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Special Issue is a referred collection of articles and research, on a predetermined theme which serves as an effective way to communicate current knowledge, to the researchers, thereby propagating their ideas for the betterment of Society.

SciDoc Publishers invites proposals for Special Issues that falls within the aims and scopes of the journals published by SciDoc.

Objectives of Special Issue:

Special issues provides an insight to review an addressed topic, examine previously unaddressed aspects, to propose and develop new approaches, exchange ideas and encourage new lines of research.

Articles in the special issues may include reviews, researcher papers, communications and other types as deemed appropriate by the editors. Conference organizers are welcome to publish their proceedings as special issues in the journal. They may also organize a special issue based on the extended or full versions of papers that were presented in the conference, symposium or workshop.

A special issue has the benefit of offering readers a concentration of related articles on an important or emerging topic.

EB member responsibilities:

To judge whether the proposal meets the Aims and Scopes of the Journal.
To peer-review the issue.
To suggest suitable proposals, guest editors with their bibliographies.
To decide on the acceptability of the Special Issue and of individual contributions.
To communicate the recommendations/requirements with respect to the proposal, to the Guest Editor.
To agree with a final deadline for submission of the completed issue.
Will not provide comments on proposals that are not selected for further consideration.

Guest Editor responsibilities:

Will be expected to state the importance of the proposal and explain the article contribution towards the scope of the journal.
Will be expected to suggest potential authors and reviewers for the proposed special issue.
Will be expected to coordinate the rigorous peer review.
Will be expected to recommend papers for publication only on the basis of academic merit and subject appropriateness.
Will be expected to attain 10-12 articles within a period of 4 months in regard to the respective field.
Will be expected to list other special issues/special sections, devoted to the closely related topic.
Will be expected to proclaim the call for papers, being aware of the researchers working on the addressed topics.
Will be expected to attract contributors, thereby enhancing the Special Issue content by providing a variety of perspectives.
Will be expected to deal directly with authors throughout the process and submit the Editor with timely progress reports.
Will be notified as to whether or not their proposal has been accepted within four weeks of the submission.
Will be expected to proof-read the entire volume and to ensure that authors proof-read their contributions.
Will not be expected to appear as author or co-author on more than one submission to the Special Issue and not more than 3 papers in total in the Special Issue.
Expects the team to determine which manuscripts to be included in the Special Issue.
Are expected to be responsible for making sure that authors submit their final manuscripts on time and in the correct format.
Will be expected to select the order in which the papers will appear in Special Issue.
Will be expected to recommend, accept or reject the proposal.
Will be expected to prepare an introductory article that reviews the state of the art on the domain of the Special Issue.
Will be expected to provide full contact details, including email addresses, for all contributors.

Guidelines for Special Issue Proposal:

The journal for which the Special Issue is intended.
Proposed title of the Special Issue (should not exceed 10 words)
Proposed Aims and Scope, giving an overview of the topic.
Expected date of publication.

Editors: A list of Guest Editors, the Lead Guest Editor in managing the Special Issue, including their names, emails, affiliations, and a short biography (one paragraph) of each of the Guest Editors.

Description: Provide a table of contents and summary of your Special Issue (300-500 words).

A proposed timeline and schedule which includes:

Deadline for submission (4 months from the initial Call-for-Papers)
First round of review (3 months after submission deadline)
Tentative publication date (15 days after the first round of review)

Review & Submission Process

Both original and unpublished research and review articles can be included in Special Issues.
Once the manuscript is submitted, the Guest Editor will need to read over the article as an initial screening process.
Guest Editor should assign the task of reviewing to the reviewers, and this should be done within a maximum of 1 week from the time they have received.
Reviewers are then expected to submit their reports within a maximum of 3 weeks.
Only after the approval by the peer review committee, Manuscripts will be accepted for publishing.
Approved manuscripts submitted before deadline, are published within the given timeframe.
A statement of the purpose of the special issue (including information whether the special issue will include only invited papers or is open for all submissions within the scope of the special issue).
Any extra useful information that will be helpful during the evaluation of the special issue proposal (e.g., Is this special issue the result of one or several conference special sessions? Are there specific people that you already have in mind who might contribute? Do you have a rough idea of about how many papers might be published and their average length?).
Once approved & published, the special issues are accessible through Open Access.

Special Issues are made freely available online to all interested readers leading to the maximum possible dissemination and recognition within the scientific community.