Special Issue

Special issues are meant to supplement a journal regular issues by focusing on topics that may be under-researched or leading-edge developments in the field that require attention. It is important that the theme of a special issue and its constituent papers form a coherent narrative while staying relevant to the scope of the publishing journal. Papers considered for publishing in a special issue tend to be of very high-quality, usually authored by renowned experts in the field. Editors must take extra measures to guarantee that the selected papers are up to par.

A request to start a special edition can be opened by an expert in the field as a guest editor or an existing editor of the journal. To run and organize a special edition the editor should follow the following guidelines.

• Special edition topic should be within the scope of the journal and be of interest to a wide audience
• Special edition can be organized and edited by a maximum of 3 editors, the senior editor will be referred to as the principal editor and the others as associate editors.
• Principal editor is responsible for describing the aims and scope of the special issue and choosing associate editors if necessary
• Principal editor is responsible for the selection of papers and reviewers
• Editors may also act as reviewers for the manuscripts
• Journal\'s editor-in-chief will screen accepted manuscripts for quality
• Principal editor can decide the size of the issue, more than one edition can be released if there are more papers
• Editorials or opinions are welcome for each special edition and must be written by the principal editor or the associate editors
• Principal editor must adhere to ethical code of conduct and select papers based on scientific merit
• All editors must disclose and declare any conflicts of interests to the journal\'s editorial board
• Principal editor is accountable for setting up a timeline and sticking to publishing deadlines
• The deadline to complete a special edition is 90 days, which can be extended up to 120 days upon request by authors/editors/reviewers.
• A special edition that is not completed within the stipulated timeline will be discarded.
• An independent web page will be created for each special edition with complete details of editors, aims and scope, issue timelines and accepted manuscripts
• Guest editors are requested to adopt the publishing journals editorial and review policies to make the special issue a success
• Publisher offers benefits to the guest editors on case-by-case basis, which we request to be kept confidential