ACM Interactions

As the editors-in-chief of Interactions, we would like to invite you to be a part of shaping understandings around how people and computers interact. More informal than an academic journal, Interactions is a place to share ideas, research, design explorations, frameworks for thinking, and more.

We invite submissions related to human-computer interaction (HCI), interaction design (IxD), user experience (UX), service design, speculative design, and related fields.

Our vision for the magazine is to include voices from across all HCI-related disciplines and areas of focus. We especially seek submissions that explore design theory and practice, computer science and software engineering, and infrastructure, hardware, interfaces, and interaction design and development.

We invite articles that offer:

• How-tos in any technology related area, from design to prototyping, to interaction and infrastructure development, and beyond
• Thoughtful and well-researched, example-based reflections on technological “innovation”
• Example-based (re)imaginings of “ innovation”
• Insights into how to build long-lasting, sustainable, and equitable technological futures
• Explorations of new technological advances and how they may lead to positive and/or negative technological futures
• Critical perspectives and constructive debate around (re)consideration in all academic and practice areas related to HCI, UX, UI, and related areas of education and practice.

Thematically, we are interested in all areas where interactive technologies and platforms play a key part of everyday and possible future lives. We seek contributions that bridge academic scholarship and applied practical impact in areas related to, for example, sustainability, education, healthcare, transportation, urban design, entertainment, and more.

Please consider sharing your work and perspectives by submitting to Interactions! Submission details, requirements, and processes are outlined below.

Submission Policy and Guidelines

September 2024: Please note that these guidelines have been updated.

GENERAL SUBMISSIONS
We encourage everyone to submit to Interactions magazine, independent of affiliation or discipline. We also remind potential authors that Interactions is a magazine, not an academic journal, and authors should try to engage readers with an informal, conversational style and minimal use of jargon, with only a few critical citations. To help us support a diversity of voices, we also ask authors to limit their submissions to two per year.

You are invited to submit to the content areas below. Except where otherwise specified, please use the following form to submit new content to Interactions: https://j.mp/ix-submission-form

All submissions should use the following file-naming conventions:
LastNameFirstNameInitial_SubmissionYearMonth_V# ; e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V1.
If accepted, we will ask for the version numbers to be updated as you upload new versions, e.g.,  NeubauerR_202401_V2.

Features
Feature articles address relevant topics spanning the full breadth of human-computer interaction and interaction design, from accounts of hands-on work in design practice or field research, to summaries of new developments in design theory. Features should offer in-depth content around a topic with appropriate prior and relevant work cited, and should offer a well-argued and often unique angle or perspective on that topic. Features tend to use an engaging, conversational writing style with minimal references and figures and build on existing published work by the authors (e.g., peer-reviewed publications for research, awards, speaking invitations or similar recognition for creative and professional work). Features are not purely opinion pieces. Workshop, panel, symposia, conference, event reports or similar are not suitable for publication as features. If you are interested in publishing material of this kind, please consider submitting to our Waves section (see below).

• Word count: 3000 words max. Features that show promise of being cover stories will have a max of 4000 words. Please specify the overall word count of your submission at the top of your submission.
• Title: Please title your submission appropriately, keep the title descriptive and short.
• Authorship list: 6 coauthors max.
• List of “insights”: Please supply two or three short bullet points that summarize the key points of the article (50 words max).
• Images: Any images should have captions that complement the main text (rather than repeating the main text) of up to 30 words. Please see the guidelines below for more on image requirements.
• Citations: 6 citations max. Authors should try to avoid self-citations, although a limited number of critical background citations of authors’ own work may be allowed.
• Submission link: “https://j.mp/ix-submission-form. As noted above, please use the following naming convention when uploading your submission:  LastNameFirstNameInitial_SubmissionYearMonth_V# (e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V1). If accepted, we will ask for the version numbers to be updated as you upload new versions, e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V2.

Waves
In this section, we invite reports from conferences, symposia, workshops, and similar events. Submissions should offer a well-synthesized idea, scope, direction or narrative, and contribute to the furthering of an emerging and/or established-but-changing field of inquiry. We particularly invite reports of discussions where the boundaries of HCI and UX are being challenged, and where debate is lively and ongoing.

