Special Issue

To get started, your proposal should include:

• The journal you are submitting your proposal to. Please ensure the topic of your proposal is within the scope of the journal.
• The Special Issue’s tentative title, clearly reflecting the subject of interest.
• A list of Guest Editor(s): including names, affiliations, email addresses, websites, research interests, ORCID (optional), and SciProfiles accounts (optional). Guest editing requires time and can be demanding, so most Special Issues are led by a team of Guest Editors—feel free to invite 1–3 colleagues or scholars in the field to co-edit with you, deciding on each person’s responsibilities and work distribution as a group.
• A summary of the Special Issue (about 200–500 words) and relevant keywords (about 3–10 words), briefly describing the motivation behind the Special Issue, the main topics and areas covered, and the types of submissions that would fit its scope.

We also encourage you to include:

• A submission deadline: a Special Issue can be open for submissions for 6–12 months, with the flexibility to extend if needed.
• Information on planned contributions: a successful Special Issue normally requires a sufficient number of published articles, in addition to an optional Editorial written by the Guest Editor(s). To help achieve this, we recommend collecting information for at least 10 intended submissions or, alternatively, a list of at least 20 potential authors. As not all intended submissions may pass peer review or ultimately be submitted, it is best to propose more than you expect to include in the Special Issue. This should include the authors’ names, email addresses, and affiliations, as well as tentative titles and abstracts where available.
• A customized call for papers email: prepared by the Guest Editor(s) to invite scholars to submit their research. It should briefly describe the Special Issue and motivate potential contributors to submit. The Editorial Office can help, for example, by identifying potential contributors, providing email templates, and promoting the Special Issue via our official channels where useful.
• A promotion plan: promoting the Special Issue from the outset is crucial to its success—let us know how you intend to do this and how we can help.
• Previous experience as a Guest Editor for MDPI journals.

Promoting Your Special Issue

Publications in a Special Issue are generally gathered via invitation from the Guest Editor(s) or through targeted, personalized Calls for Papers (CFPs) from the Editorial Office, supported by MDPI’s advanced AI technology to identify and reach the most relevant scholars. Submissions from the wider research community should not be neglected either; the most effective way to maximize a Special Issue’s visibility and submissions is to start promoting it from day one. Effective promotion ideas from Guest Editors include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Add the title and URL of your Special Issue to your email signature—a simple, ongoing way to raise its profile.
• Use social media: post on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn with a Special Issue banner provided by the Editorial Office, or announce the project on ResearchGate. Tag MDPI or the journal’s X (Twitter) account and our staff will help amplify your message.
• Announce your Special Issue on your own website’s homepage. MDPI staff will gladly provide images or text in whatever format suits your needs—let us know of any relevant research websites or mailing lists that could feature it too.
• Introduce your Special Issue at academic events. We can provide flyers and posters, and if you are presenting at a conference and willing to broadcast an open call for submissions, we can prepare a slide for you.

Editorial Integrity and Oversight

Special Issue submissions are subject to the same editorial process, peer review requirements, and quality standards as all other submissions to MDPI journals. Guest Editors are responsible for the academic direction of their Special Issues and make editorial decisions under the oversight of the Editor-in-Chief or Editorial Board Members. The Editorial Office manages administrative processes and compliance requirements throughout, ensuring a transparent and consistent workflow from proposal assessment to publication.

Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board Members: Editorial oversight standards

• Provide overall editorial oversight for Special Issues and their manuscripts within the journal, in adherence to COPE guidelines on Guest Edited Collections and the DOAJ criteria for Special Issues.
• To maintain a balanced workload, each Editorial Board Member oversees a limited number of Special Issues related to their subject expertise, subject to the agreement of the Editor-in-Chief.
• Monitor the progress and editorial management of Special Issues, and intervene where concerns arise regarding scope, scientific quality, editorial conduct, or research integrity.
• Manage actual or perceived conflicts of interest involving Guest Editors and ensure that affected manuscripts are handled independently.
• Handle post-publication editorial assessment and decisions for articles published in the Special Issues. Guest Editors may be consulted where appropriate, but do not make post-publication editorial decisions.

Guest Editors: Special Issue development, promotion, and editorial decisions

The responsibilities of Guest Editors as subject-matter experts are as follows:

• Propose Special Issues that align with the journal’s aims and scope, including a clear and well-defined topic description.
• Promote the Special Issue within the research community, including inviting suitable authors and disseminating the Call for Papers through relevant professional networks.
• Oversee the peer review process for submissions to their Special Issue in accordance with the MDPI Editorial Process, including making editorial decisions under the oversight of the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board Members, and ensure that all published content aligns with both the specific scope of the Special Issue and the scope of the journal.
• Ensure that all decisions are based on the scientific quality, originality, and relevance of the manuscripts, and that MDPI’s ethical standards are upheld.
• Declare and refrain from handling manuscripts where an actual or perceived conflict of interest exists (including their own submissions and those from close collaborators or colleagues), in accordance with MDPI’s conflict of interest policy. In such cases, an independent Editorial Board Member, preferably the overseeing Editorial Board Member, will act as the Academic Editor. The Guest Editor has no access to the peer review process for these manuscripts other than in their capacity as an author.
• Limit their own contributions to the Special Issue to support diversity and inclusiveness in authorship, in accordance with COPE guidelines on Guest Edited Collections.

Journal Editorial Office: Administrative support, identity validation, and policy compliance

The Journal Editorial Office provides administrative support throughout the editorial process. Its responsibilities include:

• Provide administrative and technical support throughout the lifecycle of Special Issues, from proposal assessment to publication.
• Support the Editor-in-Chief or the Editorial Board Member responsible for oversight in the assessment of prospective Guest Editors, including affiliation verification, evaluation of publication history and subject expertise, conflict-of-interest checks, and screening for relevant prior concerns before appointment. Provide appointed Guest Editors with guidance to support adherence to editorial standards.
• Monitor compliance with MDPI’s editorial policies, ethical standards, and conflict of interest requirements, and escalate concerns for appropriate handling of cases where necessary.
• Coordinate communication between Guest Editors, the Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Board Members, reviewers, and authors.

These roles are underpinned by MDPI’s Policies on Publication Ethics and COPE’s guideline on “Guest Edited Collections” and other Best Practice Guidelines; please also consult the specific guidelines of the individual journal, which may supplement these general policies.