Special issues are published under the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief. Every article in a special issue is governed by the rules of the journal, including its Peer Review Policy, its publication ethics policy and its plagiarism policy. Guest editors act under delegation and hold no authority to depart from those rules.
Selection of guest editors
Guest editors are selected by the Editor-in-Chief. A guest editor holds a doctorate or an equivalent record of scholarly publication and has an established record in the subject of the issue. The Editor-in-Chief verifies the affiliation, the academic title and the publication record before appointment. The guest editors of each issue are named on the issue page with their affiliation.
Proposals
A proposal for a special issue states the theme, its relation to the aims and scope of the journal, the intended contributors and the calendar. The Editor-in-Chief approves the proposal before any invitation is sent.
Supervision
The Editor-in-Chief, or an editorial board member designated for the issue, supervises the guest editors throughout. The supervising editor approves the list of invited contributors, has access to the review file of every manuscript, and approves the final table of contents. The Editor-in-Chief may decline any manuscript proposed for publication in a special issue.
Peer review
Research articles submitted to a special issue undergo the same external peer review as research articles submitted outside a special issue, on the terms set out in the Peer Review Policy. An invitation to contribute does not guarantee publication.
Submissions by guest editors, editors and board members
A manuscript authored or co-authored by a guest editor, an editor or an editorial board member is assigned to an independent handling editor with no connection to the manuscript. Neither the author nor a guest editor of the issue takes part in the selection of reviewers or in the decision.
Manuscripts authored or co-authored by the guest editors of an issue may not exceed 25 per cent of the research articles in that issue.
Conflicts of interest
Guest editors, editors and reviewers declare any relationship with an author that would compromise an independent assessment, including a shared institution, a co-authorship in the preceding three years, a supervisory relationship and any financial interest. A declared conflict leads to reassignment.
Contributors disclose the source of any funding for the work, and the disclosure appears on the article page.
Labeling
Every article published in a special issue names the issue and its guest editors.
