Call for papers: Special Issue “Spatial Analytics for COVID-19 Studies” by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global threat that has led to many health, economic, and social challenges. The spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) that caused the COVID-19 pandemic is inherently a spatial process. Therefore, geospatial data, algorithms, models, tools, and platforms play an irreplaceable role in providing situational awareness that benefits decision making. The notable advances in Geographical Information Sciences (GIScience) have encouraged the incorporation of spatial analytics into various epidemiological studies over the past decade.

In this Special Issue, we focus on the development and application of advanced spatial analytics towards understanding the transmission and impacts of COVID-19. We invite contributions that address this general topic from a broad spectrum of data sources (public health, economics, socio-demographics, social media, mobile phone data, transportation records, surveys, etc.) and via a variety of spatial analytics including (but not limited to) spatial statistics, agent-based simulation, digital contact tracing, case forecasting, disease transmission modeling, geo-aware analysis, spatiotemporal prediction, intelligent algorithms (i.e., machine learning and deep learning), and big data analytics. We also welcome studies that produce, design, and develop shareable COVID-19 modeling-related data, online visualization/analytical platforms, and reusable analytical tools, packages, and models.

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2300 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI’s English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.