Title:	“D9.1: A Specification for FIDIS Journal”

Author:	WP9

Editors:	Ruth Halperin and Sarah Thatcher (LSE, UK)

Reviewers:	Ioannis Maghiros (JRC, Spain)
James Backhouse (LSE, UK)
Kai Rannenberg (University of Frankfurt, Germany)
Kevin Warwick (University of Reading, UK)
Mark Gasson (University of Reading, UK)
Els Soenens (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)
Svetla Nikova (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)

Identifier:	D9.1

Type:	Deliverable

Version:	1.0

Date:	Thursday, 29 September 2005

Status:	Final

Class:	Public

File:	fidis-wp9-del9.1.fidis_journal.doc

Summary
This document contains a specification for the FIDIS Journal – a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed e-journal on identity in the Information Society

Copyright Notice:

This document may not be copied, reproduced, or modified in whole or in part for any purpose without written permission from the FIDIS Consortium. In addition to such written permission to copy, reproduce, or modify this document in whole or part, an acknowledgement of the authors of the document and all applicable portions of the copyright notice must be clearly referenced.

The circulation of this document is restricted to the staff of the FIDIS partner organisations and the European Commission. All information contained in this document is strictly confidential and may not be divulged to third parties without the express permission of the partners.

All rights reserved.

PLEASE NOTE: This document may change without notice – Updated versions of this document can be found at the FIDIS NoE website at www.fidis.net.

Foreword

The Editors’ thanks go to all those who contributed to this paper with reviews and comments. Their assistance and insights were invaluable. Thanks go especially to Daniel Halperin who gave silent support for the duration of this project.

FIDIS partners from various disciplines have contributed to this document. The following list names the main contributors for the chapters of this document:

Chapter	Contributor(s)
1 (Executive Summary)	Sarah Thatcher, LSE
2 (Introduction)	Ruth Halperin, LSE Sarah Thatcher, LSE Ioannis Maghiros, JRC Els Soenens, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Svetla Nikova, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
3 (Existing journals and the need for a FIDIS journal)	Ruth Halperin, LSE Sarah Thatcher, LSE Els Soenens, Vrije Universiteit Brussel All workpackage leaders
4 (Practical issues)	Ruth Halperin, LSE Sarah Thatcher, LSE Ioannis Maghiros, JRC Mark Gasson, University of Reading
5 (References)	Ruth Halperin, LSE Sarah Thatcher, LSE Mark Gasson, University of Reading

Table of Contents

1Executive Summary	5

2Introduction	6

2.1Rationale for the FIDIS journal	7

2.2Objectives and scope of the FIDIS journal	8

3Existing journals and the need for a FIDIS journal	12

3.1Existing Journal outlets relevant to studies on Identity in the Information Society	12

3.2The State of the Art in Identity Research	15

4Practical issues	18

4.1Size and frequency	18

4.2Contents of first issues	19

4.3Range of material	20

4.4Readership	21

4.5Editor-in-chief and Editorial Board	21

4.6Editorial and reviewing policy	21

4.7Schedule	22

5References	23

Executive Summary

Workpackage 9 of the FIDIS project is concerned with spreading the findings and results of the project to relevant stakeholders, governments and the public. It was considered that the founding of an academic journal dealing with issues relating to identity and the information society would form an important part of the dissemination strategy. The journal would provide a natural outlet, not just for FIDIS research, but for all academic work in this field.

This paper sets out the justification for a FIDIS journal on identity in the information society and presents a vision of how the project will be undertaken. The existing outlets for research on identity in the information society are reviewed and an analysis of relevant papers is conducted in order to examine the state of the art in this emerging field of study. This study finds that identity research is currently fragmented along disciplinary lines, although there appear to be several pervasive themes which cross disciplinary boundaries.

The proposed journal seeks to overcome the present fragmentation of identity research by providing a multidisciplinary and multinational outlet, comprising different national research experiences with heterogeneous foci, and integrating expertise around a common set of themes. The aim is to consolidate and foster multidisciplinary approaches, leading to more comprehensive and holistic research in this area.

