Special Issue Guidelines

Special Issue articles should fulfil all the normal requirements of any individual and should be of relevance to a wide international and multidisciplinary readership. Authors should note that the same criteria of quality, originality, and significance apply to articles in Special Issues as to regular articles. Special Issue articles must not consist of overviews of the authors' previously published work e.g. peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, official reports etc. 

Initial proposal and agreement in principle

All Special Issues must receive initial approval from the Senior Editorial Board before the papers are submitted. Proposals should be emailed to the Editors in Chief at contact@manuscriptscientific.com There are two formats proposals can take:

1. A detailed formal proposal which includes the titles and abstracts of the proposed articles. This proposal format must contain:

• The title of the Special Issue.
• A brief CV of the proposed Guest Editors (usually no more than three).
• A statement of the Special Issue’s significance for a particular Journal and a draft introduction if possible.
• Titles and draft abstracts of each of the proposed articles and any draft papers that are available. Preferably, there should be at least 18 proposed articles to allow for possible rejections.
• Brief details of contributors.
• An outline timetable.

2. A proposal for a Special Issue Call for Papers. This proposal format must contain:

• The title of the Special Issue.
• A brief CV of the proposed Guest Editors (usually no more than three).
• A statement of the Special Issue’s significance for a particular Journal, and the likely content to be covered.
• A draft of the Call for Papers. The Office of the Editors in Chief (contact@manuscriptscientific.com) can be contacted for guidance and examples of previous Calls for Papers.
• An outline timetable.

The Senior Editorial team will consider whether the initial proposal is of interest to the journal and the proposed Guest Editors will be informed whether or not it will be granted agreement in principle to proceed. The Editors in Chief will then appoint one of Journal’s Senior Editors to assume responsibility for the sponsorship of a Special Issue.  Guest Editors are expected to oversee the peer review process for the Special Issue but final acceptance approval for each paper will be given by the sponsoring Senior Editor.

The Senior Editor and Guest Editors will point liaise directly with each other regarding progress of the Special Issue and any queries that arise throughout the process. In cases where a Call for Papers is issued, the Editors in Chief will liaise with the Guest Editors and the Sponsoring Editor to finalise and release the Call for Papers as widely as possible. Guest Editors will also be given full support and guidance regarding the use of the online submission and reviewing system used by the Journal.

3. The review process and editorial procedure

For the detailed formal proposal (type 1 above):
After agreement in principle, the Guest Editors consider the articles and, when they are happy that they meet the appropriate standard of quality, originality, and significance, instruct the authors to submit their papers via Journal’s online submission system. Guest Editors should make it clear to authors that being invited to submit a paper is not a guarantee of its publication. Authors should submit their papers to the appropriate Special Issue, from a dropdown menu within the system, when asked during the submission process.  The submitted papers will then be available within the online system for the Guest Editors to send out for double blind peer review. Sponsoring Editors are available to assist should there be any doubt about a course of action to take.

For proposals for a Special Issue Call for Papers (type 2 above):
• As submissions for the Special Issue arrive directly from Authors in the online submission and review system, the Guest Editors will be able to access these and assess whether each paper is in scope for the Special Issue. The paper will then either be rejected or should be sent out for peer review.  If a paper does not meet the criteria required for the Special Issue Guest Editors may reject papers without them having been sent for external peer review. Sponsoring Editors are available to assist should there be any doubt about a course of action to take.
For all Special Issue types please note that:

• The Senior Editor may wish to take a first look at all papers submitted to a Special Issue and can reject papers without review on the basis of quality, originality, or significance, or ask for further revisions to be made prior to review.
• The double blind peer review of each paper is carried out in the normal manner via the journal’s online submission and peer review system by the Guest Editor. Once reviews are returned the Guest Editor will need to take a provisional decision and this will be communicated to the Sponsoring Editorial Office for their confirmation of decision. Should the Sponsoring Editorial Office not agree with the acceptance decision proposed, the Guest Editor may appeal at this point if wished.
• As articles start to be accepted the Guest Editors will be prompted to start preparing an introductory article (which will be original and not previously published) to be submitted no later than 2 weeks after the acceptance of the last article in the issue.  This introduction should set the scene and provide the premise for the special issue referencing the articles included within.
• It should be noted that during the review process, the sponsoring Senior Editor can reject individual papers, or, in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief, the Special Issue as a whole, if it does not meet quality standards. If fewer articles than anticipated are accepted, a part-Special Issue may be proposed by the Senior Editor, or a grouped publication of articles without an introduction.
• As each article is accepted it will be published and be citable on ‘Manuscript Scientific’ as an Article in Press until the full Special Issue is accepted and complete. Authors will be sent proofs to check during this time.
• The Editors-in-Chief will adjudicate on any disagreements that arise during the editorial process.

General information

Length
As a general guide, a full Special Issue should comprise of approximately 15-20 articles. Where the review process results in fewer articles than this a part-Special Issue or Special Section can be published.

Timetable
Authors should work to clear deadlines set by the Guest Editors and Senior Editors, and be made aware that if they miss deadlines for submission, revisions or return of proofs then their papers may be excluded from the Special Issue so as not to disadvantage other authors.

Promotion and Ordering of Copies
We are always interested to hear of any society meetings or research groups which are relevant to the theme of a specific Special Issue. Occasionally it may be possible to arrange for promotional leaflets to be sent to such meetings if plenty of notice is given. Please note that the Publisher does not routinely generate Special Issue flyers nor does it print extra copies Special Issues unless specifically agreed with the Publisher.