Call for submissions for a special issue of the Code4Lib Journal:
Static websites for scholarly editions and other publications in the Humanities

Static websites are increasingly recognized as a sustainable solution
for digital editions and other scholarly publications in the
Humanities. They are broadly defined as applications that do not rely,
or rely only minimally, on server-side processing; some definitions
restrict static websites to applications that are free of JavaScript;
others embrace its use for complex client-side generation. While
static websites offer durability and ease of maintenance, they may
present limitations in functionality and scalability. We frame the
question of static publications within the discussion about minimal
computing in digital humanities and sustainability of research outputs
as a research data management practice.

This special issue will consist of short reports (1,000–2,000 words)
on practical experiences and lessons learned when developing,
maintaining, or refactoring digital editions and other types of
research outputs as static publications. Contributions may address
project-specific solutions, generic workflows, automation strategies,
institutional approaches, and more. Contributions from any
practitioner working on digital publication are welcome, regardless of
the stage or sophistication of the publication’s development. This
includes boutique, shoestring publications created by PhD students or
early-career researchers who may lack financial or technical support
and resources, as well as large-scale projects that rely on
institutional backing, development teams, practices, and
infrastructure. We encourage authors to make their code and data
related to their submission, or a sample of them, available in FAIR
compliant repositories (e.g., Zenodo) and link to it from their
article. While the emphasis is on hands-on reporting, reflective
position papers discussing the definitions, sustainability, and
technical or conceptual boundaries of “the static” are also welcome.
Reports may describe unpublished work as well as work that has been
published or presented elsewhere.

Paper submission
First, authors will submit a 500-word abstract through this form:
https://forms.gle/Kg5Fp1dfBfTn6jsi9. Five weeks later, they will
submit a first complete draft (1,000-2,00 words), followed by the
final draft four weeks after that. The papers will be published as a
thematic special issue in the Code4Lib journal approximately six
months after the abstract is submitted. All submissions will undergo
peer review by the guest editors and the editors of the journal to
ensure that all contributions align with the focus of the special
issue and meet the journal’s quality criteria.
For the complete guide on how to format the articles, please see:
https://journal.code4lib.org/article-guidelines.

Important dates

Abstract submission (500 words): 17.04.2026
First draft (1,000–2,000 words): 22.05.2026
Final draft (1,000–2,000 words): 19.06.2026
Publication: autumn 2026

Guest editors

Peter Dängeli (University of Bern)
Chiara Martignano (University of Padua)
Matteo Romanello (University of Zurich)
Elena Spadini (University of Bern)
Joris van Zundert (Huygens Institute)



-- 
Péter Király
software developer
GWDG, Göttingen - The Code4Lib Journal - QA Catalogue
https://linkedin.com/in/peterkiraly
https://journal.code4lib.org
https://pkiraly.github.io