Network Science calls for contributions to a special issue on Relational Event Models (planned publication date in late 2022).

More than a decade has passed since the introduction of relational event models, which are statistical models for the analysis of sequenced or time-stamped dyadic network data (Butts, 2008). Relational event data can be collected or found in various contexts, for example, in social media networks, communication networks, organizational networks, political networks, financial networks, and animal networks. The diversity of applications for relational events have been mirrored by the rich variety of statistical models and software tools for their analysis that has arisen across different fields. Sometimes treated as a general category in their own right, relational event models have also been examined in bespoke models for specific applications, or in context to their relationship with existing frameworks for relational data analysis, such as Markov process models, Exponential Random Graphs (ERGMs), Stochastic Actor Oriented Models (SAOMs), marked point process models, link prediction models, or other generative network models. As relational event models begin to come into their own, managing the diversity of approaches invites new strategies for model selection and specification, interpretation, and evaluation, and for relating relational event models to other modeling frameworks. Likewise, the increasing maturity of relational event models invites their integration into composite modeling frameworks incorporating other forms of data (e.g., survey panel data, continuously monitored covariates, or traditional network data), with an eye to both addressing data limitations and providing new insights into social process.

Scope of the Special Issue

The scope of the special issue is to present a comprehensive collection of articles that extend the current state of the art by:

•  Identifying new challenges and established problems that relational event models may help to address;
• Discussing the utility and limits of relational event data;
• Discussing the link between relational event models and other statistical modeling frameworks for the analysis of social and other kinds of networks;
• Proposing and testing new extensions of existing frameworks;
• Proposing and testing computational solutions to large data challenges in the context of relational event models;
• Illustrating the utility of relational event models in specific empirical settings;
• Advancing the theory and practice of relational event modeling.

We are particularly pleased to invite contributions that synthesize and reflect on developments in different substantive fields, thereby contributing to an increasing interconnectedness between different disciplinary domains. Contributors to the special issue may be asked to participate in the editorial process by serving as reviewers of other submissions.

Submission Requirements

Format requirements may be consulted on the website of Network Science.

Invited paper submissions will be reviewed following the Network Science editorial guidelines and procedures

Important Dates

We ask interested contributors to email extended abstracts of 2 to 4 pages to the guest editors by May 03, 2021. Extended abstracts should include a clear description of the question that the paper will address, and the data that will be used, along with key references to the relevant literature. Extended abstracts will be evaluated for overall strength and for their potential fit with the special issue topic. Authors invited to submit full papers will be asked to do so via the journal website by September, 06, 2021. The production of the special issue will proceed according to the following tentative calendar:

• May 03, 2021 – Extended Abstract due
• May 31, 2021 – Invitations for full paper submission 
• September, 06, 2021 – Full paper submission due
• December 06, 2021 – First decision
• February 14, 2022 – Revised drafts due
• May 04, 2022 – Final acceptance

Papers will be published online upon acceptance, regardless of the Special Issue publication date.

Guest editors

Carter Butts, UCI Alessandro Lomi, USI Tom Snijders, RUG Christoph Stadtfeld, ETHZ

For any further information, contact the guest editors: buttsc@uci.edu; alessandro.lomi@usi.ch; t.a.b.snijders@rug.nl; christoph.stadtfeld@ethz.ch.