CALL FOR PAPERS IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG) "Visual Analytics" Special Issue in Late 2006 IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics seeks original manuscripts for a Special Issue on Visual Analytics, scheduled to appear in late 2006. Visual Analytics is the science of analytical reasoning supported by the highly interactive visual interface. People use visual analytics tools and techniques to synthesize information; derive insight from massive, dynamic, and often conflicting data; detect the expected and discover the unexpected; provide timely, defensible, and understandable assessments; and communicate assessments effectively for action. The issues stimulating this body of research provide a grand challenge in science: turning information overload into the opportunity of the decade. Visual analytics requires interdisciplinary science beyond traditional scientific and information visualization to include statistics, mathematics, knowledge representation, management and discovery technologies, cognitive and perceptual sciences, decision sciences, and more. An important research agenda to develop the next generation suite of visual analytics technologies is available at http://nvac.pnl.gov/agenda.stm . Contributions to the special issue should help develop and/or apply the science of Visual Analytics, clearly showing an interdisciplinary approach. Topics of interest for this special issue include, but are not limited to: * Science of analytical reasoning including the human analytic discourse, sensemaking methods, perception and cognition, and collaborative visual analytics * Science of visual representations and interaction techniques including the principles for depicting information, the science of interaction, new visual paradigms, and novel systems and approaches for generating visual analytic visualization and interactions. * Data representation and transformations including scalable data signatures through statistical and semantic approaches for information (text, imagery, video, Web, ), synthesis of diverse information and data signatures within a high dimensional information space(s) for discovery of relationships, and mixed initiative systems. * Methods and tools for capturing the analytics process, producing unwrappable information packages, and story telling for specific and widely varying audiences. * Methods/tools for evaluation, security & privacy, interoperability, and technology insertion practice/experience. Papers for this special issue will be chosen from the submissions whether they are unpublished results or previously included in conference publications. Extended versions of previous conference publications should contain at least 30% new material. Copies of any previous published work affiliated with the new submission must also be included as supportive documentation upon submission. Prospective authors can access our complete submission guidelines by clicking on htp://computer.org.tvcg/author_new.htm. Please submit your manuscript using Manuscript Central at http://cs-ieee.manuscriptcentral.com/. Please feel free to contact the Peer Review Supervisor, Suzanne Werner at swerner@computer.org or the Guest Editors. Important dates: Submission Deadline: 28 Nov 2005 Completion of Minor Revision Reviews: 8-May-06 Publication Materials Due: 19-May-06 Publication: Late 2006 issue Please address all other correspondence regarding this special issue to the Guest Editors: Jim Thomas National Visualization and Analytics Center Jim.thomas@pnl.gov Daniel Keim Universitdt Konstanz keim@inf.uni-konstanz.de George Robertson Microsoft ggr@microsoft.com Jarke van Wijk Technische Universiteit Eindhoven vanwijk@win.tue.nl