We are pleased to announce a new Research Topic associated with CARMA in Frontiers in Sustainability, within the journal’s Circular Economy section:

Circular Economy and Sustainability in the Data Age

AI, Big Data, and Computational Methods for Measuring and Accelerating the Transition

The transition towards a circular economy requires reliable methods to observe, measure and assess changes in business practices, consumption, labour markets, material flows and public policy. At the same time, artificial intelligence, large language models, machine learning and new digital data sources are expanding the methodological tools available to sustainability researchers.

This Research Topic brings these two areas together and welcomes studies that use data-intensive and computational methods to examine circular economy and sustainability. It originates from two complementary event series: CARMA, the International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics and the Symposium on Circular Economy and Sustainability. Authors who presented at either event are encouraged to submit substantially extended versions of their work. Nevertheless, the call is open to all researchers and is not restricted to conference participants.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Measuring and indexing circularity using composite indicators, ESG measures and alternative data
• Large language models, natural language processing and text analysis applied to circular economy discourse and behaviour
• Google Trends, search-engine and social-media data for monitoring sustainable consumption, demand and attitudes
• Web-scraped data, professional platforms and online job advertisements for analysing green skills and labour demand
• Bibliometric, scientometric and topic-modelling studies of circular economy research
• Causal machine learning and machine-learning econometrics for evaluating sustainability and circular economy policies
• Data-driven public policy, e-government and smart-city applications
• Nowcasting material flows, sustainable consumption and other dimensions of the circular transition
• Data quality, validation, reproducibility and interpretability in computational sustainability research
• Algorithmic fairness and the responsible use of artificial intelligence in sustainability research

The Research Topic welcomes several types of contributions, including Original Research, Methods, Reviews, Systematic Reviews, Brief Research Reports, Data Reports, Perspectives, and policy- or practice-oriented articles. All submissions must fall within the scope of Frontiers in Sustainability and will be subject to the journal’s peer-review process. Publication fees apply to accepted articles.

The Topic Editors are:

• Pavlos Fafalios, Technical University of Crete
• Josep Domènech, Universitat Politècnica de València
• Georgios Tsironis, ETH Zurich

Manuscript submission deadline: 9 February 2027

Read the complete call for papers and submit your manuscript

We are pleased to announce a new Article Collection associated with CARMA in the Journal of Applied Economics:

Beyond Conventional Frameworks: AI and Internet Data Reshaping Applied Economics

The Collection welcomes original applied-economics research that uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and internet-based data to address economic questions. Submissions developed from research presented at CARMA are particularly encouraged, although the call is open to all researchers.

Relevant topics include:

• Machine learning econometrics and causal machine learning
• Large Language Models and generative AI in economics
• Natural Language Processing and text-based economic indicators
• Google Trends and search-engine data
• Social media analytics and opinion mining
• Web scraping and online content analysis
• Financial markets analysis and prediction
• Labour-market and skills intelligence
• Consumer behaviour and sentiment from digital traces
• Sustainability, ESG and development indicators
• Official statistics enhanced with web data and AI
• Tourism, mobility and urban economics
• Algorithmic fairness and responsible AI
• Digital platforms, data-economy governance and regulation
• Inequality, the digital divide and gender in digital contexts

The Guest Advisors are Lisa Crosato, Caterina Liberati, Josep Domènech and Konstantinos P. Tsagarakis.

Manuscript submission deadline: 20 April 2027

Authors submitting to the Collection should select:

1. Beyond Conventional Frameworks: AI and Internet Data Reshaping Applied Economics as the Article Collection; and
2. Innovation Economics as the journal section.

A 10% publication discount is available to all CARMA participants. Contact us at carmaconf@upv.es to receive it. The code must be entered during submission and cannot be applied retrospectively.

All manuscripts will undergo the journal’s standard desk assessment and peer-review process.

Read the full call for papers and submission information

We’re excited to announce that all the photos from the CARMA 2026 conference are now available!

From keynote presentations and parallel sessions to social activities and memorable moments with participants, the gallery captures the highlights of this year’s conference:

https://gallery.carmaconf.org/carma2026

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to making CARMA 2026 such a rewarding event. We hope these photos bring back great memories—feel free to share your favorites with colleagues and on social media!

Check out the gallery and stay tuned for CARMA 2027 in Crete!

