How to publish a special issue

How to Publish a Special Issue in an Academic Journal

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Table of Contents

Introduction

The write-up guides you on how to publish a special issue in an academic journal. A special issue for a scholarly journal typically focuses on a single, coherent theme or topic, allowing researchers to explore a niche area in depth. These issues often have a significant impact, helping to shape future discourse in a field and attracting attention from scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. 

However, producing a high-quality special issue involves much more than collecting papers. It requires careful planning, coordination, and attention to detail at every stage, from conceptualization to post-publication promotion. Whether you’re an experienced editor, a guest editor stepping into this role for the first time, or part of a collaborative research team, navigating the process requires organization, foresight, and a good understanding of the academic publishing landscape and your journal’s specific procedures. This article will walk you through the essential steps in publishing a special issue, from developing the initial proposal to promoting the final product. 

The Importance of Academic Journals

Academic journals play a crucial role in advancing knowledge and research. These scholarly journals serve as platforms for scholars to share their findings, exchange ideas, and contribute to the ongoing discourse in their respective fields. These journals uphold rigorous standards of quality and peer review, ensuring the credibility and reliability of the published research. By disseminating new knowledge and facilitating scholarly communication, academic journals play a vital role in shaping the future of academia and various disciplines.

Step 1: Initial Proposal and Approval

Before publishing a special issue, you need a clear, well-developed proposal. This is the foundation for everything else, so it’s worth getting it right.

Start by identifying a compelling theme for the special issue. What’s the topic, and why is it timely or important? Consider recent trends in your field and research gaps in the existing literature that a special issue could fill. Be specific about how your proposed issue will contribute to academic discussions and offer new insights. For example, instead of proposing a broad theme like “Digital Innovation,” you could focus on a more specific topic, such as “The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Innovation.”

Once you have a solid theme in mind, sketch out the scope of the issue. What kinds of papers are you hoping to attract? Will you focus on empirical research, theoretical contributions, or a mix of both? Be clear about your objectives and the types of manuscripts you expect to include.

Next, approach the journal editorial board you’d like to publish with. Most academic journals have a formal process for proposing special issues, typically involving submitting a proposal document. This document should outline your theme, explain its significance, suggest potential contributors, and provide a rough timeline for publication.

Make sure your proposal is as detailed and convincing as possible. Journals receive many special issue proposals, and they’ll be more likely to approve yours if they can see you’ve thought carefully about every aspect of the project. If approved, you’ll move on to the next stage, possibly with an assigned editorial board liaison to help you navigate the process.

Step 2: Appoint Guest Editors

In many cases, special issues are managed by guest editors—experts who oversee the entire process from submission to publication. Guest editors are typically specialists knowledgeable about the special issue theme and can bring a fresh perspective to the journal’s editorial process.

Selecting the right people for the job is important if you work with guest editors. Ideally, guest editors should have a strong academic background in the relevant field and previous editorial experience, which isn’t always a strict requirement. What matters most is their ability to manage submissions, coordinate peer reviews, and make editorial decisions in a timely and fair manner.

Once your guest editors are in place, clarify their roles and responsibilities. Make sure everyone understands the expectations for handling submissions, communicating with authors and reviewers, and maintaining the journal’s quality standards. Establishing clear roles early will help avoid misunderstandings and ensure a smooth editorial process.

Step 3: Call for Papers (CFP)

Now that your proposal has been approved and the editorial team is in place, it’s time to invite scholars to submit their work. A well-crafted Call for Papers (CFP) is the best way to do this.

Your CFP should clearly articulate the special issue’s theme, explain its significance, and outline the types of submissions you want. Be as specific as possible about the scope while leaving enough room for creative and innovative interpretations of the theme. For instance, if your special issue is on “AI in Healthcare,” specify whether you’re seeking papers on AI’s impact on patient care, ethical considerations, technological challenges, or policy implications.

Also, include important details like submission deadlines, formatting guidelines, and information about the peer review process. Many journals will have a template for the CFP, so check with your editorial contact to ensure consistency with the journal’s style.

Once your CFP is ready, you’ll need to distribute it widely. Share it on the journal’s website, academic listservs, social media platforms, and at relevant conferences. The goal is to attract high-quality submissions from a diverse range of scholars, so don’t be shy about promoting the CFP to ensure maximum visibility.

Step 4: Submission Process

Once your CFP is live, submissions will start to come in. At this point, you (or your guest editors) must manage the influx of manuscripts.

Start by conducting an initial screening. This is an important step to ensure that the submissions are relevant to the special issue’s theme and meet the journal’s basic quality and formatting standards. Some submissions may be off-topic or fall short in originality or academic rigor. It’s best to filter these out early so that only the most promising papers move forward to the peer review stage.

