Catch a Liar: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

  • 11k

    Total Downloads

  • 129k

    Total Views and Downloads

Submit your idea

Select the journal/section where you want your idea to be submitted:

Submit your manuscript summarySubmit your manuscript

About this Research Topic

Submission closed

Background

Lying is popular in daily life, and it appeared at the very beginning of human history. It involves an intentional effort to generate false information or to actively conceal the truth. As we can tell from the stories about lying or deception that are told in many of the ancient Chinese historic books, people have been deceiving each other since the very beginning of human history. However, it does not necessarily make us good at it. As a result, all kinds of techniques have been developed to detect deception, which also makes lie detection an important aspect in criminal justice system and in real-world counter-terrorism efforts.

Emotions always accompany deception. Liars will experience fear, anxiety, guilt, and/or happiness which can result in differences in emotional cues - microexpressions. Microexpression is a brief and subtle facial movement which usually lasts for from 1/25 to 1/5 of a second revealing an emotion a person is trying to conceal. The face will leak the concealed emotion while people trying to suppress their strongly felt emotions. The leaked emotions, i.e., microexpression, will appear very fleetingly. The fact that it cannot be suppressed makes the facial microexpression the most truthful part of the body. Therefore, recognizing microexpression can be a reliable method to detect lie which is pursuit by many researchers.

Considering the close relationship between microexpression and deception (lying about the true felt emotions), in this Research Topic we will mainly focus on the application of microexpression in the field of deception detection, as well as its underlying mechanisms. This approach is so-called emotion-based deception detection, which suggest that people who are better at recognizing microexpressions will have an advantage in deception detection. However, there are many questions not clearly answered about the application of microexpression in the field of deception detection. For example, how can people detect the fleeting microexpressions? Does microexpressions recognition ability facilitate deception detection? Can training in facial microexpression recognition improve efficiency of deception detection? Are there impacts of moderator variables (such as empathy, age, sex, occupation) on the microexpression recognition and deception detection? Can we unconsciously detect deception and microexpression by using body movements as an indicator? What are the patterns of brain activities while recognizing microexpression (it is closely related to lie) and detecting deception?

This Research Topic welcome empirical studies to establish the effectiveness and efficacy for linking microexpressions to deception. All kinds of research to fulfill this aim from the field of psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and computer science are suitable for this collection. Besides the efforts from psychology and cognitive neuroscience, computer vision has showed considerable interest in the field of microexpression recognition and deception detection. To justify the application of microexpression in deception detection we need more evidence from all kinds of related discipline to fill the gap between knowledge (e.g., recognition of microexpressions filmed in real life situations) and deception detection.

This Research Topic will strengthen the collaboration between researchers whose main area of expertise are psychology, cognitive neuroscience and researchers whose expertise is in computer vision. We hope to establish a more conclusive connection between microexpressions and deception through the co-work of researchers in the related areas.

Keywords: Microexpression, Nonverbal cues, Deception detection, Computer Vision, Cognitive Neuroscience

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

Topic editors

Frequently asked questions

  • Frontiers' Research Topics are collaborative hubs built around an emerging theme.Defined, managed, and led by renowned researchers, they bring communities together around a shared area of interest to stimulate collaboration and innovation.

    Unlike section journals, which serve established specialty communities, Research Topics are pioneer hubs, responding to the evolving scientific landscape and catering to new communities.

  • The goal of Frontiers' publishing program is to empower research communities to actively steer the course of scientific publishing. Our program was implemented as a three-part unit with fixed field journals, flexible specialty sections, and dynamically emerging Research Topics, connecting communities of different sizes and maturity.

    Research Topics originate from the scientific community. Many of our Research Topics are suggested by existing editorial board members who have identified critical challenges or areas of interest in their field.

  • As an editor, Research Topics will help you build your journal, as well as your community, around emerging, cutting-edge research. As research trailblazers, Research Topics attract high-quality submissions from leading experts all over the world.

    A thriving Research Topic can potentially evolve into a new specialty section if there is sustained interest and a growing community around it.

  • Each Research Topic must be approved by the specialty chief editor, and they fall under the editorial oversight of our editorial boards, supported by our in-house research integrity team. The same standards and rigorous peer review processes apply to articles published as part of a Research Topic as for any other article we publish.

      In 2023, 80% of the Research Topics we published were edited or co-edited by our editorial board members, who are already familiar with their journal's scope, ethos, and publishing model. All other topics are guest edited by leaders in their field, each vetted and formally approved by the specialty chief editor.

  • Publishing your article within a Research Topic with other related articles increases its discoverability and visibility, which can lead to more views, downloads, and citations. Research Topics grow dynamically as more published articles are added, causing frequent revisiting, and further visibility.

    As Research Topics are multidisciplinary, they are cross-listed in several fields and section journals – increasing your reach even more and giving you the chance to expand your network and collaborate with researchers in different fields, all focusing on expanding knowledge around the same important topic.

    Our larger Research Topics are also converted into ebooks and receive social media promotion from our digital marketing team.

     

  • Frontiers offers multiple article types, but it will depend on the field and section journals in which the Research Topic will be featured. The available article types for a Research Topic will appear in the drop-down menu during the submission process.

    Check available article types here 

  • Yes, we would love to hear your ideas for a topic. Most of our Research Topics are community-led and suggested by researchers in the field. Our in-house editorial team will contact you to talk about your idea and whether you’d like to edit the topic. If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. 

    Suggest your topic here 

  • A team of guest editors (called topic editors) lead their Research Topic. This editorial team oversees the entire process, from the initial topic proposal to calls for participation, the peer review, and final publications.

    The team may also include topic coordinators, who help the topic editors send calls for participation, liaise with topic editors on abstracts, and support contributing authors. In some cases, they can also be assigned as reviewers.

  • As a topic editor (TE), you will take the lead on all editorial decisions for the Research Topic, starting with defining its scope. This allows you to curate research around a topic that interests you, bring together different perspectives from leading researchers across different fields and shape the future of your field. 

     

    You will choose your team of co-editors, curate a list of potential authors, send calls for participation and oversee the peer review process, accepting or recommending rejection for each manuscript submitted.

  • As a topic editor, you're supported at every stage by our in-house team. You will be assigned a single point of contact to help you on both editorial and technical matters. Your topic is managed through our user-friendly online platform, and the peer review process is supported by our industry-first AI review assistant (AIRA).

  • If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. This provides you with valuable editorial experience, improving your ability to critically evaluate research articles and enhancing your understanding of the quality standards and requirements for scientific publishing, as well as the opportunity to discover new research in your field, and expand your professional network.

  • Yes, certificates can be issued on request. We are happy to provide a certificate for your contribution to editing a successful Research Topic.

  • Research Topics thrive on collaboration and their multi-disciplinary approach around emerging, cutting-edge themes, attract leading researchers from all over the world.

  • As a topic editor, you can set the timeline for your Research Topic, and we will work with you at your pace. Typically, Research Topics are online and open for submissions within a few weeks and remain open for participation for 6 – 12 months. Individual articles within a Research Topic are published as soon as they are ready.

    Find out more about our Research Topics

  • Our fee support program ensures that all articles that pass peer review, including those published in Research Topics, can benefit from open access – regardless of the author's field or funding situation.

    Authors and institutions with insufficient funding can apply for a discount on their publishing fees. A fee support application form is available on our website.

  • In line with our mission to promote healthy lives on a healthy planet, we do not provide printed materials. All our articles and ebooks are available under a CC-BY license, so you can share and print copies.

     

Impact

  • 129kTopic views
  • 115kArticle views
  • 11kArticle downloads
View impact