Call for Papers

SPECIAL EDITION JOURNAL: UNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA 


BACKGROUND

The Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) Center on Combating Hybrid Threats (CCHT) is proud to announce a collaborative initiative with the NPS Global Education Community Collaboration Online (ECCO) team to produce the next dedicated special edition of the Combating Threats Exchange (CTX) Journal. By leveraging the interdisciplinary expertise of resident faculty, U.S. and allied military students, homeland defense and security professionals, and an extensive network of external partners, CTX special issue publications focus on emergent challenges at the forefront of national security and defense.

Our upcoming publication is dedicated to the strategic efforts led by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office to improve data collection, standardize reporting requirements, and mitigate the potential threats to safety and security posed by Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). 

The Department of Defense considers UAP as sources of anomalous detections in one or more domain (i.e., airborne, seaborne, spaceborne, and/or transmedium) that are not yet attributable to known actors and that demonstrate behaviors that are not readily understood by sensors or observers. “Anomalous detections” include but are not limited to phenomena that demonstrate apparent capabilities or material that exceed known performance envelopes. A UAP may consist of one or more unidentified anomalous objects and may persist over an extended period of time.  
 
This call for papers is your opportunity to contribute to the growing body of knowledge surrounding UAP, advance the science of UAP, and to engage in interdisciplinary discussions that explore their scientific and technological implications.


GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS 

Topics of interest for this issue may include:

  • Emerging Technology: Investigations into the physical properties and behaviors that could be considered UAP, such as advanced propulsion, maneuverability, stealth materials, and power generation;
  • UAP Characterization: Creating new, improving, and leveraging existing sensing modalities to characterize UAP with higher fidelity;
  • Data Analysis: Innovative methodologies for analyzing observational data from various sources and sensors;
  • Closing Domain-Awareness Gaps: Addressing the technical and procedural gaps in current detection systems in one or more domain (i.e., airborne, seaborne, spaceborne, and/or transmedium);
  • Theoretical Frameworks: Development of theories to explain the phenomena associated with UAP, including unresolved UAP sightings or events, integrating insights from physics, engineering, and other relevant disciplines;
  • Historical Context: Highlighting studies that place UAP within a historical framework, exploring past sightings and their implications for contemporary understanding; and,
  • Community Involvement & Science: Emerging methods and technologies that can incorporate citizen science to overcome current barriers including spatial and temporal collection biases.


UAP represent a broad range of challenges, and so authors are not limited to the example topics above. We welcome paper proposals on adjacent topics that have a demonstrable link to UAP. If you have a work in progress that you believe would be a strong fit for this special issue, we encourage you to submit a proposal. Please note that we cannot consider articles that have been previously published elsewhere. However, original research reports or similar works that have not appeared in a public-facing forum are welcome. If you are unsure about your submission or have any questions, we invite you to contact us for clarification. To be considered, please submit an outline of your proposed topic along with a brief summary of your approach and key areas of focus using the link below. All proposals will be reviewed by our editorial team. Selected papers will receive feedback and, where appropriate, suggestions for revision to ensure alignment with the journal’s scope and standards.

Submission Details and Timeline:

 
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

  • Once your proposal has been accepted for the next step, your essays must be submitted in MS Word.
  • Draft essays should be between 3,000 - 6,000 words, inclusive of endnotes.
  • Include your name and affiliation as you wish them to appear on the article.
  • Include a brief 150-word biography for inclusion in the issue.
  • Use a standard U.S. layout: one-inch margins, double-spaced.
  • All notes must be in endnote format, according to the Chicago Manual of Style. Do not use in-text reference style. 
  • Figures, tables, and maps should be numbered and include appropriate captions. If you include any graphics or illustrations from an outside source, you are responsible for obtaining permission to use them. 
  • Authors are encouraged to supply high-resolution photographs and other artwork for use in illustrating their essays. However, the final decision on whether a particular piece of art is of sufficient quality and resolution to be included will rest with the CTX Journal graphic designer. 


THE CTX PRODUCTION PROCESS

Upon acceptance into the special issue, the CTX Journal team provides editorial feedback and flags areas for clarification, allowing authors to revise their work and approve final edits. To maintain the highest publication standards, each article undergoes a second proofing before typesetting, followed by two additional rounds of comprehensive review for the entire journal prior to its digital release and limited print run.

If you have questions about your proposed topic or any other aspects of the special issue, please feel free to contact Mr. Lawrence Walzer (lmwalzer1@nps.edu) and Ms. Tahmina Karimova (ttkarimo@nps.edu).

Thank you for your interest,
The CCHT Team