Call for Chapters: Phronetic Academic Leadership in the Algorithmic Age

Editors

Wendy Goff, Australian Catholic University, Australia

Call for Chapters

Proposals Submission Deadline: May 10, 2026
 Full Chapters Due: August 2, 2026
 Submission Date: August 2, 2026

Introduction

Higher Education is being reshaped by profound disruptions across all facets of human society. Universities around the world now operate within environments that are characterised by complexity, uncertainty and a rapidly expanding digital mediation where algorithmic systems increasingly influence and drive decision-making, performance and governance. In this context, traditional models of academic leadership are no longer effective or sufficient because of the significant shift in how authority, knowledge, and power are now distributed and enacted. This emerging condition can be described as an algocracy (rule by algorithm) where higher education governance is increasingly shaped by and through automated systems.

Objective

This book advances a new Aristotelian-grounded conceptual framework for academic leadership in the algorithmic age. By reframing academic leadership as phronesis (a relational and virtue-ethical practice for navigating algorithmic governance and complexity) this book offers a theoretically grounded practical guide for academic leaders to interpret and respond to algorithmic systems, exercise ethical and values-driven judgement, and to prioritise human dignity in a complex and uncertain world.

Target Audience

The primary audience for this book is senior academic leaders, university executives, policy leaders, higher education researchers and leadership scholars. It is anticipated that doctoral and post-graduate students, business leaders, and those situated in leadership across other contexts will also be interested in the book.

Recommended Topics

Section 1: Reframing Leadership in the Algorithmic Age -The algorithmic turn in higher education; -Managerialism, leadership and algorithmic governance; -Defining algocracy; -The limits of the algorithm. Section 2: An Aristotelian Foundation for Leadership -Leadership as practical wisdom: reclaiming phronesis; -Virtue, ethics and the moral purpose of higher education; -Phronetic leadership in the algorithmic age; -Harnessing the algorithm to protect the common good. Section 3:Leadership within Digital Infrastructures -Human judgement in automated contexts; -Governance, power, data and academic decision-making; -Ethics, virtue and moral in datafied systems; -Research through algocracy. Section 4: Phronetic Leadership -Leading with practical wisdom through complexity and uncertainty; -Cultivating virtue; -Phronetic Leadership in the Identification of Talent; -When harm becomes signal: Gender, Agentic AI, and the Governance of academic work Section 5: Leading Policy and Institutional Transformation -The human university and algocratic governance; -Reconfiguring policy in algocratic systems; -Stewardship for the common good; -The future of higher education leadership.

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before May 10, 2026, a chapter proposal of 1,000 to 2,000 words clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors will be notified by May 24, 2026 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines.Full chapters of a minimum of 10,000 words (word count includes references and related readings) are expected to be submitted by August 2, 2026, and all interested authors must consult the guidelines for manuscript submissions at https://www.igi-global.com/publish/contributor-resources/before-you-write/ prior to submission. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-anonymized review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts submitted to this book publication, Phronetic Academic Leadership in the Algorithmic Age. All manuscripts are accepted based on a double-anonymized peer review editorial process.

All proposals should be submitted through the eEditorial Discovery® online submission manager.

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global Scientific Publishing, an international academic publisher of the "Information Science Reference", "Medical Information Science Reference", "Business Science Reference", and "Engineering Science Reference" imprints. IGI Global Scientific Publishing specializes in publishing reference books, scholarly journals, and electronic databases featuring academic research on a variety of innovative topic areas including, but not limited to, education, social science, medicine and healthcare, business and management, information science and technology, engineering, public administration, library and information science, media and communication studies, and environmental science. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit https://www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2027.

Indexing Information for Prospective Authors

IGI Global Scientific Publishing meets the criteria for inclusion in major indexing services such as Scopus; however, it is important to note that all indexing decisions are made independently by these services. IGI Global Scientific Publishing books are selectively indexed by the indexing organization after publication. Indexing cannot be guaranteed for any book prior to publication, and the indexing organization has complete control over the final selection and timeline.

Important Dates

May 10, 2026: Proposal Submission Deadline
May 24, 2026: Notification of Acceptance
August 2, 2026: Full Chapter Submission
September 13, 2026: Review Results Returned
October 11, 2026: Final Acceptance Notification
October 18, 2026: Final Chapter Submission

Inquiries

Wendy Goff
Australian Catholic University
wendy.goff@acu.edu.au
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