Argumentation in Inter-Agent Communication Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems Argumentation in Inter-Agent Communication Issue Guest Edited by Chris Reed & Tim Norman Abstract Argumentation theory provides a rich source of inspiration for those working on the design of various components of agent interaction, communication, and coordination. Amongst those topics in argumentation that have already proved their worth in multi-agent systems are logics of dialogue, Hamblin-style semantics, dialogue types, their structure and embedding, and the notion of propositional commitment. This interdisciplinary research has led to computational systems with greater expressive power, flexibility, robustness, and concrete savings in computational cost. In the past year or so, the development of multi-agent systems drawing on argumentation theoretic concepts has actively involved members of the argumentation community, and collaboration between the two fields is starting to yield further substantial results. This special issue represents a forum for the best of this collaborative and interdisciplinary work, and solicits contributions to be drawn together into a key reference work which, supported by an extensive annotated bibliography and overview, will form a key reference work. Submissions Two types of submission are invited: Full Papers: Describing substantial, original work of outstanding quality. Research Notes: Describing, in under 2,000 words, work in progress representing research at the cutting edge. This submission category is provided to ensure that the special issue will accurately capture the state of the art. The review process for research notes, however, will be very stringent to guarantee that the final publication is of the highest quality. Submissions of both types should adhere to the usual requirements of the journal, available at www.wkap.nl/journalhome.htm/1387-2532, and should fall into the issue's areas of interest listed below. Areas of Interest The remit of the special issue is argumentation in inter-agent communication, which encompasses: Agent Communication Languages (ACLs) with syntax and semantics drawing on argumentation theory and informal logic, including, for example, commitment- based approaches to ACLs. Formal accounts of specific dialogue types and their interaction. Implemented multi-agent systems employing argumentation in their communication language, and empirical results of such systems. The role of argumentation and dialectics in ACL standardization. The editors also encourage submission of work focusing upon theoretical aspects of argumentation and informal logic, as applicable in multi-agent systems. Deadlines For Full Papers, the deadline for submissions is 30 June, 2001 For Research Notes, the deadline for submissions is 30 September, 2001 Submissions and enquiries should be directed to one of the guest editors: Dr C A Reed Department of Applied Computing University of Dundee Dundee DD1 4HN Scotland Tel. (+44)(0)1382 348083 Fax. (+44)(0)1382 345509 email chris@computing.dundee.ac.uk www.computing.dundee.ac.uk/staff/creed/ Dr T J Norman Department of Computing Science University of Aberdeen Aberdeen AB24 3UE Scotland Tel. (+44)(0)1224 272284 Fax. (+44)(0)1224 273422 email tnorman@csd.abdn.ac.uk www.csd.abdn.ac.uk/~tnorman/ Last updated 06 Nov 2000 Chris Reed