{"id":62,"date":"2026-01-15T15:40:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T15:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ht.acm.org\/ht2026\/?page_id=62"},"modified":"2026-04-28T20:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T19:36:26","slug":"research-tracks","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ht.acm.org\/ht2026\/open-calls\/research-tracks\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Tracks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"is-style-text-subtitle is-style-text-subtitle--1\" style=\"font-size:clamp(17.905px, 1.119rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.99), 28px);\">More than just a technological structure, hypertext embodies a way of thinking &#8211; nonlinear, networked, dynamic \u2013 that allows new forms of storytelling, new approaches to argumentation, new approaches to sense-making and knowledge.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">As in previous years, we aim to reflect the diversity of practices embraced by different communities and welcome submissions in a variety of areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-83d90e3f wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:0;padding-right:0;padding-left:0\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Submission:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-accent-4-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-6109abc623a19ebe04f60099c7cb4871\"><s>27\/03\/2026 AOE<\/s><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>30\/04\/2026 13:00 BST (12:00 UTC)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-c5f5608d wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:3px;margin-bottom:0;padding-right:0;padding-left:0\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Notification:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-contrast-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-486ba309dd856fcbf6c6ed55f81153f9\"><strong>22\/05\/2026 AOE<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4e8b5eb2 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:3px;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-right:0;padding-left:0\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Submissions must be made through <a href=\"https:\/\/easychair.org\/conferences\/?conf=ht26\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/easychair.org\/conferences\/?conf=ht26\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">EasyChair<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-f3a19bac wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);margin-bottom:0\">\n<p class=\"is-style-text-subtitle has-xx-large-font-size is-style-text-subtitle--2\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:500\">Tracks<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-3210c5b8 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\">\n<p class=\"is-style-text-subtitle is-style-text-subtitle--3\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600\">Agentic Media<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6f7db5e2 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<p class=\"is-style-default has-medium-font-size\">Hypertext research offers essential methods for structuring, tracing, and interpreting machine-mediated information flows. We invite contributions that deepen hypertext theory and systems design in order to address contemporary forms of algorithmic mediation \u2013 not as general AI studies, but as rigorous extensions of hypertext\u2019s historical commitment to scalable knowledge management and human-centred augmentation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-dfd6d40f wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20)\">\n<p class=\"is-style-default\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:500\">Topics including (but not limited to):<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-283d9697 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-medium-font-size\">\n<li><strong>Hypertext in AI interfaces: <\/strong>machine-assisted linking, summarisation, and trail formation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Augmentation:<\/strong> principles of human\u2013machine collaboration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Hypertext models<\/strong> for exploring multimodal corpora.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Hybrid systems<\/strong> (human\/AI) and environments for preservation of meaningful reader agency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Generative Engine Optimisation<\/strong> strategies to support AI understanding of content.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Agentic narratives<\/strong> using generative AI to realise unique, interactive traversal experiences across content and\/or media.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Computational cognitive models of narratives<\/strong> digital creativity and computational storytelling<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8fffe734 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">\n<p class=\"is-style-text-subtitle is-style-text-subtitle--4\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600\">Authorship, Readership, Publishing <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6f7db5e2 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<p class=\"is-style-default has-medium-font-size\">Hypertext has transformed authoring, reading, and publishing by disrupting, subverting, or complementing book and media culture and practice. In an era when authorship is increasingly hybrid and machine-assisted, hypertext research provides essential tools for preserving legibility, provenance, and interpretive focus across evolving reading and publishing ecosystems. Submissions may focus on specific case studies or theories of new emerging practices, rhetorical analyses, or methodological reflections that take inspiration from fields such as book history, digital humanities and\/or media studies or the study of literature. Hypertext as a paradigm can ensure that digital writing cultures remain participatory, accountable, and meaningfully structured.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-dfd6d40f wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20)\">\n<p class=\"is-style-default\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:500\">Topics including (but not limited to):<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-283d9697 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-medium-font-size\">\n<li><strong>Authorship models<\/strong>: contextualising the production of hypertexts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>AI, Readers and Authorship: <\/strong>Redrawing relationships and creating new forms of textuality.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Book history<\/strong>: historically-informed frameworks, theories, and concepts for understanding hypertextual production, dissemination, and reception.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Publishing workflows<\/strong>: hypertext as a paradigm in editorial practices, cross-platform infrastructure and critical literacy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Scholarly editions and adaptation<\/strong>s: hypertextual representations and reconceptualisations of extant texts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Rhetorics and poetics<\/strong>: how hypertexts are framed in popular and scholarly discourse, as well as theoretical considerations on forms of expression supported by hypertextual formats.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Text, paratext, and multimodality<\/strong>: impact of digital forms on intra- and intertextual connectivity.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>The future of reading<\/strong>: how reading is likely to evolve, change and adapt in response to cultural and material change.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8fffe734 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">\n<p class=\"is-style-text-subtitle is-style-text-subtitle--5\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600\">Technical Applications of Hypertext<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6f7db5e2 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<p class=\"is-style-default has-medium-font-size\">Technical hypertext research continues to provide robust architectures for organising, traversing, and preserving large and heterogeneous datasets. As textual corpora grow exponentially and machine-generated materials permeate every domain, hypertext systems offer versioning, annotation, provenance tracking, and long-term knowledge stewardship. We welcome contributions that further these capabilities through rigorous engineering, formal modelling, and system innovation\u2014advancing hypertext as a foundational technology for the next generation of data-intensive applications.