Guest editor guide

Introduction

This page provides guidelines, policies, and resources for our current guest editors. If you are contemplating a special issue proposal, please follow the guidelines here and prepare a proposal that observes our general special issue policies below.

A warm welcome

Responsibilities

A special issue focuses on a specific area of research that has a broad appeal and falls within the aims and scope of the journal. It can also provide an excellent opportunity to review a particular theme, examine previously unaddressed aspects, propose and develop new approaches, exchange perspectives, and encourage new lines of research.

This is where the guest editor comes in. Guest editors play a vital role in curating high-quality contributions on a particular topic and driving the editorial review process for special issue publications. In general, the roles and responsibilities of a guest editor include:

• Refining the topic and setting out the importance of the area on which the special issue will focus.

• Identifying papers and inviting potential authors for possible inclusion in the special issue with the help of the Elsevier editorial team.

• Setting and following the timeframe in which the special issue should be produced (to include paper writing, reviewing and submission of final copy to the journal) to ensure timely submission and publication.

• Cooperating with the journal editor and any other guest editor(s) for the special issue with respect to the identification and invitation of authors to contribute to the special issue and responding to potential author queries with regard to this special issue.

• Using your subject matter expertise to manage the initial peer review process on our submission system, which includes making the initial desk decision and suggesting edits and revisions. The final decision on whether a paper will be accepted will be made by the Editor-in-Chief of the journal.

• Providing the running order of articles, an editorial to summarize the special issue, and assisting with any further information requested by our editorial team to ensure completeness of the special issue.

• Promoting your special issue and helping with the marketing by indicating any special timing, associated events, funding support, partnerships or other links or relationships which could influence the content promotion of the issue.

Ethical responsibilities

To support Elsevier’s mission to be a trusted partner to the research community, we aim to ensure that all special issues meet the high ethical standards expected of our journals. Your appointment as guest editor is predicated on your agreement to uphold Elsevier’s policies on publishing ethics, in particular the duties of editors. These include:

• Ensuring that the peer review process is fair, unbiased, and timely; selecting reviewers who have suitable expertise in the field; and conducting the review on our submission platform.

• Evaluating manuscripts for their intellectual content without bias.

• Not attempting to influence the journal’s ranking by artificially increasing any journal metric.

• Protecting the confidentiality of all material submitted to the journal and all communications with reviewers.

• Refraining from uploading a submitted manuscript or any part of it into a generative AI tool.

Before appointment, validations are conducted to be confident that all candidate guest editors:

• Are who they represent themselves to be and are affiliated with an appropriate and accredited professional, academic, or research organization.

• Have the appropriate subject matter expertise and experience to lead the special issue.

• Have disclosed any potential or actual conflicts of interest related to the special issue.

Once approved by the Editor-in-Chief, you will be presented with a letter of appointment that fully outlines your responsibilities as a guest editor and the terms and conditions of appointment.

If unethical practices are detected, the special issue will be cancelled by the Editor-in-Chief or Elsevier and the appropriate corrections to the record will be made. Guest editors should familiarize themselves with the policies outlined in the links above once a special issue proposal has been accepted. If any ethical issues are raised in the issue, your cooperation in the investigation and resolution may be required.

Special issue policies

To ensure guest editors observe their responsibilities, and to avoid unethical practices and conflict of interest as mentioned above, we have in place the following special issue policies.

Guest editor submission to special issues

The special issue may include submissions from the guest editor, but the number should normally not exceed one (except where specifically approved by the Editor-in-Chief and Elsevier).

The guest editor must not be involved in the handling or decisions about papers which s/he has authored or co-authored him/herself, or have been written by family members, colleagues, or which relate to products/ services in which other conflicts of interest are present. Furthermore, any such submission must be subject to all the journal’s usual procedures. Peer review must be handled independently of the relevant author/editor and their research groups, and there will be a clear statement to this effect on any such paper that is published.

Overseeing multiple special issues

We ask that guest editors not be involved in more than one special issue during the time that the initial special issue is open for submission and editorial evaluation, unless prior express permission in writing from the Editor-in-Chief and Elsevier has been granted.

Guest editor limit per special issue

We require guest editors to adhere to the editorial standards that are set by the Editor-in-Chief of the journal and to do so consistently. To ensure these standards are applied/upheld consistently for all submissions, no more than five guest editors are permitted per special issue except by prior approval from the Editor-in-Chief and Elsevier.

Selection of reviewers

As guest editor, you should select reviewers who have suitable expertise in the field and must review all disclosures of potential conflicts of interest made by reviewers in order to determine whether there is any potential for bias.

Research articles must typically be reviewed by at least two external and independent reviewers (unless otherwise specified by journal editors), and where necessary you should seek additional opinion. The guest editor must follow best practice guidance provided by Elsevier on avoiding the selection of fraudulent peer reviewers. You might find the information available on Elsevier's Reviewer Hub useful in this regard.

Final decision policy for special issues

The final decision on whether a special issue paper will be accepted will be made by the Editor-in-Chief of the journal, unless by prior agreement with Elsevier and the Editor-in-Chief.

Sponsored content

Where there is a sponsor for the special issue, guest editors shall not permit the sponsor to intervene in or otherwise influence the manuscript editing process and will not follow any instruction from the sponsor or otherwise be influenced by the sponsor in relation to any of the manuscripts or any other content to be published in the special issue. It is also important for it to be transparent to the reader of the content that the sponsor has paid for its publication, using appropriate disclaimers/disclosures.

