Drones (ISSN: 2504-446X) is an international, peer-reviewed, and open access journal published online monthly by MDPI. The journal focuses on the design and applications of drones, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs), and Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPASs), etc. Likewise, contributions based on unmanned marine/water/underwater drones, unmanned ground vehicles, fully autonomous driving, and space drones are also welcome. Drones has been recently accepted for inclusion within Ei Compendex. More information about the journal is available at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/drones.

Drones is pleased to announce this open call for Special Issue proposals. Special Issues offer a group of authors the possibility to work on an interconnected set of papers on an innovative topic. We would like to solicit high-quality proposals that will be evaluated in a competitive procedure on a rolling basis throughout the year.

Proposed Special Issues should have a well-articulated unifying topic and reflect, at an international level, the best work in a particular research area, either a well-established area or an important emerging area, in which future investigations may be boosted by the publication of a set of excellent papers. Hence, an international group of Guest Editors and a few high-quality planned papers are always encouraged in the proposals.

Proposals for Special Issues should be sent to the Editorial Office, who will forward them to the Editors of Drones for evaluation, or should be submitted via the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journalproposal/sendproposalspecialissue/drones.

Information to be provided in a proposal:

• A 300–500-word summary to explain the significance, novelty, technical advancement, and adherence to the scope of the journal of the proposed topic;
• A few keywords on the topic;
• A plan for obtaining high-quality papers or a list of at least three planned papers;
• A brief resume of the proposed Guest Editors together with their information (title, name, email, affiliation, personal website, keywords of interests);
• A proposed submission deadline (Special Issues normally run for 6–8 months).

As a Guest Editor, you would be responsible for:

• Inviting your peers to submit papers to be published in your Special Issue. These papers will be able to take advantage of the high publicity offered by open access publishing, our rapid and high-quality peer review process, and immediate publication after acceptance;
• Checking the suitability of abstracts/manuscripts submitted to the Special Issue;
• Making pre-check decisions regarding whether to send a new submission to peer review;
• Making final decisions regarding accepting a paper based on peer review outcomes.

As a Guest Editor, you would have the following privileges:

• A certificate of recognition as a Guest Editor of Drones;
• The ability to publish one feature paper in your Special Issue;
• The ability to invite authors to submit high-quality papers to be published in your Special Issue with discounts;
• Travel grant opportunity to attend featured conferences;
• If the Special Issue is successful and features at least 10 manuscripts accepted after full peer review, we can organize it into a printed book and send you a free copy as a gift.

The Editorial Office will take care of setting up the Special Issue website, arrange promotional materials, assist with invitations to contribute papers, and take care of administrative tasks associated with peer review, including inviting reviewers, collating reports, contacting authors, and professional production before publication.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Editorial Office if you are interested and would like further details and clarification.

We look forward to receiving your creative proposals here.

Drones Editorial Office