Credibility and Public Belief in the Contemporary Digital Information Environment
A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 5
Special Issue Editor
Interests: users’ motivation and perceptions; new media technology; media effects; cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses in consumer, health and pro-environmental behavior contexts; quantitative methods
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The digital media environment continues to reshape how individuals access, evaluate, and respond to information. As social platforms, algorithm-driven systems, and rising artificial intelligent tools mediate public discourse, questions of information credibility and belief formation/reformation have become increasingly urgent—particularly amid contested narratives, polarization, and declining trust in institutions. In contexts ranging from public health to politics and civic life, the circulation of mis- and disinformation undermines evidence-based decision-making, erodes social cohesion, and challenges the legitimacy of expert knowledge.
In our efforts to address this, we invite interdisciplinary research that examines the social processes, communicative practices, and institutional dynamics surrounding information credibility in digital spaces. We welcome contributions from across the social sciences that explore how digital communication influences belief systems, public opinion, and behavior, with particular attention paid to the interplay between media, institutions, and individuals.
Papers may address, but are not limited to, the role of digital platforms in shaping perceptions of source credibility or information credibility; strategies for promoting media literacy and trust in the digital environment; responses to misinformation and disinformation in the contemporary online environment; and the social, political, and psychological mechanisms through which belief is constructed or contested online. A variety of research contexts is welcomed (e.g., public health, politics and civic life, pro-social and pro-environmental behaviors).
We encourage papers that employ a wide range of methodologies (i.e., quantitative and qualitative methods) and research situated in real-world contexts of social relevance.
Dr. Xiaowen Xu
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- information credibility
- digital communication
- belief formation
- misinformation and disinformation
- media trust
- public opinion
- institutional legitimacy
- media literacy
- digital publics
- behavioral response
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