Previous calls for papers

Call for Papers: Understanding Cognitive Superiority

Decisions, learning, and the Profession of Arms 

The Section for Land Power Studies at the Norwegian Military Academy is pleased to announce an international call for papers for the upcoming conference and subsequent special issue «Understanding Cognitive Superiority: Decision, Learning, and the Profession of Arms.»

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Proposal length: Maximum 500 words
Deadline for Proposals: 31 May 2026
Email: kenstad@mil.no (Assoc. Prof. K. Enstad)

PROCESS AND TIMELINES
Conference: Oslo, 15–16 September 2026
Publication: Articles considered for a Special Issue or an edited collection to be published in 2027

We particularly encourage contributions that draw on the Nordic defence tradition of mission command and reflective professionalism to bridge the gap between strategic influence and  operational competence.

Background

While «cognitive warfare» has emerged as a potential sixth domain of conflict, research has remained strategically fragmented. This initiative seeks to develop the field by exploring the role of cognition in warfare as a battle for cognitive superiority in the operational and professional dimension of the profession of arms - specifically how learning, adaptation, and professional judgement create decision advantage in modern technologically mediated battle.

To structure the discussion, the conference is organised around four core themes.

Themes

COGNITIVE SUPERIORITY
Examining conflict as contest between adaptive systems. We welcome papers drawing on C2 theory, OODA-logic, and dynamic decision-making.

PROFESSIONAL JUDGEMENT
Exploring how the officer's role is transformed by accelerated cycles and human-machine systems. Topics include trust and ethical coherence.

LEARNING AND ADAPTATION
Treating learning not as a post-hoe function, but as a central operational mechanism. Focus areas include speed and feedback loops.

PME AND INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN
Designing PME for «cognitive manoeuvre» rather than procedural compliance. Includes experimentation, simulation, and emerging tech.

See more and submit abstracts for the conference here.

 

Call for abstracts for a Special Collection on

Scandinavian Veterans and Society: Shaping and Receiving War Experiences (working title)

Abstracts deadline 1 January 2026

Manuscript deadline: 1 July 2026

Guest editors: Lene Ekhaugen (Norwegian Defence University College NDUC/Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, IFS), Lars Williams (Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS) & Vilde Opdan Yttereng (NDUC/IFS)

We welcome abstract submissions for a Special Collection of the Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies, dedicated to advancing research on veterans and their relationships with the societies they return to.

Research on veterans is evolving into a broad and interdisciplinary scholarly field in the Scandinavian countries. While it traditionally has been dominated by medical and psychological research, there is a growing interest from disciplines within the social sciences and humanities. Drawing on diverse methodological approaches, these disciplines have explored a wide range of topics including veteran policies, military operations from a societal perspective, representation of veterans and veterans' own experiences.

This Special Collection builds from the evolving field of veteran studies in the humanities and social sciences, examining how home societies frame veterans’ experiences (e.g. Gustavsen, 2016; Gustavsen & Rafoss, 2019; Sørensen, 2015), how veterans communicate their experiences to civilian audiences (e.g. Dyvik, 2016; Engh, 2024; Hellman, 2016; Hellman & Wagnsson, 2015), how veterans are portrayed in media accounts (e.g. Nielsen, 2024), the support structures for veterans after homecoming (e.g. Pedersen, & Wieser, 2024), transition (e.g. Grimell, 2024), motivation to deploy for war (e.g. Pedersen, 2017) and social science perspectives on rehabilitation (e.g. Krause & Svendsen, 2024).

We set out to shed further light on the interaction between veterans’ own experiences and their home societies. Confirmed contributions to the Collection will explore how veterans’ extreme experiences may run up against the limits of knowledge transfer from military to civilian contexts, how expectations of care and support have evolved among soldiers and veterans, what role evolving concepts of trauma like ‘PTSD’ and ‘moral injury’ play in the relationship between veterans and their societies, how deployment shape veterans’ life courses and how veterans’ experiences are transformed into narratives that circulate in society, shaping public perceptions of war and conflict. By weaving together diverse perspectives, the Collection offers new insights into the dynamics that characterise the relationship between Scandinavian veterans and their home societies. In doing so, it fosters a broader discussion on the enduring impact of war experiences in the Scandinavian countries.

In addition to the confirmed contributions, we welcome submissions addressing topics that include (but are not limited to):

  • Representations of veterans and experiences from war and conflict in media, film and literature
  • Veteran transitions from military to civilian life
  • Responses to war-related illnesses in Scandinavian societies
  • Critical perspectives on veteran reintegration into civilian life
  • New forms of veteran recognition in Scandinavian societies
  • Veteran families

The deadline for abstract submission to the guest editors is 1 January 2026. Send your abstract to Lene Ekhaugen at lekhaugen@mil.no, Lars Williams at lawi@diis.dk and Vilde Opdan Yttereng at vyttereng@mil.no.

