MSD Publications - Special Issue Guidelines

Special issues are meant to supplement a journal's 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 publication in a special issue tend to be of very high quality, generally written by recognized 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 publisher must follow these guidelines.

1. Special edition topic should be within the scope of the journal and be of interest to a wide audience
2. 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.
3. Principal editor is responsible for describing the aims and scope of the special issue and choosing associate editors if necessary
4. Principal editor is responsible for the selection of papers and reviewers
5. Editors may also act as reviewers for the manuscripts
6. Journal's editor-in-chief will screen accepted manuscripts for quality
7. Principal editor can decide the size of the issue, more than one edition can be released if there are more papers
8. Editorials or opinions are welcome for each special edition and must be written by the principal editor or the associate editors
9. Principal editor must adhere to ethical code of conduct and select papers based on scientific merit
10. All editors must disclose and declare any conflicts of interests to the journal's editorial board
11. Principal editor is accountable for setting up a timeline and sticking to publishing deadlines
12. The deadline to complete a special edition is 90 days, which can be extended up to 120 days upon request by authors/editors/reviewers.
13. A special edition that is not completed within the stipulated timeline will be discarded.
14. An independent web page will be created for each special edition with complete details of editors, aims and scope, issue timelines and accepted manuscripts
15. Guest editors are requested to adopt the publishing journals editorial and review policies to make the special issue a success
16. Publisher offers benefits to the guest editors on case-by-case basis, which we request to be kept confidential