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SSR 2028 Special Issue: What Can Artificial Intelligence Do for the Scientific Study of Reading?

Abstracts due June 1, 2026

Scientific Studies of Reading invites proposals for a Special Issue (February 2028) dedicated to understanding how artificial intelligence is shaping the scientific study of reading. This issue will curate careful research investigating AI's unique possibilities in influencing "the reading system" — encompassing learning, teaching, and beyond.

Guest Editorial Group

• Matthew J. Cooper Borkenhagen, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor of Reading Education (Teacher Education), Core Faculty, Florida State University & The Florida Center for Reading Research
• Yaacov Petscher, Ph.D. — Professor of Social Work, Core Faculty & Associate Director, Florida State University & The Florida Center for Reading Research
• Donald L. Compton, Ph.D. — Professor of Psychology and Education, Core Faculty & Director Emeritus, Florida State University & The Florida Center for Reading Research

Description and Scope

Over decades of scientific inquiry on reading development, the field has encountered many promising approaches to understanding reading development and related instruction. The onset of artificial intelligences — namely large language models — brings trends that parallel other major technological breakthroughs that influenced reading behavior at scale, from the printing press to the personal computer. AI is now being deployed in ways that affect reading at an unprecedented scale, with generative technologies immediately and directly influencing learning processes studied in reading science.

Yet reading science, like other sciences, is conducted with deliberate care and rigor. Technologies that influence reading move at breakneck speed, while the sciences that study them move with calculated slowness — creating a tension this special issue aims to examine.

Submissions involving large language models will receive special attention given their direct relevance to reading and writing. Research focusing on ethics, safety, and responsibility will be prioritized. Topics considered include, but are not limited to:

• Educational processes related to learning to read (e.g., instruction, assessment, intervention)
• Reviews of novel methodological approaches with high impact potential in reading research (e.g., agentic technology, personalized tools, advanced machine learning methods)
• Basic and applied research leveraging experimental and statistical methods

How to Submit

1. Prepare an abstract (500-word maximum) structured according to the general SSSR annual conference guidelines, including: purpose with a concise literature review, methods, results, and conclusions. Include a title for your proposed manuscript.
2. Priority will be given to completed studies, though studies with ongoing data collection will be considered.
3. Email your submission to the Guest Editorial Group and the current SSR Editor:
   • Young-Suk Kim (Editor, SSR) — youngsk7@uci.edu
   • Matthew J. Cooper Borkenhagen — mcb@fcrr.org
   • Yaacov Petscher — ypetscher@fcrr.org
   • Donald L. Compton — dcompton@fcrr.org

Timeline

Please note the accelerated timeline between an invitation to submit a manuscript and the initial manuscript deadline.