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Critical data visualization generally refers to the practice of examining and representing data with an awareness of the cultural, social, and ethical implications. These methods support consideration of the power structures embedded into visualization designs, inspection of the politics latent to research methods, and reflection on visualization content and context more broadly. Coming to prominence in information visualization from Dörk et al. (2013), the term critical visualization originally described principles for authoring visualizations that expose embedded values and support empowerment for readers. This field has since grown to encompass a range of topics—for instance, integrating considerations of how data and graphical practices might embrace feminist methods. Works in this area strive to challenge existing visualization dogmas and identify overlooked assumptions as a way to push conventional visualization practice toward more inclusive and reflective practices.
Despite growing usage, however, there is a lack of a shared definition of what ‘criticality’ refers to for visualization and how those ideas can be applied in a rigorous and useful manner. While this plural understanding of criticality has afforded a vast array of creative applications, it has precluded critical methods and goals from being broadly understood or adopted. Through this special issue, we aim to both complicate and coalesce the visualization research community’s understanding and definition of critical visualizations, as well as the challenges associated with it. For instance, answering questions like: How to design ‘critical’ visualizations? What are the goals of critical visualization? Or even, what is critical visualization? To address these concerns we invite essays, explorations, and empirical work on topics including:
Submitted manuscripts must not exceed 8,000 words or 14 pages (according to the CG&A template). For more author information and guidelines on submission criteria, visit the Author’s Information page. Please submit papers through the ScholarOne system and be sure to select the special issue or special section name. Manuscripts should not be published or currently submitted for publication elsewhere. Please submit only full papers intended for review, not abstracts, to the ScholarOne portal. The Special Issue Guest Editors are happy to answer questions regarding scope on a rolling basis
Contact the guest editors at cga3-2025@computer.org.