Introduction

The Information Society requires technologies that address trust and security yet also preserve the privacy of individuals. As the Information Society develops, the increasingly digital representation of personal characteristics changes our methods of identifying individuals. Supplementary digital identities, so-called virtual identities, embodying concepts such as pseudonymity and anonymity, are being created for security, profit, convenience or even for fun. These new identities are feeding back into the world of social and business affairs, offering a mix of plural identities and challenging traditional notions of identity. At the same time, nation states manage identities in very different ways. For example, in Germany holding an ID card is mandatory from the age of 16, while in the UK state-issued identity cards do not exist and it is not yet clear whether they would be accepted by the population. Identity as a contemporary phenomenon and a research domain, therefore, pertains to multiple areas of modern life, having implications across the board, ranging from the concept of self right up to the macro social level.

The FIDIS research network has been set up to address these important issues and others. As a multidisciplinary and multinational Network of Excellence, FIDIS, appropriately, comprises different country research experiences with heterogeneous foci, and integrates European expertise around a common set of activities. Additionally, all relevant stakeholders are addressed to ensure that the requirements are considered at different levels. FIDIS overcomes the extreme fragmentation of research into the future of identity by consolidating and fostering joint research in this area. Research results will be made accessible to European citizens, researchers and in particular to SMEs.

FIDIS work is currently divided into 7 research activities, although more will emerge as time goes on:

 “Identity of Identity”

 Profiling

 Interoperability of IDs and ID management systems

 Forensic Implications

 De-Identification

 High-Tech ID

 Mobility and Identity

What sets this project apart from others in the identity domain is its interdisciplinary and multi-national nature. The idea behind the new journal is to provide a high-quality, peer-reviewed outlet, which unites research from the FIDIS project with other research being carried out in the field of identity.

Rationale for the FIDIS journal

This section seeks to explain the rationale behind the proposed journal, showing why a journal on identity in the Information Society is both relevant and timely.

Identity is an issue of mounting global importance. At a practical level, there is increasingly abundant industrial research and development in this field. The practical, technological developments in the field of identity affect the degree to which an individual controls the management of or access to information about his identity. This is necessarily a question of liberty and also of privacy: there must be the freedom to engage actively with our environment, but also the opportunity to withdraw and hold back those parts of our selves which we wish to keep within the personal domain. As a result of these developments, identity is an emerging field in academic research and consolidation of the discussion on what constitutes identity is just beginning. It is clear that these two spheres of development, the academic and the industrial, are fundamentally related.

Moves towards an Information Society have, in most cases, intensified rather than created the central problematic of control over access to identity information. Although there are undeniable benefits, this intensification throws into sharp relief the pitfalls that attend our inexorable progress towards the digitised future. Governments, commercial organisations, criminals and others are responsible for increasing assaults on the boundaries of a person’s identity. Information technology has revolutionised the collection, processing and use of identity information since more data can be collected and stored, then processed into usable information. As more information becomes available, more uses have been found for it, to the extent that collection, storage and processing activities now require heavy, if often ineffective, regulation. Profiles are built from previously unlinkable identity information; law enforcement has unlimited access to formerly forbidden information, such as passenger databases; surveillance and profiling are consolidated into a process of social sorting such that, once a person is categorised as suspicious, the normal burden of proof is reversed. The very fabric of society, social relationships and the trust which underpins them, is being reshaped by the ubiquity of technological mediation.

The importance of these issues warrants research into the topic of identity and its emerging forms in the context of information systems. As discussed further in section 3 below, current research on identity is marked by extreme disciplinary fragmentation, reflected in turn by disciplinary-specific outlets. Analysis of the existing literature reveals that although there is virtually no cross-disciplinary research in this area, pervasive themes emerge from the literature, which cross disciplinary lines and these may be used as rallying points for researchers, signalling a community of interest. As questions of identity rise swiftly up the political agenda, it is both an opportunity and a necessity to foster and communicate research in this area.

A journal on identity in the Information Society would encourage and promote such efforts, seeking to answer the more difficult questions about how different perspectives on this important problem fit together so as to achieve a balanced and holistic understanding of the pressing contemporary issues associated with identity.

This deliverable is well within the FIDIS partners’ reach. The FIDIS NoE ensures a multi-dimensional approach by bringing together experts in diverse fields such as robotics, computers, cryptography, applications within government, learning and mobile commerce, policy, regulation and social implications of technology. By sharing their knowledge, the FIDIS experts will be able to contribute valuable material to the journal as well as induce other related experts contributions. All workpackage deliverables constitute draft material for the journal and these may then be used as primary material for the articles to be published, thus the journal will also help in the integration of the network process.