Authors are required to upload their full article manuscript to sjms.nu no later than 1 July 2026. See Author guidelines here.                                               

For later submission inquiries, contact journal manager of SJMS, Ragnild Lome at ralo@fak.dk

Articles to be published in the autumn of 2026/spring 2027.

References

Dyvik, S. L. (2016). ‘Valhalla Rising’: Gender, Embodiment and Experience in Military Memoirs. Security Dialogue, 47(2), 133–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0967010615615730.

Engh, S. (2024). Fredsnasjonen og krigen mot terror: Norske soldaters fremstillinger av årsakene til Norges innsats i Afghanistan. Historisk tidsskrift, 103(3), 231–49. https://doi.org/10.18261/ht.103.3.4.

Grimell, J. (2024). Military Commitment and Identity as Implicit Religion: A Key to Understanding the Loss of Profundity in the Transition from Military to Civilian Life. Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies, 7(1), 161–178.

Gustavsen, E. (2016). The construction of meaning among Norwegian Afghanistan veterans. International Sociology, 31(1), 21–36. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1177/0268580915613191

Gustavsen, E. and Rafoss TW (2019). Soldiers without a war? Public and private framings of Norway’s engagement in Afghanistan. Acta Sociologica, 62(3), 284–296. DOI: 10.1177/0001699318780966.

Hellman, M. (2016). Milblogs and Soldier Representations of the Afghanistan War: The Case of Sweden. Media, War & Conflict, 9(1), 43–57. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635215611701.

Hellman, M., & Wagnsson, C. (2015). New media and the war in Afghanistan: The significance of blogging for the Swedish strategic narrative. New media & society, 17(1), 6–23.

Krause, E. G., & Svendsen, M. N. (2024). From able-bodied soldier to disabled veteran: moral striving among Danish wounded veterans. Critical Military Studies, 10(4), 439–57.

Nielsen, A. K. S. (2024). Mobilizing and countering ‘the bad story’: the role of media narratives about traumatized veterans in Danish militarization processes. National Identities, 1-18.

Pedersen, C. L., & Wieser, C. (2024). Danish Veteran Challenges and Support Structures: An Overview to Enable Transnational Analysis. Journal of Veterans Studies, 10(2).

Pedersen, T. R. (2017). Get real: chasing Danish warrior dreams in the Afghan ‘sandbox’. Critical Military Studies, 3(1), 7–26.

Sørensen, B. R. (2015). Veterans’ homecomings: Secrecy and postdeployment social becoming. Current Anthropology, 56(S12), 231-240.

 

Open Call for Papers to the Conference NATO in the NORDICS

Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies and the Norwegian Defence University College invite researchers and practitioners to the second NATO IN THE NORDICS conference, September 17-18, 2025 in Oslo.

The current security environment in Europe urgently calls for in-depth scholarly attention and a closer collaboration within the military studies community.

To stimulate research-based discussions across institutional and national boundaries, we invite practitioners and researchers to submit paper proposals related to the conference theme NATO in the Nordics, and/or to the following themes:

  • Sweden and Finland’s NATO-membership: Challenges and Opportunities
  • Future of NORDEFCO
  • Professional Military Education and Leadership
  • MDO and Multi-Domain Command
  • AI in Warfare
  • Military Tech Innovation
  • Recruitment and Retention
  • Gender, Diversity and Work Environment
  • Role of Research in PME
  • Violence and ethics in the military
  • Civil-Military Relations

Guidelines for submission

  • Abstracts should be 400-500 words, excluding bibliography
  • Abstracts should pose a research question, present the methodology used, main conclusions and the paper’s research contribution to current academic debates in the field
  • Please indicate with keywords one or two conference themes that fit your submission, or explain how it relates to the overall theme of the conference
  • Send your abstract to ralo@fak.dk

Key dates

March 1, 2025 Deadline for paper proposal

May 1, 2025 Notification of acceptance

September 17, 8.30 AM: Conference opens

September 18, 3.30 PM: Conference ends

What is NDUC?

The Norwegian Defence University College (NDUC) provides education at the bachelor and master levels to military professionals from all branches of the Norwegian Armed Forces, partners and civilians. It is dedicated to higher education and research in the fields of land power, sea power, air power, military power and leadership, joint operations, intelligence, defence and security policy.

What is SJMS?

The Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies (SJMS) is an online, open access journal publishing both high quality research and valuable practice-oriented studies relevant to the military profession. The journal consists of two distinct tracks: A practice-oriented track and a research track. Articles in both tracks are subjected to double-blind peer review. SJMS is published by a consortium of partner institutions, Royal Danish Defence College, Norwegian Defence University College, Swedish Defence University, Centre for Military Studies, University of Copenhagen and Swedish Centre for Studies of Armed Forces and Society (CSMS).

To know more about the scope and aim of the journal, read the editor’s note: Editors’ Note: Stocktaking of an Emergent Field After Five Years of the Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies - Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies (sjms.nu)