Special Issue/Section on Bisexual Health Research in Archives of Sexual Behavior

Call for Paper Proposals

Drs. Brian Dodge & Wendy Bostwick a special issue (or special section of an issue) on bisexual health
research in Archives of Sexual Behavior. As prior research has demonstrated that bisexual individuals
experience profound health disparities in comparison to both heterosexual and gay and lesbian individuals,
we are seeking contributions that explore the unique health issues faced by diverse bisexual populations, in
direct response to calls for such resources from the Institute of Medicine and National Institutes of Health.
This effort is intended to highlight research from the Bisexual Research Collaborative on Health (BiRCH),
an ongoing multi-institutional scientific initiative focused on health and wellbeing among individuals. We
are also seeking submissions from other researchers in the broader field.

Importantly, this special issue/section will be produced in honor of Dr. Judith Bradford, a pioneering
population health researcher, who dedicated 30 years of her life to establishing the field of LGBT health.
Dr. Bradford passed away on February 11, 2017. One of her last efforts was focused on bisexual health
specifically, and she was key to the formation of the BiRCH initiative. The impact of Dr. Bradfords work
is immeasurable but we know it was central to realizing the full spectrum of health needs of all sexual and
gender minority groups. In the spirit of Dr. Bradford and her work, the following topic areas are of priority
for this special issue/section:

- Population-level research on bisexual individuals (including general population samples)

- Aging and bisexuality (including life course perspectives on bisexual health)
- Intersectional approaches and frameworks for researching bisexual health, with a deliberate focus
on racial/ethnic identities
- Health needs and experiences of transgender and gender non-binary bisexual people
- Community-based participatory research methods with bisexual individuals and communities
- Roles of advocacy and policy in bisexual health research

We will also consider manuscripts on bisexual health-related topics that are outside of these priority areas.
We anticipate offering several options for contributors including:

1. Scientific research papers: write up of empirical (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods)

research studies on bisexual health maximum 7500 words
2. Lessons learned and/or methodology papers: summaries of findings or themes that have emerged
over the course of multiple research studies, particularly related to research methods of relevance
to bisexual health research (for example, recruiting and retaining samples of ethnic minority
bisexual women in longitudinal research) maximum 7500 words
3. Brief research reports: succinct summaries of novel findings from previous or ongoing research
studies, with an emphasis on innovative pilot studies conducted by junior investigators maximum
2000 words
4. Commentaries/Community perspectives: brief narratives for practitioners and community experts
to share their experiences from working with scientific researchers on bisexual health initiatives,
including recommendations for future research maximum 2000 words

For the special issue (potentially comprised of 6-12 papers), we are aiming for the majority of contributions
to be made up of empirical research papers and scientific lessons learned papers from senior investigators
and scholars who are engaged in active research. We will also include a smaller number of brief research
reports to provide opportunities for junior investigators and advanced graduate students to showcase their
work in a prominent space, as well as a small number of commentaries focusing on the importance of
scientific-community partnerships for bisexual health research.
This special issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior will serve as a significant resource that can be shared
with new generations of researchers and practitioners who seek to alleviate health disparities among
bisexual individuals and communities.

Proposed timeline:

April 1st, 2017: 500 word proposal/abstract deadline

May 1st, 2017: Authors invited to submit

September 1st, 2017: Deadline for submission to editors

November 15th, 2017: Final manuscripts due to editors

February 2018: Special issue papers published online

How to submit:

Potential authors must submit their proposals/abstracts via email to Brian Dodge (bmdodge@indiana.edu)
and/or Wendy Bostwick (wbostw1@uic.edu) on or before April 1st, 2017.

Proposals must include:

- Author names and affiliations, including contact information for the corresponding author
- Type of contribution (refer to list above)
- An abstract of no more than 500 words briefly describing topic, method, findings, and significance