Objectives and scope of the FIDIS journal

The aim of the proposed journal is to publish academically robust, peer-reviewed papers, research reports, critical reviews and opinions on the social, technological, political, psychological, philosophical and legal issues associated with identity in the Information Society. The journal is intended to provide an interdisciplinary forum for theorists and researchers around the world to share their ideas and findings regarding the problems and prospects of identity in the context of the Information Society.

The scope of the journal will encompass theory, applications, and implementations of identity and Identity Management Systems in the Information Society. Information Systems will provide the overarching context, with identity acting as meta-concept and main focus addressed through various themes, rather than merely disciplinary perspectives. Legal, sociological, political and technological perspectives will be accommodated in order that a comprehensive understanding of identity in the Information Society can be achieved. Key themes include, but are not limited to, privacy, pseudonymity, anonymity, security, trust, multiple identities, interoperability of identities, identity and mobility, profiling, de-identification and identity theft.

A defining characteristic of the proposed journal relates to its multidisciplinary scope, for identity in the Information Society can and should be considered according to many different perspectives. For example, Psychology and Sociology have addressed the concept of identity as the construction of the self for the individual, and the development of a set of shared values in a group; Organization Studies associates identity with forms of identification and the definition of the right to access resources; lawyers and legal philosophers have addressed the issue of identity in connection with responsibility, privacy, constitutional issues and the rule of law, ethics and morality; the technical perspective primarily addresses the questions of authentication, identity representation, identity protection, ownership and mobility, but can also address issues of commercial adoption of technologies and resulting and societal change.

It is important to note that these perspectives are not mutually exclusive, since each perspective can shed an interesting and complementary light on the same problematic and should not, therefore, be treated separately. For instance, the problem of managing access to restricted resources can be addressed in many different ways: computer scientists can propose authentication mechanisms, such as biometrics; sociologists and psychologists can define profiles of user’s behaviours (and help to identify suspect behaviours); organization experts can contribute to the definition of roles in the organization and to the definition of level of access to resources that enhance the protection of confidential information; finally, lawyers, by defining the rights of users and the sanctions associated with unauthorized behaviour, can help to enforce adequate access to restricted resources.

The proposed journal seeks to overcome the present fragmentation of identity research by providing a multidisciplinary and multinational outlet, comprising different national research experiences with heterogeneous foci, and integrating expertise around a common set of themes. The aim is to consolidate and foster multidisciplinary approaches and, hence, more comprehensive research in this area.

Major areas the journal will cover include, but are not limited to, identification and authentication, identity management, liability, security and privacy, their legal aspects and social implications. The journal will also concentrate on their complex interactions, a difficult and important task requiring the integration of inter-disciplinary expertise. More specifically, the journal will seek to publish high quality research including, but not limited to, articles in the following areas:

The concept of identity and its uses in the context of the Information Society; the semantics of identity in the Information Society, the different concepts, functions and operations associated with identity in the Information Society (e.g. identification, privacy, roles and behaviours, reputation, mobility, personalisation, authentication, credentials and proof).

The implementation and manifestations of identity in different application domains (e.g. business, work, education, government, citizen related activities, commerce).

The concepts of physical, digital, virtual, partial and cyber identity; how they are used, how they might be used and abused, the nature of the impact that they will have in shaping the e-Society as well as its supporting technologies, and how they ought to be defined in order to respect the fundamental rights of the citizen.

The management of identity by the citizen, particularly through Identity Management Systems which will both allow Identity to be used as a means of navigation in the Information Society, and open and facilitate access to online services.

Analyses of different Identity Management Systems, their current relations and the resulting effects on mobility in the Information Society.

Interoperability of Identity Management Systems, and how it may expand or limit the benefits to citizens, businesses or governments.

The multiplicity of identities and Identity Management Systems as they are used in different cultures as well as in different areas of life and work.

The requirements, definitions, conceptions and implications of specific security, trust and privacy technologies such as Privacy Enhancing Technologies, Biometrics and Cryptography.

Liability and responsibility in the virtual world, and the role that Identity could play in defining responsibility in technological, economic, legal and societal facets of the e-Society.