CARMA 2026 is pleased to announce the four tutorials that will be offered as part of the 8th International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics, which will take place in Valencia, Spain, from 1 to 3 July 2026. The conference focuses on AI, Internet data and computational methods in economics and the social sciences.

The tutorial program brings together practical and methodological sessions for researchers, doctoral students, data scientists and practitioners interested in advanced research methods, AI-driven analysis and data-intensive approaches.

Tutorial 1: Getting an h-index of 100 in 20 years or less!

This tutorial, presented by Prof. Eamonn Keogh, discusses the h-index, its limitations, and the factors that influence research visibility and citation impact. The session will address topics such as the Matthew Effect, making research outputs more reusable and findable, choosing publication venues, open access, networking and responsible strategies for increasing academic impact. The tutorial is especially relevant for doctoral students, early-career researchers and senior academics who mentor junior colleagues.

More information here.

Tutorial 2: Interactive Workshop on Applied Time Series Forecasting

This four-hour workshop, led by Dr. Dominik Heinisch and Benedikt Lugauer from Lidl Data & AI, offers an applied introduction to time series forecasting in energy analytics. The session will cover classical forecasting methods, robust baselines, evaluation schemes, real-world data challenges and recent time series foundation models. It will also include a hands-on coding component focused on hindcasting, counterfactual analysis and predictive forecasting.

More information here.

Tutorial 3: Using LLMs for Constructing Quantitative Indicators from Text

This tutorial, presented by Xavier Martínez-Barbero, introduces a reproducible framework for building quantitative indicators from textual data using Large Language Models. Participants will learn how to structure a measurement pipeline that includes text preprocessing, segmentation, rubric-based prompt design, LLM-based scoring, reliability and validity assessment, human expert benchmarking and calibration. The session is designed for researchers interested in text-based measurement and AI-supported empirical research.

More information here.

Tutorial 4: Causal Random Forests: Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects with Machine Learning

This tutorial, presented by Eugeni Gil-Ocaña and Prof. Ana García-Bernabeu, focuses on causal machine learning and the estimation of heterogeneous treatment effects. It will introduce the potential outcomes framework, identification assumptions, Conditional Average Treatment Effects, Robinson decomposition, honest sample splitting and the Generalized Random Forests framework. The tutorial will also include a hands-on session using Python and the EconML package.

More information here.

A broad and practical tutorial program

Together, the four tutorials reflect the methodological scope of CARMA 2026: research assessment and academic impact, forecasting and business analytics, LLM-based measurement, and causal inference with machine learning. They provide an opportunity for participants to strengthen their methodological skills and engage with applied tools that are increasingly relevant across economics, business, public policy and the social sciences.

We are pleased to announce that the proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics (CARMA 2025) are now available.

The volume gathers all accepted contributions presented at the conference held on 2–4 July 2025 at Roma Tre University (Rome, Italy), bringing together researchers working on Internet data, Big Data, and advanced analytical methods in economics and social sciences.

All papers included in the proceedings have undergone a rigorous peer-review process and are published with DOI identifiers, ensuring accessibility and visibility in international academic databases.

📘 You can access the full proceedings here:
https://doi.org/10.4995/CARMA2025.2025.20548

CARMA continues to serve as a reference forum for interdisciplinary research on topics such as machine learning, NLP, digital economy, social media analytics, and policy applications of Big Data.

Due to numerous requests, the submission deadline for CARMA 2026 has been extended to March 13, 2026! Don’t miss to present your research at CARMA, taking place from July 1-3, 2026, in Valencia, Spain.

Key Dates:

• New Submission Deadline: March 13, 2026
• Acceptance Notification: April 28, 2026
• Camera-Ready Deadline: May 22, 2026

Submit your work via the submission platform and join us in shaping the future of social sciences research!

We are pleased to announce that the official website for the 8th International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics (CARMA 2026) is now online.

📅 1–3 July 2026
📍 Valencia, Spain
🌐 https://carmaconf.org

CARMA 2026 will bring together researchers and practitioners in economics and social sciences to discuss the latest advances in AI, Internet Data, and Computational Methods. The conference will feature sessions on Large Language Models (LLMs), causal machine learning, data governance, and digital transformation, among many others.

Explore the website to find the conference themes, important dates, and submission guidelines, and stay tuned for updates about keynote speakers, special sessions, and publication opportunities.