Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research welcomes the submission of proposals for special issues at any time.
The topic of the special issue must be in line with the journal’s Aims & Scope. It should deal with societal innovations, change and transformation of organisations, institutions and societies at large from a social sciences perspective. The goal should be to develop societal innovations, contribute to methodological innovations in the social sciences and to create solutions for Europe. Furthermore, the contributions of special issues should primarily use qualitative approaches (however, the journal doesn’t fully exclude quantitative instruments). Find examples for previous Special Issues on our website.
Special Issues explore a research topic or question and consist of – usually – 7-9 articles and an editorial written by the guest editors. Any proposed exception to this rule should be soundly justified. We expect a significant degree of coherence between the contributions that should be highlighted by the editorial.
Submitting a Proposal
Proposals for special issues can be submitted all year long. They should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) Prof. Dr. Hans-Liudger Dienel: hans-liudger.dienel@tu-berlin.de and to contact@innovation-journal.eu in CC.
They are reviewed by the editors of the journal based on fit to the Aims & Scope as well as quality, originality and coherence of the contributions and the issues as a whole. A decision can be expected within one month after submission. The editors may also ask for a revision of the proposal (e.g., to clarify certain aspects, or change the number of contributions) before it can be accepted.
Special Issue proposals should contain the following information:
- Title of the special issue
- Names, affiliation and contact details of the proposed guest editors
- A statement about the approach and idea of the special issue, the origins of the idea and its relevance for current developments
- The titles, authors and abstracts of the proposed contributions
- The expected schedule of submitting the manuscripts.
Process after Proposals get accepted
After a Special Issue proposal is accepted journal editors and guest editors agree on publication details and the schedule of the process. The contributions are to be submitted 10 months before the expected publication date and accepted two months before the publication date.
Usually, special issues are published as one of the four regular issues of a volume (published in March, June, September, December). However, special issues can be published fully open access if the funding can be secured by the guest editors or the individual authors. This allows for more flex-ibility regarding the publication date and the number of contributions.
Guest editors are expected to work closely together with the responsible journal editor by supporting the review process (providing suggestions for suitable reviewers, reviewing articles in later stages), communicating with the authors about deadlines etc., deciding the final running order of the issue, writing an editorial and helping with the promotion of the special issue once it’s published.
All Special Issue articles undergo the Journal’s Peer Review Policy which is available here. Contributors to the Special Issue cannot be reviewers.
Questions?
For any questions regarding the content of a special issue proposal please contact the EiC Prof. Dr. Hans-Liudger Dienel: hans-liudger.dienel@tu-berlin.de
For questions regarding the process and practicalities contact the Editorial Officer Phoebe Fuhr-mann: contact@innovation-journal.eu
Visit our journal website and personal blog and follow us on twitter @InnoEuJnl for more information.
More info on the call: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/innovation-special-issue-proposals/