Call for Papers – InterAgency Journal (Deadline Apr. 3, 2026)

The Simons Center for Ethical Leadership and Interagency Cooperation announces a call for papers for the InterAgency Journal, to be published in Spring of 2026. The Spring 2026 InterAgency Journal will focus on transformation in contact across the interagency, informed by recent combat experience and emerging U.S. concepts. Ukraine’s rapid adaptation under fire—including innovative use of unmanned systems, commercial technologies, and distributed decision-making—has become a real-time laboratory for how war is changing. The U.S. Army’s Transforming in Contact initiative likewise accelerates delivery of new capabilities so units can experiment, innovate, and reorganize while operating on a modern, high-tech battlefield. While the Simons Center will accept for review all papers with relevance to our readership, for this issue, the Simons Center specifically invites papers on what these developments imply for transformation initiatives in interagency and whole-of-government operations, especially how U.S. and partner organizations should ethically govern rapid change in areas such as AI-enabled decision support, autonomous systems, and information operations. Of special interest are submissions that examine the ethical and accountability challenges of adopting new technologies and operating concepts at speed, and that recommend practical ways to preserve professional judgment, civilian control, legal compliance, and moral responsibility. The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 3, 2026.

• Submit an unclassified, original paper examining any aspect—broad or specific—applicable to ethical leadership or interagency cooperation. Papers should be between 3,500 and 5,000 words in length.
• Previously published papers, papers being consideration elsewhere for publication, or papers submitted to other competitions still pending announced decisions are ineligible.
• Manuscripts should be single spaced in Microsoft Word format using Times New Roman, 12-point font. All graphs, charts, and tables should be submitted as separate files in the format they were created.
• Submissions will receive blind peer review in accordance with standard professional academic journal practice. Submissions will be evaluated on the basis of originality, substance of argument, style, and contribution to advancing the understanding and practice of ethical leadership or interagency cooperation.
• To facilitate review, include a cover sheet with full name, institutional affiliation, email, telephone, mailing address and an author biography not to exceed 100 words. Do not, however, include identifying information on any other page of the manuscript.
• For more complete information on formatting and style, see the Simons Center Writer’s Submission Guidelines is available online at www.thesimonscenter.org/contribute-content.
• Along with their manuscript, writers must agree to the Simons Center copyright transfer agreement, which is detailed online at www.thesimonscenter.org/contribute-content.
• Manuscripts can be submitted on the Simons Center website at www.thesimonscenter.org/contribute-content or emailed to office@thesimonscenter.org.

In addition to papers, the Simons Center is seeking book reviews on published works pertinent to the ethical leadership and interagency community. Book reviews are typically 500 to 1,000 words in length and should include an image of the book cover as a separate file in its original file format. Book reviews can be submitted on the Simons Center website at www.thesimonscenter.org/contribute-content or emailed to office@thesimonscenter.org.

Download the Call for Papers here.

The Simons Center is a major program of the CGSC Foundation, Inc. For more information contact the Simons Center at office@thesimonscenter.org. Information about the Simons Center’s mission, organization, and publications is available at www.thesimonscenter.org.