Special Issue Guidelines

A special issue consists of an editorial written by the guest editors and 5-8 articles, all of which will be sent out for peer-review. In addition to the introduction, a special issue can consist of research articles or forum articles. Research articles are subjected to a double-blind peer review process. Forum articles are subject to a single-blind internal review by the Editorial Board. Consider our section policies.

Proposals must fall within the thematic focus of the journal and point out the expected contribution to the field.

Suggestions for special issues can be submitted to the editors of the OZP anytime. After submission, the editors decide on acceptance and likely publication date.

 

1. Submission

Suggestions for special issues should be sent via email to the managing editor.

Special issue proposals should be approximately 5.000 words and must include the following:

1. A title of the special issue.
2. Outline of:
   
   • Topic and research question of the special issue
   • State of the art and the positioning of the special issue in the literature
   • The relevance of the topic and contribution to the field, i.e. how the special issues discovers new grounds and contributes to discussions in the field.
   • Structure of the special issue.
3. Contact details and a biography of the guest editor(s) (200 words).
4. List of contributors including affiliations and short biography (150 words).
5. Abstracts for each paper (250 words each).
6. Planning statement including a timetable for initial submissions (please calculate 12-18 months from submission to publication).

 

2. Decision

After submission, the editors of the OZP decides whether the suggested special issue fits within the scope of the journal. They also decide on and communicate to the guest editors the likely publication date (a range of not more than six months).

 

3. Procedure after decision

Within the framework prescribed by OZP guidelines, the guest editors may freely decide on content and structure of the issue. The editors of the OZP provide support at any point.

Choice of articles

As soon as a special issue is accepted, the OZP issues a Call for Papers if desired by the guest editors. Alternatively, the guest editors may contact potential contributors individually, or may choose a combination of both procedures.

If a Call for Papers has been issued by the OZP, the guest editors should present all submitted abstracts to the editors and argue how they have arrived at their choice.

The guest editors will be asked to suggest at least six reviewers for each proposed paper.

Correspondence with authors

Guest editors take care of any communication with authors until the latter have submitted their manuscripts. Guest editors also ensure that formal guidelines have been adhered to. 

After submission, the OZP takes care of correspondence with authors, and especially of the peer review and copy-editing processes.

In addition to reviewers, guest editors are also invited to comment on submissions. The editors of the OZP forward these comments to the authors along with the reviews.

Editorial

Guest editors are expected to write an editorial for the special issue (not more than 7,000 words).

 

4. Timeline (time until publication)

about 6 months	Submission of manuscripts for the special issue. Papers are submitted to the guest editors who check them for completeness (abstracts, keywords, correspondence address, author biography, etc.) and forward them to the editors of the OZP.
about 6 to 3 months	The editors send manuscripts to reviewers (double-blind review). The guest editors will be asked to suggest at least six reviewers for each proposed paper. Deadline for reviews: 3 weeks. Reviews are sent to authors (together with any comments by the guest editors).  Deadline for revised versions: 3 weeks.
	Copy-Editing: the editors check formal aspects of the manuscripts (adherence to author guidelines, orthography, list of references, etc.).
about 12 to 10 weeks	The editors send manuscripts to the layout editors. Editors and guest editors decide on title of issue and order of articles.
about 10 to 8 weeks	Layout editors upload galleys; authors and editors revise galleys. Deadline for revision: 2 weeks. Galleys may only be revised with regard to formal aspects; content may only be changed if absolutely necessary. Layout editors upload final galleys.
about  4 weeks	Final revision by editors.