• Word count: 1400 words max. Please specify the overall word count of your submission at the top of your submission.
• Title: Please title your submission appropriately, keep the title descriptive and short.
• Authorship list: 4 coauthors max.
• List of “insights”: Please supply two or three short bullet points that summarize the key points of the submission (50 words max).
• Images: Any images should have captions that complement the main text (rather than repeating the main text) of up to 30 words. Please see the guidelines below for more on image requirements.
• Citations: 6 citations max. Authors should try to avoid self-citations, although a limited number of critical background citations of authors’ own work may be allowed.
• Submission link: “https://j.mp/ix-submission-form. As noted above, please use the following naming convention when uploading your submission:  LastNameFirstNameInitial_SubmissionYearMonth_V# (e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V1). If accepted, we will ask for the version numbers to be updated as you upload new versions, e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V2.

Space
This image-heavy section offers readers an insider’s tour of studios, work sites, and research labs across the globe. Authors must submit at least 10 high-quality images documenting their space, capturing qualities of the physical environment and ways of working.

• Word count: 1400 words max. Please specify the overall word count of your submission at the top of your submission.
• Title: Please title your submission appropriately, keep the title descriptive and short.
• Authorship list: 4 coauthors max.
• Images: All images should have detailed captions that complement the main text (rather than repeating the main text) of up to 30 words. Please see the guidelines below for more on image requirements.
• Citations: 3 essential  citations max. Authors should try to avoid self-citations, although a limited number of critical background citations of authors’ own work may be allowed.
• Submission link: “https://j.mp/ix-submission-form. As noted above, please use the following naming convention when uploading your submission:  LastNameFirstNameInitial_SubmissionYearMonth_V# (e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V1). If accepted, we will ask for the version numbers to be updated as you upload new versions, e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V2.

Repair
This section focuses on things people have built, broken, assembled, or disassembled. We are especially interested in the process behind breaks and repairs, how they have helped in developing and refining ongoing design work. Contributors must submit at least 5 high-quality photos documenting the evolution of the project.

• Word count: 500 words max. Please specify the overall word count of your submission at the top of your submission.
• Title: Please title your submission appropriately, keep the title descriptive and short.
• Authorship list: 4 coauthors max.
• Images: All images should have detailed captions that complement the main text (rather than repeating the main text) of up to 30 words. Please see the guidelines below for more on image requirements.
• Citations: 3 essential  citations max. Authors should try to avoid self-citations, although a limited number of critical background citations of authors’ own work may be allowed.
• Submission link: “https://j.mp/ix-submission-form. As noted above, please use the following naming convention when uploading your submission:  LastNameFirstNameInitial_SubmissionYearMonth_V# (e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V1). If accepted, we will ask for the version numbers to be updated as you upload new versions, e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V2.

Blogs
Blogs are intended for more informal personal reflections on current and topical issues in HCI, UX, and IxD. We actively encourage nascent responses to emergent issues in our community. Please note that we do not publish workshop, symposia, conference, or event reports as blogs—we do publish well-synthesized reflections that offer bigger picture insights based on discussions held in these events. You can ask questions, promote issues, discuss confusions, provoke curiosity, or vent frustrations and more—anything that would benefit from a perspective that speaks to readers directly. Check out previous blog posts here: https://interactions.acm.org/blog. Particularly timely, thoughtful, and well-researched blogs may also be published in the print magazine as Blog@IX.

• Word count: 1400 words max. Please specify the overall word count of your submission at the top of your submission.
• Title: Please title your submission appropriately, keep the title descriptive and short.
• Authorship list: 2 coauthors max.
• Images: Any images should have captions that complement the main text (rather than repeating the main text) of up to 30 words. Please see the guidelines below for more on image requirements.
• Citations: 6 essential citations max. Authors should try to avoid self-citations, although a limited number of critical background citations of authors’ own work may be allowed.
• Submission link: “https://j.mp/ix-submission-form. As noted above, please use the following naming convention when uploading your submission:  LastNameFirstNameInitial_SubmissionYearMonth_V# (e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V1). If accepted, we will ask for the version numbers to be updated as you upload new versions, e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V2.

NOTE: The Interactions editors-in-chief and ACM editorial team retain the right to desk-reject any submission that violates ACM publication policies or guidelines without detailed review or commentary.

In addition to our open submission content, we have a number of curated and invitation only sections.

