For the first time, the editors of the World Happiness Report have issued an open call for expressions of interest to contribute to the world’s foremost publication on global happiness.

If you, or someone you know, would like to publish your research as a chapter in the 2025 World Happiness Report, please read on to understand the process.

Background

The World Happiness Report is the world’s foremost publication on global wellbeing and human progress, reflecting a worldwide demand for more attention on happiness as the basis for government policy. Each year, the report highlights the state of happiness in the world and shows how the science of wellbeing explains personal and national variations in happiness.

The report is a partnership of Gallup, the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the Editorial Board.

Since the first report in 2012, editors have invited a select group of academics and researchers to contribute a handful of curated chapters on a wide range of topics related to the science of wellbeing.

Now, for the first time, the report’s editors are issuing an open call for chapter proposals and we’re excited to receive expressions of interest from wellbeing researchers around the world.

Theme

The theme for the 2025 report is Caring and Sharing.

Over the past decade, the World Happiness Report has consistently highlighted the importance of benevolence, empathy, and trust as key drivers of personal and national happiness. The 2025 report will explore changing trends in social norms and values around the world and the consequent effects on happiness and wellbeing.

Suggested topics include (but are not limited to):

• Trends in virtuous behaviour (empathy, benevolence, charitable giving, volunteering etc.)
• Changes in social norms and values across age groups and other demographics
• Attitudes to sharing across different social identities (family, community, nation etc.)
• The effects of technology on social norms and values
• Exploring concepts of collective and community wellbeing
• How wellbeing is influenced by the positive and/or negative information shared through media and social networks

Chapters with a global focus will be encouraged to incorporate prominent international datasets such as the Gallup World Poll and the Global Flourishing Study.

Instructions

• Proposals should be limited to one A4 page and submitted as a PDF file.
• Proposals must be submitted by Friday, 31 May via this form.
• We encourage applications from qualified researchers with an ORCID iD.
• Focused review pieces will be considered, even if they do not include novel research.
• We will not consider proposals that have already been published or are being considered for publication elsewhere.

Key dates

• 31 May: Deadline for chapter proposals
• 28 Jun: Editors request detailed outlines from short-listed candidates
• 26 Jul: Short-listed candidates submit detailed outlines
• 20 Dec: Selected authors submit final versions of their chapters
• 20 Mar: Publication of the 2025 World Happiness Report online and a series of international launch events

Contact us

If you have any questions or need a deadline extension, please contact the Production Editor, Barry Grimes, at barry.grimes@hmc.ox.ac.uk.