Invisible Harm: When Institutions Fail to Enact and Enforce Workplace Bullying Policy

Dear Colleagues,

Workplace bullying is a pervasive and internationally recognized problem with far-reaching consequences for individuals, organizations, and societies, and the effects of such abuse often include emotional distress, career stagnation, demotions, and even forced termination. Despite the well-documented harms, institutional responses remain uneven across global contexts. While some countries—such as Sweden, Norway, France, Turkey, Australia, and Canada—have taken progressive steps by enacting national legislation that directly addresses workplace bullying, many major economies, including the United States, India, China, and Mexico, continue to rely on fragmented or indirect legal protections. This leaves many employees vulnerable to unchecked aggression and institutional neglect.

This Special Issue, “Invisible Harm: When Institutions Fail to Enact and Enforce Workplace Bullying Policy,” seeks to examine the global policy landscape surrounding workplace bullying, and welcomes submissions that explore the legal frameworks, organizational policy implementation, institutional resistance, and the structural factors that allow bullying to persist despite increased awareness and documentation.

We especially welcome interdisciplinary approaches that draw from the following disciplines:

• Legal studies;
• Organizational studies;
• Management;
• Education;
• Labor relations;
• Public policy;
• Psychology;
• Other disciplines relevant to addressing workplace bullying and associated policy.

Comparative studies, critical policy analyses, and empirical research offering international perspectives are welcomed, and we also invite analyses that address the accountability gaps that allow workplace bullying to thrive despite the presence of policies and protections.

Abstracts of 500–750 words should be submitted by 15 November 2025. Submissions will undergo peer review after which selected authors will be invited to submit full manuscripts which are due 30 April 2026 (authors will always have 4 months from us returning abstract feedback to complete their final submission). Full papers should have a minimum of 6000 words, including references, and must adhere to ACS edition formatting. A maximum of four tables or figures is permitted for each article.

While strong conceptual papers are welcome, this Special Issue prioritizes empirical research grounded in theory and supported by clear methodological approaches—whether qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods. Empirical work should include the following sections: Introduction, Literature review, Theory, Methods, Findings, and Discussion. Conceptual papers should have a well-structured argument.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to critically analyze existing policies and contribute to the development of new policy frameworks for countries where such policies are lacking or underdeveloped.

For further inquiries, please contact Dr. Leah P. Hollis at LJH5876@psu.edu with the subject line: MDPI Special Edition.

Dr. Leah P. Hollis
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as conceptual papers are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• workplace bullying
• policy
• harassment
• toxic workplace