How to publish a special issue in an academic journal

For submissions that pass the initial screening, organize them for the peer review process, ensuring that authors receive confirmation of their submission and guidance on what to expect next.

Step 5: Peer Review Process

The peer review process is the heart of academic publishing, and special issues are no exception. Maintaining the integrity of the review process is critical to ensuring the quality and credibility of your special issue.

Once manuscripts pass the initial screening, it’s time to assign them to reviewers. Depending on the size and scope of your special issue, you may need to recruit additional reviewers to handle the workload. Ideally, reviewers should be experts in the subject matter of the manuscript, and most journals follow a double-blind review process, where both the reviewers and the authors remain anonymous.

During the peer review process, reviewers evaluate the manuscript’s contribution to the field, methodology, theoretical grounding, and overall clarity. They provide feedback and may recommend revisions or, in some cases, rejection.

After receiving the reviewer reports, guest editors must make editorial decisions based on the feedback. Authors may be asked to revise their papers and resubmit them, sometimes going through multiple revisions before making a final decision.

Step 6: Editorial Decisions

Making final editorial decisions is one of the most important (and sometimes difficult) parts of editing a special issue. You’ll need to strike a balance between ensuring that the papers meet the journal’s standards and aligning with the special issue’s theme.

For each manuscript, you’ll consider the peer reviewers’ recommendations and the overall contribution of the paper to the special issue. Some papers will be strong candidates right away, while others might require significant revisions before they’re ready for publication.

When you communicate editorial decisions to authors, be transparent and constructive. Even in cases where papers are rejected, providing detailed and respectful feedback can help authors improve their work for future submissions.

Step 7: Final Editing and Proofreading

Once you’ve selected the papers for your special issue, it’s time to finalize them. This includes making final editorial adjustments, such as ensuring that all papers adhere to the journal’s style guide and meet formatting requirements.

If you haven’t already, now is the time to write the editorial introduction for the special issue. This piece should introduce the theme, summarize the contributions of the included papers, and explain the overall significance of the issue. Think of it as setting the stage for the readers—providing them with the context and rationale behind the issue.

After the editorial team reviews the papers and introduction, the manuscripts typically move into the production phase, where they’re typeset, formatted, and proofread by the journal’s production team. Proofreading is essential to catch any last-minute errors and ensure that the final versions of the papers are polished and professional.

Step 8: Publication Process

With the papers edited and proofread, the special issue is almost ready to go live. Some journals may offer early online publication, where individual articles are available before the entire issue is compiled. This can be a great way to generate early interest in the special issue and give authors a head start on citations and impact.

When the full issue is ready, the journal will typically publish it online and, in some cases, in print. Depending on the journal’s distribution model, the special issue might be open access (freely available to everyone) or behind a paywall. It’s good to check with the journal’s editorial office to understand the publication schedule and any specific distribution details.

Step 9: Promotion and Dissemination

The work doesn’t stop when the special issue is published. Promoting your special issue is essential to ensure it reaches the right audience and maximizes its impact.

Start by leveraging the journal’s promotion channels—most journals will promote new issues on their website, social media, and email newsletters. However, you can go beyond that by organizing webinars, virtual discussions, or special events around the launch. Encourage authors to share their published papers within their networks, and consider reaching out to academic associations or conferences that align with your theme.

If your journal allows it, creating a press release or a blog post summarizing the special issue’s key findings can also help attract attention from the wider academic community and media outlets.

Step 10: Post-Publication Engagement

After publication, it’s important to monitor the special issue’s impact and engage with the readership. Many journals provide data on article downloads, citations, and altmetric scores, which can give insight into how well the issue is being received.

In addition to tracking these metrics, you can encourage further engagement by organizing follow-up events, such as online discussions, panels, or special webinars. This helps keep the conversation going and provides opportunities for further collaboration among authors, readers, and researchers.

Finally, stay in touch with the journal to assess the special issue’s overall impact, both within the academic community and beyond. Some journals even offer special awards or recognition for high-impact special issues, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for such opportunities.

Conclusion

From developing the initial proposal to promoting the final product, every stage in publishing a special issue in an academic journal requires careful planning, collaboration, and attention to detail. A successful special issue brings together cutting-edge research and contributes to the ongoing conversation in your field, often shaping future studies and inspiring new areas of inquiry.

By following the steps outlined in this guide—creating a strong proposal, managing the submission and review process, and actively promoting the issue after publication—, you can increase your chances of producing a high-quality special issue that resonates with your academic community and makes a lasting impact.

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