Special Issue of The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science: "The Public's Science–A New Social Contract for American Research Policy"

Editors: Alondra Nelson (Institute for Advanced Study) and Jenny Reardon (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Abstract Deadline: Friday, September 19, 2025

"Seventy-five years after Vannevar Bush's Science—The Endless Frontier established the foundational social contract for publicly funded research in the United States, we face an unprecedented crisis in American research policy. The original arrangement of government funding in exchange for research autonomy, with the expectation of broad societal benefits, has produced remarkable scientific achievements and world-shaping technologies, from life-saving medicines to weapons of mass destruction. Yet this arrangement has consistently lacked robust mechanisms for genuine public accountability, a weakness now exposed as publicly funded institutions face systematic attacks and declining public trust."

Read the complete call here.