Hi all, apologies for X-posting. Chris Call for Papers and Panels COMPTEXT 2026 The Eighth International and Interdisciplinary COMPTEXT Conference on the Quantitative and Computational Analysis of Text, Image and Video as Data will be held at The University of Birmingham, UK, on 23-25 April 2026. COMPTEXT is an international community of scholars working on the Quantitative and Computational Analysis of Text, Image, Audio and Video as Data. COMPTEXT conferences provide opportunities to receive valuable feedback on ongoing research, present new data and methods, network with scholars working on similar themes, and participate in workshops. It particularly strives to be open to early-career researchers and to offer them opportunities for professional growth. The 2020s are characterised by the advent and ever-increasing widespread use of generative models. It represents a technological change that is profoundly affecting not only how we can do science. It also introduces a transformative technology capable of profoundly transforming human lives and whole societies. The opportunities and challenges of these models make these times among the most exciting ever for research on society. Against this backdrop, COMPTEXT 2026 will foreground two important themes. First, the scholarly community benefits when researchers openly embrace a culture of learning from errors. The hypotheses we publish are rarely the first we test, and the polished papers we read seldom reflect the messy realities of discovery. Cultivating an environment in which scholars can acknowledge and discuss mistakes strengthens methodological transparency and makes our discipline more humane. Second, we aim to highlight the sustainability challenges inherent in working with generative models. Training and deploying these systems require substantial computational resources and come with significant environmental and social externalities. Understanding and addressing these impacts is essential for a responsible research agenda. - “Fehlerkultur” in Science - Sustainability and AI?: Exploring How LLMs Shape Environmental and Social Futures — For Better and Worse While there will be events on these specific themes, paper submissions need not address these themes. PAPERS. We invite submissions from all areas applying computational tools to analyse social, political, cultural, or linguistic phenomena. Topics may include, but are not limited to: - Research using image, video, text, audio, or digital trace data; - New computational methods, tools, or datasets; - Methodological critiques or comparisons; - Interdisciplinary applications at the intersection of computer science and substantive domains. We accept both substantive and methodological papers. PANELS. Proposals for panels of 3–4 papers with a common methodological or substantive thread are welcome. Please submit all papers individually and notify the organisers separately by email at comptext26@compextconference.org that these are intended to form a panel. Workshops (23 April 2026) In keeping with COMPTEXT tradition, the first conference day is dedicated to a series of methods workshops for registered participants, offered at both introductory and advanced levels. If you are interested in teaching a workshop, please contact the organisers at comptext26@compextconference.org by 16 January 2026. Submission of Papers - Title - Abstract (max. 250 words) - Authors (including institutional affiliations and emails for all named authors) - Four keywords (data, methods, key theory, geographical region the study take place in) Please submit everything with the [following form](https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=z8oksN7eQUKhXDyX1VPp8_bLDwnTKqZCq2MjDT72E9ZUNDc2NDJHU0wzTjdETzRLQkVJWThFQUtVOCQlQCN0PWcu). Timeline - 16 January 2026 — Submission deadline - 17 February 2026 — Notifications of acceptance - 17 March 2026 — Programme published and registration opens - 8 April 2026 — Full paper upload deadline A conference fee applies to all presenting authors and workshop participants and is inclusive of both the conference and workshops. Reduced rates will be available for students (B.A., M.A., PhD). Organising Committees Program Committee - Christian Arnold (University of Birmingham) - Fabienne Lind (University of Vienna) - Martin Waehlisch (University of Birmingham) - Miklós Sebők (ELTE Centre for Social Sciences, Budapest) Local Organising Committee — University of Birmingham - Aditi Dutta - Allison Koh - Alona O. Dolinsky - Andreas Küpfer - Christian Arnold - Martin Waehlisch - Tim Henrichsen - Yen-Chieh Liao Equality, Diversion, and Inclusion: COMPTEXT is committed to creating an inclusive conference where diversity is celebrated, and everyone is afforded equal opportunity. We welcome applications from everyone, including those who identify with any of the protected characteristics that are set out in the [UK’s Equality Act 2010.](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance)We especially encourage scholars from traditionally underrepresented groups, female scholars, and early-career researchers to apply. For more information, please visit our website:http://www.comptextconference.org/ Questions related to COMPTEXT Birmingham 2026 should be directed to comptext26@compextconference.org. Best regards, The Organizers