1.) Observations on risks, the social sciences, and unconventional hydrocarbons. --Terence J. Centner.

Short Communications
2.) Word choice matters: Comment on Stoutenborough et al., 2016, ‘Is “fracking” a new dirty word?’. --Darrick Evensen.
3.) A response to “Word choice matters: Comment on Stoutenborough et al., 2016, ‘Is “fracking” a new dirty word?’”. --James W. Stoutenborough, Scott E. Robinson, Arnold Vedlitz.

Public attitudes
4.) Scale matters: Variation in perceptions of shale gas development across national, state, and local levels. --Darrick Evensen, Rich Stedman.
5.) Quiet voices in the fracking debate: Ambivalence, nonmobilization, and individual action in two extractive communities (Saskatchewan and Pennsylvania). --Emily Eaton, Abby Kinchy.
6.) Fee disbursements and the local acceptance of unconventional gas development: Insights from Pennsylvania. --Naveed H. Paydar, Ashley Clark, John A. Rupp, John D. Graham.
7.) To frack or not to frack: Perceptions of the risks and opportunities of high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the United States. --Amanda Kreuze, Chelsea Schelly, Emma Norman.
8.) Is gas perceived as sustainable? Insights from value-driven evaluations in the Netherlands. --Goda Perlaviciute, Linda Steg, Elisabeth J. Hoekstra.

Governance and risks
9.) Looking through the prism of shale gas development: Towards a holistic framework for analysis. --Juan Roberto Lozano-Maya.
10.) Conceptualizing the above ground factors in shale gas: Toward a research agenda on regulatory governance. --Andreas Goldthau.
11.) Unconventional gas developments and the politics of risk and knowledge in Australia. --Martin Espig, Kim de Rijke.
12.) Unconventional risks: The experience of acute energy development in the Eagle Ford Shale. --Colter Ellis, Gene L. Theodori, Peggy Petrzelka, Douglas Jackson-Smith, A.E. Luloff.
13.) Who governs local hydrocarbon development? Evidence from the Marcellus Shale in the United States. --Genti Kostandini, Terence J. Centner.
14.) Universities in contentious energy debates—Science, democracy and coal seam gas in Australia. --Liz Hardie, Naomi Smith Devetak, Will Rifkin.
15.) Trusting in the future: The re-emergence of state trust funds in the shale era. --Barry G. Rabe, Rachel L. Hampton.
16.) US presidential candidates’ views on unconventional gas and oil: Who has it right?. --Darrick Evensen.

Comparative and European issues
17.) Shale gas extraction, precaution and prevention: A conversation on regulatory responses. --Ruven C. Fleming, Leonie Reins.
18.) Comparing the relationship between knowledge and support for hydraulic fracturing between residents of the United States and the United Kingdom. --Richard C. Stedman, Darrick Evensen, Sarah O’Hara, Mathew Humphrey.
19.) Delineating property rights in unconventional hydrocarbon resources: Concepts from the United States and Germany. --Dirk Hanschel, Terence Centner.
20.) Can the Polish shale gas dog still bark? Politics and policy of unconventional hydrocarbons in Poland. --Jakub M. Godzimirski.
21.) The evolution of shale gas development and energy security in Poland: Presenting a hierarchical choice of priorities. --Wiktor Adamus, Wojciech J. Florkowski.