· Application of segmentation approaches to reach publics

· The role that internal diversity of practitioners plays in the understanding of diverse publics

· Theories of public-specific communication (e.g., according to identities like race, gender, class, sexual orientation, role identity [e.g., as a parent, as a student, as a community activist], nationality, among other identities, as well as according to situations)

Important Dates:

· January 28, 2011: Manuscripts due to jvardeman (at) uh (dot) edu or jountt (at) langate (dot) gsu (dot) edu.

· February 11, 2011: Manuscripts sent to reviewers.

· April 15, 2011: Authors notified of status of their submissions.

· April 16 – June 23, 2011: Revisions process.

· June 24, 2011: Revisions process to be completed, and final manuscripts submitted.

· December 31, 2011: PRism special issue on segmentation made available

Manuscript Guidelines:

Articles should be academically rigorous (e.g. methodologically and theoretically sound, and thoroughly researched and referenced) but written in a style that is accessible to anyone interested in communication and its implications. Use plain English and, if you must use jargon, clearly explain its meaning. When submitting your final article (as a Word document or .pdf file attached to an email), please also send a 100-word biography that tells us about you and your interests.

Please adhere STRICTLY to APA style in preparing your manuscript and references. Articles that do not fulfill these criteria will not be sent to referees. We reserve the right to edit your work before publication. Articles should be no longer than 30 pages, excluding references, tables, notes, and figures.

All articles submitted to PRism must be original, unpublished work, and should not be under simultaneous consideration by any other publishing outlet. If a full article is accepted for publication following successful progress through the refereeing process, the author agrees that it will then be published and archived on the PRism website. If an article published on PRism is later published elsewhere, the latter publication must acknowledge prior publishing on PRism.

If you would like high-level, constructive feedback on your work in progress, please send an abstract or article draft for consideration. Our referees are dedicated to making the publishing experience a pleasant one; although we cannot promise acceptance into the special issue, the referees will highlight your strengths and guide and encourage you step-by-step through any changes needed to reach publishing standard. Support of this nature for postgraduate publishing is rare: so please take advantage of the opportunity while it exists. We wish you good luck and look forward to receiving your work!

Guest Editor Contact Information:

Natalie T. J. Tindall, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Department of Communication

Georgia State University

Jennifer Vardeman-Winter, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Jack J. Valenti School of Communication

University of Houston