Call for papers: Advancing scientific and clinical understanding of medical assistance in dying

• Proposal submission deadline: September 1, 2026
• Invitations for manuscripts: October 1, 2026
• Full manuscript deadline: March 1, 2027

• Thomas Joiner, PhD
• David Klonsky, PhD
• Marie Campione, MS
• Aidan Wright, PhD

Medical assistance in dying (MAID) is among the most complex, ethically charged, and rapidly evolving issues in contemporary health care and in society in general. Across jurisdictions worldwide, legislative changes have reshaped end-of-life care, prompting debate about autonomy, responsibilities to loved ones and to others, suffering, disability, mental illness, vulnerability, clinical responsibility, and the role of psychological science in assessment and decision making. Despite increasing availability and subsequent public discourse, significant gaps remain in our empirical understanding, theoretical integration, and evidence-based clinical guidance.

This special issue seeks to consolidate high-quality work about MAID that is clearly psychological in nature and reflects diverse perspectives, methodologies, disciplines, and geographic contexts. Its goal is to advance scientific clarity, productive discourse, and clinically meaningful guidance.

We recognize that MAID is a deeply polarizing topic. We, the editors, emphatically underscore our hope that this special issue reflects a wide range of perspectives—supportive, critical, and ambivalent ones alike.

We encourage submissions that are of an empirical nature and, importantly, also welcome conceptual and theoretical papers that meaningfully advance scientific and clinical understanding of MAID. Theory- and evidence-driven recommendations regarding MAID assessment, safeguards, and implementation are additionally encouraged.

Although the following goals may serve as a guide, they are not intended to restrict creativity. We welcome innovative work that advances rigorous, balanced, and clinically relevant scholarship and discourse.

Goal 1: Generate rigorous and pluralistic discourse

Potential topics include the following:

• Differentiating MAID from suicide and examining where overlap and divergence occur.
• Evaluating arguments for and against MAID in cases where the sole underlying condition is psychiatric.
• Addressing concerns regarding ableism, structural inequalities, and systemic marginalization.
• Reconciling nonmaleficence and MAID provision.
• Exploring the boundary between individual autonomy, responsibilities to others, and societal protection.

Goal 2: Expand the empirical evidence base

Potential topics include the following:

• Psychological attributes that are associated with specific patient, physician, and public attitudes toward MAID.
• Within-person variability in desire for death.
• Use of advanced statistical methods, machine learning, or mixed methods approaches to model predictors and outcomes.

Goal 3: Develop theory- and evidence-driven recommendations for practice and policy

Potential topics include the following:

• Best practices for evaluating voluntariness and informed consent.
• Safeguards to protect vulnerable populations.
• The utility, or lack thereof, of interdisciplinary collaboration in MAID evaluation.
• Recommendations for the time frame between MAID request and provision.
• Strategies for appropriately conversing with patients about MAID.
• Discussing the role that clinical psychologists could play in the MAID landscape.

Please submit an abstract (250 words or fewer) of a proposed submission through the journal portal by September 1, 2026. Do not send a completed manuscript without approval of the abstract. When submitting, please select the article type category “Letter of Intent for Special Issue/Section” in the Editorial Manager system. We will invite full submissions after a review of these proposals by October 1, 2026. Invited full-length submissions will be due March 1, 2027. All submissions for this special issue will go through the normal peer-review process, with no guarantee of acceptance. All submissions must comply with regular journal and APA policies as detailed on the journal website. In addition to publication in the journal, we will create a dedicated repository of special issue postprints with their associated materials on the Open Science Framework.