We kindly invite scholars to submit their original work to the Special Issue on AI in Negotiation: Theory, Evidence, and Practice hosted by the Negotiation and Conflict Management Research.
Call for Papers
Special Issue of the Negotiation and Conflict Management Research
AI in NEGOTIATION: Theory, Evidence, and Practice
Artificial intelligence now shapes how negotiations are prepared, conducted, and evaluated. Are negotiation theory, practice, and pedagogy ready? This special issue seeks rigorous work on how negotiation theory and practice should evolve to integrate AI responsibly. We welcome research on mechanisms (information asymmetry, trust, value creation/claiming), human-AI teaming and autonomous agents, and ethics and governance (transparency, accountability, fairness). Submissions (theoretical, empirical, methodological, or pedagogical) should propose practical implications, boundary conditions, and, where feasible, follow open and reproducible practices.
Overview
AI is changing who or what participates in negotiation, how proposals are generated and evaluated, and how agreements are monitored. These shifts raise unresolved questions about validity (what counts as a “good” outcome), agency and responsibility in human-AI constellations, and appropriate disclosure and oversight. This special issue of Negotiation and Conflict Management Research (NCMR) seeks work that clarifies these questions and develops standards, methods, and policies that align AI-enabled negotiation with professional and societal norms-building cumulative knowledge that informs practice and pedagogy.
Scope and Objectives
We welcome submissions that delineate the when, where, and how of AI in negotiation across various settings. We invite work that sharpens concepts, strengthens inference, and improves evaluation, across individual, team, organizational, platform, and international levels. Submissions may be conceptual, empirical, methodological, or pedagogical, provided they:
- Specify the negotiation setting and AI role (decision support, co-pilot, autonomous agent) and state clear boundary conditions.
- Define constructs and outcomes (e.g., substance, process, relationship) and defend measurement choices.
- Use transparent, reproducible methods (e.g., documented data, code, logging/protocols) appropriate to the design.
- Address ethics and governance (e.g., disclosure, accountability, safety) as relevant to the research question.
- Articulate actionable implications for theory, practice, and pedagogy.
Interdisciplinary perspectives are encouraged (e.g., computer science, law, economics, organizational behavior, psychology, political science, ethics).
Potential Topics
The following examples illustrate the breadth of questions suitable for this special issue. They are illustrative, not exhaustive: submissions may address adjacent topics, introduce new constructs or benchmarks, or challenge prevailing assumptions, provided they advance cumulative knowledge about AI in negotiation.
- Foundations and mechanisms – Identify how AI reshapes information asymmetry, power, trust, and value creation/claiming and specify when these effects help or harm outcomes.
- Human-AI negotiations – Compare human-only, human-AI, and agent–agent negotiations; map complementarities, substitution effects, role allocation, and accountability.
- Agents, simulation, and design – Use multi-agent environments to test mechanisms and protocols; establish calibration methods linking simulated results to human behavior.
- Data, measures, and benchmarks – Create/shared datasets, logging schemas, and benchmark tasks (e.g., offer design, scoring, deception detection) with validity and reliability evidence.
- Methods and evaluation – Run field/experimental studies that assess substance, process, relationship, and legitimacy; include replications, negative results, and causal designs.
- Ethics, safety, and governance – Propose disclosure norms, auditability, and safeguards against manipulation, bias, and privacy risks; align organizational and sectoral standards.
- Pedagogy and assessment – Develop AI-enabled training and scalable feedback/assessment tools; evaluate effects on learning, equity, and instructor practice.
Submissions may also propose standards (datasets, protocols, checklists), tooling for reproducible research, or policy/practice frameworks that enable cumulative progress in the field.
Editors
- Remi Smolinski – HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management – remigiusz.smolinski@hhl.de
- Peter Kesting – Aarhus University – petk@mgmt.au.dk
For further inquiries, please contact any member of the editorial team.
Submission Guidelines
We anticipate one or more paper-development workshops aligned with this Special Issue. One is already scheduled at the INTRA Conference at IÉSEG School of Management in April 2026, and an AI Negotiation stream will be integrated into the IACM Annual Conference in Vienna. Additional opportunities will be announced. Participation in any PDW or stream is neither a requirement for submission nor a guarantee of special consideration. Our aim is to convene like-minded scholars for collegial reflection and constructive feedback that helps shape stronger papers.
Authors should submit their manuscripts through the NCMR online submission system. Please ensure that your submission adheres to the Journal’s formatting and style guidelines.
We eagerly anticipate your submissions and the opportunity to advance the dialogue on AI in negotiation.
Timeline
- Call for Papers issued – November 2025
- Submission of abstracts for the paper development workshop at INTRA Conference at IESEG School of Management – February 2026
- Paper development workshop at INTRA Conference – April 9, 2026
- AI negotiation stream at IACM in Vienna – July 5-8, 2026
- Paper submission deadline – September 30, 2026
- Peer review process – October-December 2026
- Decision notification – December 2026
- R&R and publication processes – 2027