The Journal of Imaginary Research is now accepting submissions of new short fictional pieces for our annual volume. We publish imaginary research abstracts, and all our volumes are available as free downloads.
Deadline 5pm on Friday 4th December, 2026
What do we mean imaginary research abstracts?
We mean short works of fiction, that take a format that is familiar to us as researchers, academics and the consumers and users of research outputs. An abstract is the summary of an academic paper, that gives us a succinct overview of the research that has been done, and the new outcomes or ideas that the research has generated.
The 2026 theme: Exposure
To be exposed is to be out in the open: unsheltered, undefended and left to the weather. Exposure is the moment the cover comes off and lets in the light. It could mean your skin bared to the sun, a lethal dose of radiation, or a glimpse of something vital: the godhead, truth, the decisive moment.
It is the climbers’ word for the drop beneath your feet. It’s what it’s like to be examined at a viva.
Indeed, researchers live between these senses. Publicity promises exposure as a wage – a practice, as anyone who has worked in a gig economy will note, that doesn’t pay the bills. Peer review is exposure by another name (though Reviewer 2 accepts no exposure of their own). If you have ever suffered from imposter syndrome (and who hasn’t?), you recognise the fear of being exposed as not good enough.
Therapists prescribe exposure in graded doses, on the theory that fear can be slowly eroded, diminished, shrunk.
The word itself arrived around 1600 with ‘composure’ and ‘enclosure’ for company. Shakespeare records it first, in Troilus and Cressida; Macbeth gives it to our ‘naked frailties… that suffer in exposure’.As ever, interpret the theme however you wish – there is no need to explain, and the theme is a mood, a way into the imagination, not a test.
TOP TIP! Indecent exposure has been an offence since 1770; we’d like submissions to retain their modesty whenever possible.
Remember too, that the biography of the imaginary researcher that accompanies your fictional abstract is a good way of introducing links, expansions, satire, commentary and drama into your work. What sort of researcher might produce the imaginary research you describe? Is there a counterpoint in their biography, or something that affirms the work they are doing? How can you use the biography to enhance the fictional aspect of your work. This is your opportunity to indulge in both characterisation and worldbuilding.
TOP TIP! The rarer exposures – southern, insurance, mountaineering, double – may serve you better this year. Cats, dogs and robots as researchers remain heavily oversubscribed as concepts, and are less likely to be selected.
Keep reading to find out how to get started and how to submit your writing…
How to submit
Every entry in this journal is a double exposure: a real writer and an imagined researcher in the same frame.
Download this submission template, follow the instructions, and email it, completed, to kay.guccione@glasgow.ac.uk by Friday 4th December 2026
Our editorial process
Fast and simple. We read everything and do one of three things: (1) accept and publish your piece as it is; (2) make minor edits and publish it in this volume; or (3) return it with suggestions for resubmitting to a future volume. Minor edits may appear without your seeing them first. Copyright of your piece stays with you, and we make no money from the sale of your writing.
We commonly return submissions unpublished when they are not discernibly in the Abstract genre; when typographical errors make them hard to follow; when they contain discrimination, hate speech or derogatory language; when the crude or toilet humour piles too high; or when they run too close to another submission in the same volume.
TOP TIP! Don’t send your completed piece straight away. Give it a day, read it aloud, then submit.
Why do we publish fictional research?
We publish imagined research abstracts as works of fiction firstly because writing for enjoyment is a good thing to encourage. We spend a lot of time trying to reduce our anxiety about writing, and so writing imaginatively is a good way to reshape our relationship with writing into something creative and enjoyable.
Secondly, writing fiction in a familiar format, helps us to reflect on how we can creatively communicate our other research projects, and how we can find the joy of creativity within the grind of productivity. Creativity is a property of all writers and the privilege of all researchers. It allows us to dream and hope.
Can I see examples?
The imaginary abstracts we have published in Volumes 1–11 and our summer 2020 Special Issue were written by real academic staff, research staff, and research students. These volumes of our Journal-zine provide plenty of examples of the different approaches and styles, some funny, some serious, all completely made up.
Enjoy it!
A key aim of our journal-zine is to encourage academic colleagues to embrace writing simply for enjoyment, as an act of care, or as a reflective act. We also hope that reading and writing our imagined works, will bring an enjoyable diversion into your work lives.
Editors: Kay Guccione (on LinkedIn), and Matthew Cheeseman