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-dfd6d40f wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20)\">\n<p class=\"is-style-default\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:500\">Topics including (but not limited to):<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-283d9697 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-medium-font-size\">\n<li><strong>Large-scale knowledge systems<\/strong>: hypermedia models, protocols, and architectures<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dataset curation<\/strong>: alignment and interpretability<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Semantic ontologies<\/strong>: linking and graph-based knowledge representations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>XR\/VR\/AR<\/strong>: hypertext as spatial linking, and non-Euclidean navigation frameworks<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Legacy systems<\/strong>: interoperability and long-term digital preservation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8fffe734 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">\n<p class=\"is-style-text-subtitle is-style-text-subtitle--6\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600\">Principles, Directions, Reflections<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6f7db5e2 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<p class=\"is-style-default has-medium-font-size\">Hypertext has always been both a technology and a philosophy for engaging with network textuality: from Bush\u2019s epistemology of associative reasoning to Engelbart\u2019s augmentation paradigm to Nelson\u2019s rethinking of text. This track invites research that critically extends these foundational ideas to address the conceptual, ethical, and experiential challenges of contemporary text ecologies shaped by automation and scale. We encourage submissions that deepen hypertext theory itself \u2013 its models, histories, and future trajectories \u2013 and treat hypertext as a methodological anchor in the contemporary media landscape and the production of cultural objects.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-dfd6d40f wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20)\">\n<p class=\"is-style-default\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:500\">Topics including (but not limited to):<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-283d9697 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-medium-font-size\">\n<li><strong>Philosophical foundations<\/strong>: semiotic and epistemological contexts<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>New directions: <\/strong>Unexplored correspondences with adjacent academic domains or disciplines<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Future of text<\/strong>: proposals for future hypertext applications and paradigms<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hypertext pioneers<\/strong>: Bush, Engelbart, Nelson, today<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Culture, memory, and cognition<\/strong> in large-scale text environments<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>History of hypertext<\/strong> in cultural, academic, and technical contexts<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Frameworks for preserving<\/strong> human interpretive agency in automated textual systems<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8fffe734 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">\n<p class=\"is-style-text-subtitle is-style-text-subtitle--7\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600\">Communities (Digital Practice and Social Media)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6f7db5e2 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<p class=\"is-style-default has-medium-font-size\">At its core, hypertext research has examined how linking structures shape communities, collaboration, and the circulation of knowledge. Social media platforms and algorithmic agents increasingly govern how these social connections are formed and interpreted. The insights of hypertext research help design communicative systems that support transparency, diversity, and collective intelligence. We welcome submissions that advance hypertext-centred understandings of community dynamics and sociotechnical infrastructures, ensuring that hypertext remains a framework and a paradigm for studying and improving digital culture and scholarship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-283d9697 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-medium-font-size\">\n<li><strong>Research Communities<\/strong>: text remediation in scholarly practice (e.g. impact of AI applications on formulating and tackling research questions)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Link analysis and networked discourse grounded in hypertext models<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Community knowledge systems<\/strong>: collaboration, digital practice, and collective memory<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Transparency and interpretability<\/strong> in social media ecosystems<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Visual and big-data:<\/strong> approaches to analysing social link patterns<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Decentralised, grass-root and alternative community infrastructures<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Hypertext as resistance<\/strong>: designs for civic discourse and diversity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8fffe734 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">\n<p class=\"is-style-text-subtitle is-style-text-subtitle--8\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600\">Submission Formats<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6b99030d wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-container-content-69bc4bdf\"><strong>Long Papers:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-container-content-69bc4bdf\">6\u201310 pages + references<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6b99030d wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-container-content-69bc4bdf\"><strong>Short Papers:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-container-content-69bc4bdf\">3\u20136 pages + references<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6b99030d wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-container-content-69bc4bdf\"><strong>Authors are required to submit their papers <a href=\"https:\/\/easychair.org\/conferences\/?conf=ht26\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/easychair.org\/conferences\/?conf=ht26\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">via EasyChair<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than just a technological structure, hypertext embodies a way of thinking &#8211; nonlinear, networked, dynamic \u2013 that allows new forms of storytelling, new approaches to argumentation, new approaches to sense-making and knowledge.&nbsp; As in previous years, we aim to reflect the diversity of practices embraced by different communities and welcome submissions in a variety [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":38,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-62","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ht.acm.org\/ht2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ht.acm.org\/ht2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ht.acm.org\/ht2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ht.acm.org\/ht2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ht.acm.org\/ht2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/ht.acm.org\/ht2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":392,"href":"https:\/\/ht.acm.org\/ht2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62\/revisions\/392"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ht.acm.org\/ht2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ht.acm.org\/ht2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}