The critical challenges that Cybercrime may pose for the Information Society, including the management of acceptable levels of risk in the context of Identity (theft, abuse, misuse). New notions of legal entities and the regulatory framework as well as supporting technology that will be required as a consequence.

The tension between security and privacy - analyses of the opportunities for adapting precautionary principles to information and communication technologies which may be deployed when there is uncertainty on the application of specific technologies and their socio-economic impacts.

The social, cultural and psychological impact of emerging identity technologies, particularly in relation to concepts of self and how the self relates to others.

Gender and identity in the information society, for example gender issues relating to the impact of profiling on identity.

Because identity in the Information Society is an emerging phenomenon and academic research in this field is just beginning, the scope of the proposed journal should be broadly defined to allow inclusion, not exclusion, of relevant themes and related debates. Moreover, an inclusive approach will be adopted when considering different units of analysis applied in research articles. For example, identity of persons in different roles (e.g. citizen; costumer; individual) in different places (home; work; mobile) and in different modes (offline; online; mixed modes) are equally relevant. Likewise, the journal will encourage contributions that explore identity in different contexts, ranging from the individual through to the organisational, the national and international.

What is left outside the scope of the journal is any discussion of identity in which the Information Society is not considered. For example, a psychological discussion of identity as in the case of the journal ‘Identity’ (http://www.ssc.uwo.ca/sociology/identity/ - The Journal of the Society for Research on Identity Formation) will not fit within the scope of the proposed journal, although a paper on psychological aspects of identity when associated with ICTs or the Information Society generally would be within the journal’s remit. Similarly, social and organisational discussions of identity irrespective of the role played by ICTs shall remain beyond the boundaries of the journal. Discussions on the European Identity per se will not be relevant; however discussions on how the digitisation of identity may influence a citizen’s perception of himself and what social group he feels part of would be relevant. Finally, research articles that adopt a purely technical/engineering approach would more appropriately be published in disciplinary-specific outlets, unless they can be shown to be accessible by and relevant to a wider audience. The multidisciplinary nature of the proposed journal requires that research articles are both accessible and relevant to a broad community of interest comprised of researchers from a wide range of disciplines.

Existing journals and the need for a FIDIS journal

Two steps were taken in order both to evaluate the need for a journal on identity in the Information Society and to position it among existing outlets. First, we compiled a list of the major existing outlets for the sort of articles the proposed journal expects to publish. To this end, FIDIS experts researching identity within different disciplines were approached and asked to provide a list of leading publications in their area of expertise. The compiled list is provided below (section 3.1) and is organised according to experts’ domains. Following this, we conducted a high-level review of the literature in order to assess the state of the art in research on identity in the Information Society. Key findings emerging from that analysis are presented in section 3.2.

Existing Journal outlets relevant to studies on Identity in the Information Society

This section lists the major existing journal outlets for the sort of articles the proposed journal expects to publish, including both general and specialist journals.

Law and Ethics; Philosophy of Law; Law and Technology

Journal of Philosophy Science and Law

Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling

Journal of Criminal Justice and Behaviour

Ethics

Ethics and Information Technology

Law and Philosophy

Berkeley Technology Law Journal

Harvard Journal of Law & Technology

Virginia Journal of Law and Technology

Journal of Information Law and Technology

Information & Communications Technology Law

Jurimetrics Journal of Law Science and Technology

Journal of Applied Philosophy

Information Polity

Information Communication and Society*

Information Society*

Common Market Law Review

European Law Review

American Journal of International Law

Psychology

Identity

Self and Identity

Media and Communications / Culture Studies

Post Identity

The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

Information Systems (incl. Management and Organization Studies)

MIS Quarterly

Information Systems Research

Information Systems

European Journal of Information Systems

Journal of Information Technology

Information Technology and People

Information and Organizations

Organization Science

Communications of the ACM*

Journal of Strategic Information Systems

Information, Communication and Society*

Information Society*

Information Management and Computer Security

Communications of the AIS

Technology / Computer Science

Communications of the ACM*

Journal of Privacy Technology

Privacy Journal

Ethics and Information Technology

Computers & Security

IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine

Information Security Technical Report (ISTR)

Journal of Computer and System Sciences

Information, Communication and Society*

While most of the journals listed above are typically discipline-specific, three journals marked with *, namely Information Communication and Society, Information Society and Communications of the ACM, were indicated by different experts and are therefore seen to represent existing multidisciplinary outlets relevant to the study of identity in the Information Society. These journals, however, are by no means dedicated to the identity domain but are highly general in nature. Apart from the Psychology journals and to some extent, the technology/Computer Science journals in the area of security and privacy, no specific journals were found for the identity domain and clearly none which are focused on identity in the Information Society context.

