Call for papers n.201 (2026)

2026-07-08

School Libraries between Reading, Research and Artificial Intelligence: New Ecosystems for Learning and the Promotion of Reading

The profound transformations brought about by Artificial Intelligence are reshaping the processes of access, production, and evaluation of knowledge. In this context, the school library plays a strategic role as a learning environment, a research laboratory, a space for promoting reading, and a key setting for the development of information, digital, and critical competencies.

The growing diffusion of generative AI tools opens new opportunities for the personalization of learning, the support of information retrieval and research, the mediation of information, and the promotion of reading. At the same time, it raises pedagogical, ethical, and methodological questions regarding the reliability of sources, the transparency of algorithmic processes, intellectual property, inclusion, and the development of critical thinking.

This issue of the journal will welcome theoretical, empirical, and action-research contributions that explore the relationship between school libraries, reading practices, information research methodologies, and Artificial Intelligence, with particular attention to changes in school and educational contexts and to the role of information and education professionals. Libraries are increasingly considered privileged spaces for promoting AI literacy, information literacy, and the critical use of emerging technologies.

Thematic areas include:

  • school libraries as ecosystems for learning, educational research, and pedagogical innovation;

  • promotion of reading in the age of Artificial Intelligence;

  • generative AI and students’ information-seeking and research practices;

  • information literacy, AI literacy, and media literacy;

  • development of critical thinking and source evaluation;

  • school librarians and teachers as information mediators;

  • design of integrated educational pathways connecting the school library with the curriculum, incorporating the use of AI tools;

  • action research, case studies, and best practices;

  • ethical, legal, and organizational aspects of AI use in school libraries;

  • inclusion, accessibility, and personalization of reading pathways through intelligent tools;

  • assessment of the impact of AI on reading, writing, and research competencies.

Types of contributions

Interdisciplinary approaches are particularly encouraged, fostering dialogue among educational sciences, library and information science, digital education, media education, and Artificial Intelligence studies. The call welcomes:

  • empirical research articles (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods);

  • theoretical contributions and critical and systematic reviews of existing scholarly and professional literature;

  • case studies;

  • action research and documentation of innovative practices;

  • methodological contributions related to the design, management, and evaluation of school libraries.

 

Deadlines for Issue No. 201/2026 of “Pampaedia”

  • Submission of the abstract (Word file), approximately 600 (six hundred) characters including spaces, in Italian (or in the original language) and in English, with keywords, author’s first and last name, institutional affiliation, and institutional email address, by 20 August 2026 to:
    donatella.lombello@unipd.it; carla.xodo@unipd.it; pampaedia.aspei@gmail.com

Notification of acceptance or rejection of the abstract will be sent by email to the author(s) by 10 September 2026.

  • Submission of the full paper (Word file), including: abstract in Italian (or in the original language) and in English, keywords, author’s name and surname (and, in the case of multiple authors, the name of each author with a specification of their respective contributions), institutional affiliation, and institutional email address. At the same time, an anonymized version of the paper for peer review must also be submitted.

The full paper, between 25,000 (twenty-five thousand) and 35,000 (thirty-five thousand) characters including spaces, must be submitted by 20 October 2026 to:
donatella.lombello@unipd.it; carla.xodo@unipd.it; pampaedia.aspei@gmail.com

  • By 18 December 2026, completion of the issue (editorial, table of contents, and contributions), ready for submission to the publishing house.

  • Publication date: 31 December 2026.

All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process. Deadline for any revisions requested by referees: 15 November 2026.

 

NEW JOURNAL STRUCTURE

Since issue 198/2025, the journal has adopted the following structure:

  1. Articles responding to the “call” (double-blind peer review);

  2. “Open topic” articles on current or particularly relevant pedagogical-didactic-educational issues, including historical-educational research (also in comparative perspective), children’s literature, and reading (double-blind peer review);

  3. Information and/or contributions related to conferences, congresses, and cultural initiatives;

  4. Reviews.

For contributions submitted to the “open articles” section, the same rules and deadlines as those for the “call” articles apply.

 

LINK TO EDITORIAL STANDARDS download