Special Issues

OSP welcomes proposals for Special Issue, a set of solicited and refereed collection of Articles and Research Notes on a predetermined theme or collection of papers on a specific topic from conference proceedings or projects of broad interest, typically 6-10 articles in each group. OSP Special Issues are designed to draw attention to under-researched or controversial topics or to new emerging themes in international research.

Since Special Issues attract high-quality submissions from influential scholars who are experts in the predetermined theme it provides a unique opportunity for one group of authors to present research that addresses a specific theme or that derives from a joint project. The ultimate goal of an OSP Special Issue should be the encouragement of insightful and influential research, in line with the OSP Statement of Editorial & Publishing Policy.

Benefits of Publishing a Special Issue with OSP

1. Readers have the benefit of a number of related articles usually in the forefront of current debate, research or professional practice.
2. Many editors arrange for a guest editor to handle the entire issue on their behalf. This allows for a specialist to oversee the issue and bring in their contacts and networks.
3. Rapid publication: Articles within Special Issue will be published as received, each standing on its own merits individually.
4. Promotion: When the Special Issue is completed, we will promote the feature on social media, to appropriate listservs and organizations, and to the OSP authors and reviewers list.
5. Related content: If you choose, we will host content related to your research topic, such as expedition videos, slideshows, and interviews. These will be associated with the dedicated Special Issue page and, as appropriate, articles within the Special Issue.
6. Fee discounts: All articles comprising Special Issues will receive a 15% discount on the applicable article publication charge.

Submission Requirements

Proposals of the Special Issues should be submitted to the Editors-in-chief providing the following information:

1. Title of Special Issue;
2. The Journal domain or domains that the Special Issue would fall within;
3. Name and email address of the guest editor(s); some cases, the peer-review process will be managed by the principal investigator proposing the Special Issue, acting as Guest Editor in place of an OSP Associate Editor. (Guest Editors will be asked to comply with OSP Guidelines for Guest Editors.) In other cases, the Editor-in-Chief may appoint an independent Guest Editor, or have his or her Associate Editors manage the review process.
4. A short synopsis on the purpose of the special issue that will be published on the Special Issue website (including information whether the special issue will include only invited papers or is open for all submissions within the scope of the special issue);
5. Opening date;
6. Closing date (usually 4 months after the opening date; exceptions on request);
7. Tentative list of manuscripts expected, including type, title and contact information for each corresponding author and, if available, abstracts.
8. Please note that articles within Special Issues may be any of those article types published by OSP (for more information, see Article Types & Format).

After acceptance by the Editor-in-chief and implementation of the Special Issue by the editorial office (usually completed within a few days), the Special Issue may be announced by the guest editors who should inform potential contributors.

The guest editors are obliged to ensure the high standard of publication in OSP. All manuscripts rated as "poor" in one of the fields Scientific Significance, Scientific Quality or Presentation Quality must be rejected. The regular editor will monitor the quality.

The guest editors must ascertain that all manuscripts are within the scope of OSP, do not contradict each other and that they cite each other.

The guest editors can provide a 1 to 2 pages long Preface to the special issue. The draft has to be sent around to all leading authors of the Special Issue and will be read and approved by the chief editors before publication. The Preface/Introduction is published free of cost. A longer summary providing a synthesis of all papers could be published as separate article, which however will be treated as a regular contribution, i.e. it will be peer-reviewed.