Author invitation, outreach and promotion

At Elsevier, we are committed to providing comprehensive support for your special issue throughout its lifecycle. We initiate this process with content acquisition. Complimenting your own personal invitations, our author outreach program helps drive high-quality submissions and raise awareness through a variety of channels. Leveraging our advanced algorithms, rich data, and extensive experience, we connect you with a global network of potential authors.

Please note:

• Conference special issues and memorial special issues are currently not eligible for this author outreach activity.

• All invited papers in special issues will go through the same peer review process as regular submissions, and there is no guarantee that they will enter the peer review process or be accepted.

Following publication, we shift our focus to content promotion. We aim to maximize the visibility and usage of the published content through various promotional channels. All articles from special issues are published on ScienceDirect – the world's leading research platform, with 2.6 million unique visitors a day and 38 article downloads per second, ensuring that each special issue is given the attention and exposure it deserves. Special content articles are downloaded on ScienceDirect twice as often within the first 24 months than articles published in regular issues.

To further ensure the success of a special issue, we equip guest editors with a comprehensive toolkit and supporting materials. These resources are specifically designed to assist you in raising awareness about your special issue within your professional networks, which can greatly contribute to the success of your special issue.

Special issue process

Generally, once a special issue proposal has been approved and the guest editors are appointed, there are four stages in organizing a special issue.

• Configuration: guest editor account configuration, special issue submission portal and landing pages setup

• Paper soliciting: collaborate with Elsevier in content acquisition via inviting authors from own network, posting calls for papers, and author outreach program

• Peer review: manage peer review for special issue papers

• Publication: all articles published, prepare editorial and promote special issue

Configuration

During the special issue proposal process, you will be asked to confirm your proposal and register your Elsevier account. We also ask you to self-report your gender identity at this stage, as we strive for gender equity for guest editors of our special issues; these data will only be reported at an aggregate level. The Elsevier privacy policy outlines outlines how we collect, use, and share your personal information. Should you have any issues with accessing or updating your editor profile, please view the video on our Support Center opens in new tab/window.

Paper soliciting

As guest editor, you play a vital role in the success of the special issue by helping to identify and invite authors to contribute to the issue. To assist your author identification and outreach efforts, we are pleased to provide you with complimentary access to ScienceDirect and Scopus for six months, which can be claimed from your Elsevier account opens in new tab/window.

The peer review process

The submission system

Elsevier uses an online submission and review system. The submission and peer review of special issue papers must be managed using this system, and you will find training resources on how to use our system effectively here opens in new tab/window. In addition to reading the material contained below, you should also familiarize yourself with any journal-specific guidelines which will be available on the journal’s homepage.

Evaluation of papers and decision process

You are responsible, in cooperation with any other guest editor(s) of the special issue, for ensuring that the review process is conducted in an appropriate manner and in line with normal review practices for the journal. You will need to invite a minimum of two reviewers who are experts in the manuscript’s field and shall consult with the Editor-in-Chief about the refereeing procedure to be adopted.

The selection of papers should be based on the scientific quality of the content and the topic should clearly fall within the scope of both the special issue and the journal hosting it.

You will make the preliminary decision on all manuscripts based on peer review reports, but all manuscripts (and revisions) will then be transferred to the Editor-in-Chief who has the right to review and/or reject any manuscript or arrange for any manuscript(s) to be independently peer reviewed prior to final acceptance for publication.

Publication

When all manuscripts are finalized with decisions, guest editors are expected to prepare the running order of articles and an editorial to summarize the special issue and assist with any further information requested by our editorial team to ensure completeness of the special issue.

Guest editors and authors should be aware that most Elsevier journals publish all special issues as virtual special issues (VSIs).

A VSI is an online-only grouping of special issue articles traditionally assigned to a single special issue. Each article in a VSI is assigned a unique identifier and then published in a regular journal issue as soon as available. The unique identifier allows us to simultaneously add the article to a VSI on ScienceDirect which is gradually built up as individual articles are published online. Articles grouped together in a VSI retain their original citation details.

On ScienceDirect, a special issue group is listed alongside regular journal issues and is easily accessible and navigable. A special issue group homepage includes a guest editor listing, table of contents, and other data relevant to the special issue. Such publication model speeds up the publication of individual articles as, unlike the publication process for conventional special issue articles, it does not need to wait for the final article to be ready before publication.

The benefits of this publication model include:

• Reduced overall publication times

• Reduced waiting time & increased author satisfaction

• Lower risk of error for incorrect publication of SI content due to increased flexibility for moving/adding/removing items from the special issue, without affecting citation details

The implementation of such a special issue publication model has no impact on the editorial workflow for editors, guest editors and authors; the impact is simply on the way articles are displayed online and on the print version of the journal, where a special issue will not be clustered in one single issue. Once the complete special issue is published, the guest editor(s) will be provided with Share Links of the entire issue, ideal for fast and broad dissemination to a wide network.

Support for guest editors

Elsevier has prepared a number of resources which are designed to make your experience of guest editing as smooth and positive as possible. These include:

• Guidance and FAQs on the Elsevier account registration and update opens in new tab/window

• An introduction to the editorial submission and review system

• An editor guide to Editorial Manager opens in new tab/window

• A bespoke training module designed specifically with guest editors in mind opens in new tab/window

As well as these materials, we also have a dedicated team to support you through the special issue journey. Your main contacts are:

• The Content Acquisition Specialist (CAS), responsible for managing the configuration and paper soliciting process for the special issue, who will work with you closely in setting up the editorial system, acquiring content and reminding you of timelines

• The Journal Manager (JM), your contact for all production-related matters and EM queries, supporting you throughout the peer review and publication process, responsible for ensuring articles are typeset, corrected, and published in a timely fashion

You can read more about the team which will be looking after your interactions with the journal.