CURATED/INVITED SUBMISSIONS

Forums
Interactions has a select group of forums, each appearing in three issues per year. Each forum has a specific topical focus but articles within any one forum can address a diverse range of viewpoints and research within that particular sub-field. For more information on our forums, please see the Appendix below. Contributors wishing to submit forum articles should contact the appropriate forum editor (see submissions form and/or list of forums below).

• Word count: 2200 words max. Please specify the overall word count of your submission at the top of your submission.
• Title: Please title your submission appropriately, keep the title descriptive and short.
• Authorship list: 4 coauthors max.
• List of “insights”: Please supply two or three short bullet points that summarize the key points of the article (50 words max).
• Images: Any images should have captions that complement the main text (rather than repeating the main text) of up to 30 words. Please see the guidelines below for more on image requirements.
• Citations: 6 essential citations max. Authors should try to avoid self-citations, although a limited number of critical background citations of authors’ own work may be allowed.
• Submission link: Please use the following form to submit forum content to Interactions “https://j.mp/ix-submission-form and indicate which forum you are submitting to (see list of forums below). As noted above, please use the following naming convention when naming and uploading your submission:  LastNameFirstNameInitial_SubmissionYearMonth_V# (e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V1). If accepted, we will ask for the version numbers to be updated as you upload new versions, e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V2.

Exhibit X
This highly visual section highlights artifacts, performances, exhibitions and other projects that exemplify new and different forms of engagement. In addition to a short description of the project, authors must submit at least three high-quality images with detailed captions. Please also contact our Exhibit X curator, Marie Luce Lupetti, prior to submission to get guidance on content: [email protected].

• Word count: 500 words max. Please specify the overall word count of your submission at the top of your submission.
• Title: Please title your submission appropriately, keep the title descriptive and short.
• Authorship list: 4 coauthors max. 
• All images should have detailed captions that complement the main text (rather than repeating the main text) of up to 30 words. Please see the guidelines below for more on images.
• Citations: 4 essential citations max. Authors should try to avoid self-citations, although a limited number of critical background citations of authors’ own work may be allowed.
• Please use the following form to submit to Exhibit X: “https://j.mp/ix-submission-form. As noted above, please use the following naming convention when naming and uploading your submission:  LastNameFirstNameInitial_SubmissionYearMonth_V# (e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V1). If accepted, we will ask for the version numbers to be updated as you upload new versions, e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V2.

Exit
Exit is published on the last page of every issue of Interactions magazine. A one-page gallery that features a provocation in the design/art space, Exit intends to stimulate new ideas and ways of thinking about contemporary topics in HCI, UX, design research, and related areas. We invite suggestions and recommendations that elicit reflection around technological imaginaries, possibilities, actualities, residues, and our interactions with designing, building, and experiencing technological interactions. Feel free to submit candidate projects in any form, from full-on mimicry of an Exit page to a simple URL of something you discovered that you’d like our curators to consider reworking for a future issue. Ultimately, a high-resolution image will be needed, along with a short (100 words) caption explaining the image as well as biographical information about the designer/artist. If you would like to submit an idea, please email the Exit curators, Scott Minneman and Renato Verdugo, at [email protected].

Columns
Interactions hosts a number of columnists who write on various topics. With a maximum length of 1400 words and a limited number of relevant references where needed, these columns offer well-thought-out insights by scholars in HCI-related areas. Citations: 4 essential citations max. If you are interested in becoming a columnist in the future, please email the editors-in-chief at [email protected].

What Are You Reading?
This invitation-only section of the magazine reflects what researchers and practitioners working in areas related or adjacent to HCI, UX, and IxD have been reading or reviewing. Invited authors discuss books, articles, magazines, and podcasts that have inspired or are currently inspiring them. Authors are invited to provide a list of three or four works, each followed by a short reflection, and can recommend book covers or illustrations as needed. What are you reading has a word limit of 750–1000 words. Please provide book cover images as well as a high-resolution author photo.

Voices
We publish interviews with ACM volunteers who are involved in executive committee work, conference organizing, running SIGS, SIG chapters, and more. With a maximum word count of 1200 words, the goal is to share a little bit about the inspiring people who spend time making our communities of scholarship and practice vibrant. If you know someone who we should feature, please email the editors-in-chief at [email protected].