The State of the Art in Identity Research

After compiling a list of the major existing journals, a review of the literature was undertaken in order to assess the state of the art in identity research. Initial searches were carried out using major databases chosen to give coverage of relevant major fields, including technical sciences, social sciences, humanities and law. These searches revealed a vast literature covering the identity domain in general. Restricting the search to work more closely linked with Information Society issues allowed us to compile 400 articles published over the last decade (between 1995 and April 2005). Figure 1 below shows the distribution of these articles over the years 1995-2004. From January to April 2005, 17 such articles were published, but these are not represented in Figure 1 since these figures only represent one quarter of 2005.

Figure 1. Distribution of articles on identity in the Information Society by year

It is clear from Figure 1 above that there has been a steady rise in interest in the domain of identity across all disciplines over the last decade. For the purpose of the current analysis a total of 70 articles were randomly sampled and reviewed. The analysis yielded several categories representing the range of perspectives in the study of identity in the Information Society. The categories were political, social, legal and technological, with sub-categories in the social domain, characterised as socio-political, socio-cultural and socio-organisational.

Figure 2. Distribution of perspectives

Figure 2 above demonstrates that the weight of research in this sample is dedicated to the technical disciplines, followed by the social science and legal disciplines, with the political perspective being the least popular. The sub-divisions of the social science papers are roughly equally split between the socio-political, -cultural and -organisational.

The political perspective encompassed articles dealing with identity in the national or international context, with focus typically placed on power relations among nation states.

The next category was broadly defined as the social perspective. Given the scope of this perspective, a set of sub-categories was further identified so as to allow a more nuanced analysis. Among these was a socio-political perspective. Whereas the political perspective described above focuses at the national level, the socio-political perspective considers other social groups and issues related to the power relations between different groups. This body of work is quite diverse, encompassing a wide range of social groups such as women (Hoogensen and Rottem 2004), medical patients (Alpert 2003) and consumers (Hoffman, Novak et al. 1999). Issues placed centre stage include, for example, the implication of anonymity and privacy in the context of health information.

The socio-cultural perspective is the second sub-category within the social domain of identity research. We differentiate it from the socio-political perspective because focus is not placed on power relations among social groups but rather on the creation and meaning of self and social identities in a broad cultural sense. For example, Phillips (1998) examined public discourse in order to illuminate the processes by which issues of anonymity, surveillance, security, and privacy are integrated into public understandings of, and interactions with, consumer payment systems. Prominent themes emerging from this body of work include the public discourse on anonymity (Phillips 1998), online identities (Hardey 2002) and consumer privacy (Tambyah 1996). The final sub-category of the social domain of identity research is the socio-organisational perspective. Papers in this sub-category typically discuss identity issues within organisational and managerial contexts.

The legal perspective on the study of identity and IS emerged as a key category in the analysis of the literature. A broad range of issues is addressed from the legal angle; foremost of these are identity theft (Terry 2000; Caughey 2004), identification and profiling. Legal discussions on identity cover regulatory issues as well as the philosophical and ethical concerns, together with their consequences (see, for example, Robison 1997).

Finally, the technological perspective on identity and IS research clearly emerged as the dominant perspective, with security and privacy concerns being brought to the forefront of the analysis. Whilst the label ‘technological’ seems to capture the core of this literature, a diversity of topics and themes is nevertheless apparent. Revocation of identity (Bresson and Stern 2001), location privacy (Hirose and Yoshida 2001) and identification systems are but a few examples.

What emerges from this analysis is a sense of disciplinary fragmentation in the study of identity in the Information Society. However, pervasive themes arise from the literature which cross disciplinary lines, signalling a community of interest. These themes shall be used as the underlying logic of the proposed journal, which will be a rallying point for the promotion of holistic, multi-disciplinary research and the cross-pollination of ideas between disciplines. This is what will set the FIDIS journal apart from other journals in the market and help to establish it as the premier publication for those involved with identity issues.

