Special Issues
Propose a Special Issue
Journal of Current Scientific Research welcomes proposals for focused collections that address important questions across all scientific disciplines.
Researchers with relevant expertise are invited to review the proposal requirements below and contact the editorial office. A Special Issue here is a curated collection on a defined question, assembled by guest editors with standing in the subject and reviewed to exactly the same standard as any other submission.
What a proposal contains
RequirementsA proposal is assessed on the scientific question, not on the volume of submissions it might attract. Collections that duplicate the regular flow of the journal, or that restate a subject rather than ask something of it, are not taken forward.
The working title of the collection.
The question the collection addresses, why it is open now, and what a reader would be able to do with the answer. One to two pages.
What the collection includes and what it excludes, expressed so that an author can tell whether their work belongs in it.
How the subject sits inside the journal's Aims and Scope. A Special Issue may address any scientific discipline, provided its contribution and assessment requirements meet the journal's standards.
Two to four proposed guest editors with affiliations, ORCID iDs, and a short statement of standing in the subject. A single guest editor is accepted only with a named co-editor from the journal's board.
Where the collection spans more than one field, the proposal names the expertise each part will need, so that competent review can be arranged before the collection opens.
Which of the journal's accepted categories the collection expects, and roughly how many articles.
Declared for every proposed guest editor, including commercial relationships in the subject area.
The editorial office replies with a decision on the proposal and, where it is taken forward, agrees an opening date and a closing date with the guest editors before anything is announced.
How a Special Issue is governed
SafeguardsThese safeguards are what make a curated collection trustworthy, and they are not negotiable as part of a proposal.
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The same peer review
All submissions undergo initial editorial screening. Manuscripts that meet the journal's scope and minimum requirements proceed to independent peer review. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts. Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request. Inclusion in a collection is not a route to publication.
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Independent editorial oversight
The journal retains responsibility for every decision in the collection. Guest editors recommend; the handling editor decides, and may decline a manuscript a guest editor supports.
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Guest-editor submissions
An independent editor handles the manuscript. The guest-editor author has no editorial-role access to reviewer identities, confidential deliberations or handling decisions, and takes no part in the assessment. Normal author-side decision letters and author-visible reviewer reports are provided through the usual correspondence channel.
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Competing interests
Guest editors declare competing interests before appointment and recuse themselves from any manuscript where one arises, including work from their own institution or research group.
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Subject competence
A collection opens only where the journal can arrange competent editorial handling and appropriate independent review for the work it invites. Where that cannot be arranged for a submission, it does not proceed to external review.
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Closing a collection
A collection that does not attract work of sufficient quality is closed, and the accepted articles are published in a regular issue. Nothing is published to fill a collection.
Submitting to a Special Issue
For authorsWhen a collection is open, its call states the subject, the guest editors, the article types sought and the closing date. Submissions are made through the journal's normal routes with the collection named in the submission.
Everything else is unchanged: the article types and limits in the Instructions for Authors, the requirements of the Editorial Policies, and the article processing charge and its terms on Article Processing Charges. Publication in a Special Issue carries no different charge and no different standard.
Regular submissions
Submissions are accepted throughout the year outside any collection. What the journal is seeking is on Call for Papers.
Published collections
Articles published in a collection are listed in the journal's Archive alongside the rest of the published record.
Discuss an idea before writing a proposal
Editorial officeA paragraph describing the question, why it is open, and who would guest edit it is enough for the editorial office to say whether a full proposal is worth preparing.
Published by Open Access Pub. ISSN 2766-8681 (electronic). Crossref DOI prefix 10.14302. Articles are published open access under CC BY 4.0; authors retain copyright. Peer review: Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request. Editorial decisions are independent of any fee, service, membership or role. Editorial office: [email protected].