Special Issues Policy

To assist its reader being aware of ongoing advances in respective fields of journals published by Zeal Press we have the policy of publishing Special Issues on new developments, subjects of special concerns, and currently debated topics of the field.

About Special Issues:

Special Issues published by Zeal Press are collection of articles that can be fitted under a common umbrella of a specific research area within the scope of a journal. Such issues enable the authors to share research focused on some emerging area of the field, to emphasize on importantly related subfields with an enhanced understanding, and elucidate novel cross-disciplinary applications.
“Guest Editor(s)” submit the proposals for their special issues to the journal which are reviewed by members of the journal's permanent Editorial Board Members and subject to their approval prior to its announcement on the journal’s website.

The Guest editors and Zeal Press participate in active promotion of Special Issues and may invite global scholars and researchers of the relevant fields to successfully gather articles on emerging and highly discussed areas of the field. This ensures that the issues gain global attention on a significant theme/query of the field.

Once Special Issue theme/proposal is visible on the journal’s website along with the guest editors’ name(s) and affiliation, it is open for related articles’ submissions through the journal’s article submission process.

The journal’ staff helps the Guest Editor in preparing Call for Papers, briefly describing the background of the field and theme of their Special Issue, to invite authors worldwide.

It is noteworthy that all articles submitted for publication in a special issue share same process of double-blind-peer-review as with the articles submitted for publication in regular issues of the journal.

Call for Papers of a Special Issue is sent via email to scholars/researchers working in the relevant fields by Guest Editor(s) or editorial staff of the journals. All authors and readers are also notified about a special issue open for submissions through Publisher/journal’s website. However, we encourage the promotion of special issues among colleagues and researchers by the Guest Editors as it maximizes the chances for successful publication of their Special Issue.

Managing submitted Articles for Special Issues:

Guest Editor is given the responsibility of initial review of all articles that are submitted for their special issue. Using their subject specialty they evaluate whether the article is specifically relevant to the theme of special issue the regular issue. If not, they may inform editorial staff who will then take responsibility of handling that article inappropriate for special issue.

All articles submitted for publication in a special issue are initially reviewed by the Guest Editors to check for their suitability to their Special Issue based on their subject-specific expertise. He/She then appoint a professional reviewer with subject specialty for critical reviewing of the articles keeping in view that no conflict of interest should be present and a double blind review is mandatory according to the journal’s policies. They are also expected to function in a way that the journal’s editors do for regular issues of the journal. Therefore, the responsibility of making final decisions about acceptance/rejection of an article for their special issue, after considering the reviewers’ reports, lies on Guest Editors. it is reiterated that no submission to the special issue escapes double blind peer review policy of the journal.

Guest Editor(s) may also publish their own articles in their special issue. However, to prevent any form of conflict of interest such articles will not be shared with/reviewed by any member of the Guest Editorial Team rather, will be initially evaluated by a permanent editorial member of the journal for suitability of the content with that of the Special issue’s theme. The handling of these articles will be the sole responsibility of permanent Editorial Board Members and an internal expert of the field or an external reviewer will be chosen and assigned for a double blind review. It is reiterated that no submission to the special issue escapes double blind peer review policy of the journal.

In case of assistance required by the Guest Editors for the successful publication of their Special Issue the editorial staff of the journal will be available for administrative assistance. Editorial staff may be given the responsibilities of making contact with late reviewers, sending reminder emails to authors/reviewers, reporting to authors about Guest Editor’s final decisions about article acceptance/revision/rejection, as well as various other technical assistance for the publication of accepted articles.

Manuscripts submitted to Special Issues are immediately published after the acceptance of finally revised copy by the Guest Editors based on the reviewers’ reports/ suggestions for revision. All of these articles will appear online on the relevant Special Issue page of the journal’s website and will be included in databases where the journal is indexed.

Generally, a period of six months is selected for authors’ contribution from the initial Call for Papers to the final submission deadline. No new submissions to the Special Issue will be accepted after this deadline; however as some manuscripts may already be in review process and find acceptance by the Guest Editor, new articles may be seen appearing in the Special Issue afterward.

In very rare cases of Special Issue cancellation during its publication process, certainly owing to some unforeseen and unavoidable reasons, all under consideration and published manuscripts within the Issue will be transferred to the regular issue of the journal and the authors will be notified immediately.

All Articles accepted for publication in a Special Issue will be subject to standard Article Processing Charge (APC) according to the journal’s policy. For further details, see the link.