Practical issues

In this section, we shall consider the practicalities of running the proposed journal, including the mode of the journal, its size, frequency, submissions procedure, editorship, refereeing policy, expected early submissions and readership.

Size and frequency

E-journals are moving towards a more flexible format of rolling publications, so that content is published online as and when it is accepted, and members/subscribers are e-mailed accordingly. Illustrative examples are the journals of the Association of Information Systems (AIS), namely JAIS and the CAIS. Although there are obvious advantages to a quarterly publication, such as readers knowing that they will get a publication of a certain size on a certain date, such a publication is nevertheless committed to x papers per quarter, regardless of the quality of submissions. It might be difficult to find enough quality sometimes, and we would be unwilling to dilute content with low quality. There may also be a struggle to find sufficient reviewers available all at one time.

On the rolling publication model, there is no need to publish low quality just to meet quotas, nor to find reviewers all at once. The editorial board will be responsible for agreeing a target number of papers to be published in a year in order that assessments can be made in the future as to what is and what is not a respectable publishing rate. The Board will also have responsibility for considering where particular areas of interest are being successfully represented by published content and where not so that any problems may be addressed by calls for papers in areas which may be under-represented.

The rolling publication would cater for a number of subscribed members in the first instance, but content would become freely available to the world at large after a period of, say, one year. A rolling publication also caters for special issues in a more flexible fashion. If the editorial board feel there is a weight of publishable material in a specific area that would justify a special issue in the context of a traditional journal, it is possible to open up a new section within the e-journal just for that issue and publish there en masse, with attendant publicity. This means that the journal is not tied to regular ‘special issues’ and we can publish only when we have a critical mass of high quality in a particular area.

The journal will have its own website, accessible to everyone and not just the FIDIS network, which will permanently contain a page calling for submissions and detailing the submission procedure, content, length and formatting requirements. The precise details of the substantive and formal requirements for submissions are to be discussed by the Editorial Board, however, they are unlikely to be very different from the model used by, for example, the JAIS. The submission procedure will be entirely electronic and submissions should not be under consideration for publication anywhere else.

In addition to the permanent call for papers on the journal website, calls for papers will periodically, around once every six months, be emailed to a distribution list of existing subscribers and other interested parties, academic and non-academic alike. As well as eliciting new submissions, this would act as a marketing tool, raising awareness of the journal.

When one or more new articles are published on the website, subscribers will be alerted by email. Subscribers will have access to a full search facility, allowing full-text searching, but also searching by author, date, title and keywords. Non-subscribers will have access to this facility, but will only be able to access the full text of papers published over one year ago. When the journal website is first made live, it may be necessary to have a period of open access to all for the first 12-18 months to give enough time to raise the profile of the journal, after which time the subscription system will operate.

Contents of first issues

This section specifies expected contributions during the early months of the journal, indicating main authors and topic areas their contributions are likely to cover.

Content will, in the first instance, be drawn from the FIDIS research deliverables, which are guaranteed during the first three years of the journal. It should be emphasised however, that papers submitted by FIDIS members will be reviewed like any other submissions, ensuring quality of the material as specified in section 4.6 below. In addition, authors outside FIDIS would be strongly encouraged to participate from the start and we shall disseminate calls for papers to a broad range of potential contributors by advertising on the FIDIS website and sending out emails to those already on our mailing lists and others. The general subject matter of potential material for the journal is set out in detail in section 2.2, however, examples of anticipated contributions for the early months are detailed below:

Chief authors (WP leader)	Areas covered
WP2 (T. Nabeth, INSEAD, France)	Conceptual examination of identity, anonymity and pseudonymity; definition of the identity concept from a multi-disciplinary perspective.
WP3 (M. Meints, ULD SH, Kiel, Germany)	A study on technologies to support identity and identification in the light of current political developments (e.g. in combating terrorists and modernising the health sector) which lead to deeper discussion on the implications of ID documents.
WP4 (J. Backhouse, LSE, UK)	Interoperability of identity and identification concepts - requirements and best practices for interoperable systems in the identity area.
WP5 (B.J. Koops, Tilburg University, Netherlands)	Identity theft, privacy and security - a study on identity fraud from technical, legal, economic, and sociological perspectives.
WP7 (M. Hildebrandt, VUB, Belgium)	Profiling and identification processes - the impact of profiling practices on privacy, security and identity. Analysis of Ambient Intelligence (AmI) in the context of identity - the workings and impact of profiling using AmI mapped from multiple perspectives to address implications for privacy and security.
WP11 (K. Rannenberg & Denis Royer, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany)	A study on mobility and identity and mobile identity management - analysis and applications of concepts elements in the fields of mobility and identity.

