- Special issues
- Proposals welcome
Propose a Special Issue
The Journal of Arthritis Research and Therapy welcomes proposals for focused collections that address important questions in arthritis and rheumatic disease. This page is a call for proposals; no special issue is currently announced.
Who can propose
Proposals are welcome from researchers, clinicians and groups with recognized expertise in the proposed topic, including members of the journal’s Editorial Board. A special issue should address a defined question within the journal’s Aims and Scope.
What a proposal contains
- Title and summary
- A working title and a short description of the collection.
- Rationale
- Why the topic merits a focused collection now.
- Scope and topics
- The questions the collection will address, with illustrative topics.
- Guest-editor team
- Names, affiliations, ORCID iDs and a brief statement of each guest editor’s expertise.
- Competing interests
- A declaration of any financial or non-financial interests relevant to the topic.
- Plan for the call
- How contributions will be invited, the article types expected, and a proposed schedule.
Safeguards for guest-edited collections
- Same peer review
- Special-issue manuscripts follow the same editorial screening and peer review as regular submissions. Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request.
- Independent handling
- Manuscripts authored by a guest editor, or by authors with whom a guest editor has a conflict of interest, are handled by an independent editor of the journal. The guest editor takes no part in their review or decision.
- Labeling
- Guest-edited content is clearly labeled as part of the special issue, with the guest editors named.
- Decisions and fees
- Editorial decisions are based on scope, scientific quality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and relevance to the journal. Special-issue articles follow the journal’s standard article processing charge.
From proposal to publication
- STEP 1ProposalThe lead guest editor sends the proposal to the editorial office.
- STEP 2AssessmentThe editors assess scope, rationale, team and plan, and may suggest changes.
- STEP 3Call publishedAn approved special issue is announced on the journal website with its call for papers.
- STEP 4Review and publicationEach submission is screened and reviewed under the standard process, and accepted articles are published open access under CC BY 4.0.
Send a special-issue proposal
Send the proposal, or a short outline for initial discussion, to the editorial office at info@openaccesspub.org.