EDITING AND REVIEW PROCESSES

Articles go through several rounds of editing: first with the magazines editors-in-chief and forum editors for relevance, clarity, and groundedness and then with ACM’s senior editor and copy editor for clarity, grammar, punctuation, and length.

ACM staff will send authors the copyedited version for their review. Once they have approved the copyedited version, authors will not review the copy again.

Authors may be asked to review any redrawn figures.

Authors will not receive page proofs or final PDFs of layouts.

IMAGES

We strongly encourage all authors to supply photos, illustrations, or illustrative concepts along with their manuscripts. All images must be supplied in-line so that placement near associated text is clear, and as separate files.

All images must be in JPEG or TIFF format and at least 300 DPI (and ideally at least 3000 pixels wide) with copyright clearance for use in the magazine. Please note that gaining copyright clearance for third-party material is the responsibility of the author(s); ACM will not seek clearance or cover cost that may be associated with clearance. For more information on procedures for securing third-party material, visit http://www.acm.org/publications/third-party-material

Where possible, please send vector versions of any illustrations or diagrams (e.g., .eps, .ai, or .svg formats).

Interactions  does not guarantee that all submitted images/illustrations will be published; such decisions are at the discretion of the editors-in-chief, and of ACM’s art department. In some cases, images will be reviewed by ACM’s marketing and legal departments.

SUBMISSION CHECKLIST
A complete submission to ACM Interactions should contain the following:

• Word document (minimally formatted text and graphics) that includes a short, crisp working title or headline, and a standard byline: author name, affiliation, email address.
• Separate, high-resolution image files in JPEG or TIFF format (at least 300 DPI/3,000 px with copyright clearance). Please include photo credits. Where possible, please send vector versions (e.g., .eps, .ai, or .svg) of illustrations or diagrams.
• Brief author biography (50 words max) for each author listed in the byline. A bio generally includes the author’s current affiliation and research interests. Also, for columns, blogs, and the IX Questionnaire please upload a high-resolution headshot photo to Airtable.
• Where appropriate, a list of “insights”: Two or three succinct bullet points that summarize the content and main message of the submission (50 words max).
• All submissions should use the following file naming conventions: LastNameFirstNameInitial_SubmissionYearMonth_V# ; e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V1. If accepted, we will ask for the version numbers to be updated as you upload new versions, e.g., NeubauerR_202401_V2.
• Please ensure that all references are listed in an endnotes section at the end of the document. Endnotes include both references and footnotes (maximum of six). Please do not embed links in the document or include footnotes. Additionally, please number references in the text in order of appearance (i.e., start with [1] and do not list them alphabetically).

Current Forums
After Veillance: Being watched means more than being seen. This forum investigates information flows of sensing culled from sources as diverse as temperature check and iris scans to sound and movements sensors across terrains. After Veillance discusses how these systems distribute risk unevenly and shape the lives of populations across the globe. Sareeta Amrute, Editor

Community + Culture: Community + Culture features practitioner perspectives on designing technologies for and with communities. We highlight compelling projects and provocative points of view that speak to both community technology practice and the interaction design field as a whole. Sheena Erete, Editor

Designing at the Intersections: In this forum we explore different perspectives for how to apply intersectionality as a critical framework for design across multiple contexts. Yolanda Rankin and Jakita Thomas, Editors

Meaningful Design Processes: This forum is dedicated to exploring the notion of meaningfulness in design processes, taking the perspectives of community groups, nongovernmental organizations, and those who are marginalized in society as starting points. Authors will reflect conceptually and methodologically on practical engagements. Rosanna Bellini and Angelika Strohmayer, Editors

Play Time: This forum features game-practitioner perspectives on the interaction design process, techniques, and evaluation involved in creating playful experiences. We focus on how technology advancement, infrastructure, and constraints shape the player experience. Pejman Mirza-Babaei, Editor

Tech Labor: This forum focuses on the conditions and futures of the labor underpinning technology production and maintenance. We welcome standalone articles as well as interviews and conversations about all tech labor within the global supply chain of digital technologies. Seyram Avle and Sarah Fox, Editors

If you are interested in curating a forum in the future, please email [email protected] for further information.

As a published ACM author, you and your co-authors are subject to all ACM Publications Policies, including ACM’s new Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects.

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