Call for papers: Museum International
Artificial Intelligence in Museums: Vol. 79, No. 315-316
ICOM is preparing an issue of Museum International on the theme of ‘Artificial Intelligence in Museums’ (Vol. 79, Nº 315-316). All proposals submitted will be assessed for suitability, and if chosen, the subsequent articles will go through a double-blind peer review process. The issue is expected to be published, in collaboration with Taylor & Francis/Routledge, in December 2027.
Deadline: 9 November 2026
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly shaping the ways museums operate, whether in terms of collecting, preserving, interpreting or communicating our cultural heritage. From automated cataloguing and machine-learning models for collection management, integrating collections metadata across collecting institutions at national and continental scales, to exhibition design and conversational interfaces in visitor management, AI offers new opportunities for museum management, while also presenting profound ethical, social and professional challenges.
Museums have long been regarded as institutions of cultural authority and public trust, serving as stewards of cultural heritage and shaping how societies understand, interpret and remember the past. As AI technologies become increasingly embedded in museum practice, fundamental questions arise about the sustainability of that authority and public trust. The nature of museums’ expertise is evolving, and questions arise around representation bias, intellectual property, historical accuracy, accessibility, sustainability and the future roles of museum professionals. AI also prompts renewed reflections on the relationships between human creativity and technology, the ethics of digital heritage and the roles and responsibilities of museums in the age of rapidly evolving digital technologies.
At the same time, the rapid adoption of AI underscores the need for responsible governance and regulatory frameworks, informed by the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (2021) and the European Union’s AI Act. It also highlights the growing importance of institutional AI policies and governance mechanisms within the museum sector.
This call invites scholars, museum practitioners, technologists, artists and policymakers to explore the application of AI in museums. We welcome interdisciplinary contributions that critically examine the opportunities and limitations of AI use and application within museums and cultural institutions.
Possible themes include, but are not limited to:
- AI in cataloguing, documentation and provenance work and collection management
- Use of AI to create large scale, publicly accessible collections data across collecting institutions
- Generative AI in exhibition development and interpretation
- AI and museum education
- AI and chatbots, visitor guides and conversational interfaces
- AI-assisted visitor experience and digital engagement
- Digital preservation and long-term stewardship
- Algorithmic bias, representation and decolonising digital collections
- Copyright, intellectual property and provenance in AI-generated content
- Environmental sustainability and computational costs of AI
- Indigenous, community and sacred knowledge in AI systems
- Participatory approaches to AI design
- Human-AI collaborations in curatorial practice or artistic works
- Ethics, transparency and accountability in museum AI
- AI and conservation science
- Critical museum studies perspectives on AI
- Museums as partners in AI research and innovation
- AI and accessibility, inclusion and multilingual translation
- AI in museum management, governance and operations
- Case studies on AI implementation in museums and cultural institutions
Submission Process
Abstracts of between 250 and 300 words, written in English, French or Spanish, should be submitted for selection to publications@icom.museum in a Word (.doc) document (if you do not receive confirmation of receipt within 2 weeks, it is possible that your e-mail did not reach us – do not hesitate to write to us again).
Contributions will be on a voluntary basis.
The following information should be included with the abstract:
- Title of submitted paper
- Name(s) of author(s)
- Professional background
The abstract submission deadline is 9 November 2026
The abstracts received will be examined on a blind review basis by a panel of experts on the topic.
Museum International is published in English. However, proposals in the other two official languages of ICOM (French and Spanish) will also be considered. If your abstract is selected, we will provide guidelines for your full article, and you’ll have approximately two months to complete it. You may also submit your full article in either English, French or Spanish.
Abstract structure for Museum International articles:
An abstract is a summary of the journal manuscript.
It should be no longer than 250-300 words (excluding selected references) and provide a succinct overview of the article. Please send your abstract in a word document. The abstract should be read as a standalone document and the document should not contain images or footnotes.
The abstract should read as a standalone document.
Abstracts sent to Museum International should include the following sections (not necessarily presented in this way, but all elements need to be included):
- Introduction: one or two short sentences to describe the overall topic dealt with in the article and provides background to the study.
- Research question(s)/Critical issue(s): explains the key research question or critical issue, by stating the problem addressed. It should also highlight the gap in existing research on the topic.
- Innovation: explains the approach to the research question/issue, and the new perspective adopted.
- Methodology: explains how the research was carried out (e.g. case studies, interviews, etc.) or the means used to address the critical issue.
- Conclusion: outlines the impact of the research or the outcome of addressing the critical issue, and why the findings/outcomes are important.
- Selected references: a selection of the references that will be cited in the article (only your main sources).
- Keywords (maximum of 5).