Science, Interrupted takes as its organizing question, ‘What happens to science that is abruptly cut short?’ Our focus is on maximizing the value of prematurely terminated studies and understanding the epidemiologic, methodological, and ethical challenges they present. We are concerned about the following implications of interrupting science: ethics, loss of knowledge, and impacts on the human resources required for a scientific and public health enterprise. Of particular interest is the impact of funding loss and external disruptions on longitudinal cohorts, randomized controlled trials, and other population-based studies. 

We welcome submissions that describe methods, early results, and practical as well as ethical implications of cutting research short.

This special issue provides a venue to capture, in a rigorous and objective way, the impacts of interrupting science on knowledge generation and on health. It also seeks to mitigate the harms that will undoubtedly accrue to research participants, researchers, and the development of knowledge to improve health.

If you are exploring the ethical dimensions of the mass-scale interruption of public health science, or if you led or were part of a study that was discontinued and could be relevant to this issue or an accompanying podcast, please consider submitting and encourage your colleagues to do so as well. Submission deadline is July 31, 2026.

To learn more about the special issue and instructions for submission: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/annals-of-epidemiology/about/call-for-papers, or feel free to reach out directly at LMLee@vt.edu.

Annals of Epidemiology is the official publication of the American College of Epidemiology, published monthly by Elsevier. A peer reviewed, international journal devoted to epidemiologic research and methodological development, the journal has a CiteScore of 5.6 and an Impact Factor of 3.0.