Range of material

The journal will encourage all of the following contributions:

Original research articles – including theoretical, conceptual, empirical and critical studies

Review articles

Debates

Teaching cases/ case studies

Invited articles

Original research articles will make up the core of the contents but since we propose an electronic rolling publication, specification of the exact proportions of the different sections are less relevant than for a paper journal.

Special issues will be initiated by the editors when there is a critical mass of interest and material in a specific subject or on a particular theme, and suggestions for special issues on topical themes will be welcomed. It is possible that, for a particular special issue, the editors may choose to appoint a guest editor from outside the FIDIS network.

Readership

The readership for the proposed journal may well include both academic and non-academic constituencies. The non-academic group may comprise citizens, consumers, governments and inter-governmental organisations, industry, policymakers, professionals (eg lawyers, information security managers and controllers), law enforcement authorities, national research councils, voluntary sector workers and technology assessment bodies. However, the core readership will be from the academic community. Thus, first and foremost, the proposed journal shall be designed to be read by academics, scholars, and advanced students. Additional readers will include reflective practitioners and those seeking an update on current experience and future prospects concerning contemporary issues associated with identity.

Editor-in-chief and Editorial Board

Editor-in-chief will be the Workpackage 9 leader in the first instance, supported by an Editorial Board comprised of the other FIDIS workpackage leaders so as to represent the various disciplines from which the journal expects to attract authors. While FIDIS members are expected to take an active part in the editorial team, it is essential to include representatives external to the this Network of Excellence. Independent members are necessary to allow for a double-blind peer review process as well as to promote the journal and raise its profile within relevant academic and professional communities.

Editorial and reviewing policy

The Editor-In-Chief will screen each paper on arrival and will make a rapid decision as to whether to send it for review. Rigour and relevance to identity in the information society are the first prerequisites but readability, interest value, informed expert views and context are significant, as well as forward-looking perspectives that can generate future research agendas.

Submissions that pass the screening stage will be sent to one of the Associate Editors to manage the review process. Each paper will be blind-reviewed by two to three scholars. A pool of potential reviewers will be recruited in advance and approached on an ad hoc basis, depending on the expertise required to provide a high quality assessment of submissions.

The Editorial Board will establish a policy on time-frames for reaching editorial decisions, which will aim at shortening wait times to the minimum possible. Since the chosen format is that of an e-journal, it may be possible to reduce time lags between submission and publication. This should be reinforced by a strict editorial policy, which would work to the benefit of prospective authors as well as readers.

Schedule

We expect to launch the journal in January 2007.

Prior to this, Workpackage 9 activities will be focused on setting up the administrative infrastructure for the journal (Del 9.2), which is scheduled to be completed by June 2006. By that point, a definite list of members of the Editorial Board will be agreed.

References

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Backhouse, J., Ed. (2005). Structured account of approaches on interoperability, FIDIS WP4, Del 4.2.

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Hardey, M. (2002). "Life beyond the screen: embodiment and identity through the internet." Sociological Review 50(4): 570-85.

Harmanci R., “Now ear this”, San Francisco Chronicle, p. M-1, 14 Aug 2005.

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Hoffman, D. L., T. P. Novak, et al. (1999). "Information privacy in the marketspace: Implications for the commercial uses of anonymity on the Web." Information Society 15(2): 129-39.

Hogg, M. A. and D. J. Terry (2000). "Social identity and self categorization processes in organizational contexts." Academy of Management Review 25: 121-40.

Hoogensen, G. and S. V. Rottem (2004). "Gender identity and the subject of security." Security Dialogue 35(2): 155-71.

Phillips, D. J. (1998). "The social construction of a secure, anonymous electronic payment system: frame alignment and mobilization around Ecash." Journal of Information Technology 13(4): 273-83.

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Title:

Gil Halperin

2006-08-30T12:33:00

Denis Royer