Working with Guest Editors

Publishing special/themed issues or supplements can enhance the profile of the Journal, attract new authors and submissions, and support usage and citations. Many journal editors will arrange for a guest editor to handle the issue on their behalf. 

• Appointing a guest editor: they should be a specialist in the chosen subject, and ideally will be sufficiently well-networked internationally to bring top authors to the journal.  They should also be well-organized and have time available to lead the project through to completion. 

Ensure you validate the credentials of guest editors and that guest editors have clear understanding of the commissioning and editing processes of the content of the special issue in accordance with the journal’s guidelines and have agreed to act in accordance with the journal’s policies.

Ensure they are fully committed to SAGE peer review best practice, including restrictions around recommended reviewers, and best practices for guest edited collections as recommended by COPE.

• Developing a proposal: ask your guest editor to summarize the rationale for the issue, the approach they envisage taking and the areas they wish to cover.  The proposal should ideally include a list of proposed paper topics and potential authors. You may like to consult your editorial board before agreeing to the proposal with the guest editor. The guest editor may wish to publish some of their own research in the special issue. Please make it clear to them papers they are authoring must be dealt with independently and be subject to the same peer review process as all other submissions to the journal.
• Contact your publishing editor at the start of the process and they can provide a written agreement (signed by SAGE and the guest editor) setting out roles and responsibilities in order to formalize the arrangement once the proposal has been agreed. Guest editors should have clear terms and conditions of their role and have a full understanding of the ethos of the journal, as well as the peer review and publishing model.
• Drafting a Call for Papers. Once the proposal is agreed, you/the guest editor can create a Call for Papers to be published on your journal’s website and circulated to the community. A Call for Papers should include:
  • Title of the special issue.
  • Targeted publication date (you might want to just specify the volume/ year rather than a specific month/issue in case there is some slippage).
  • Name and contact details of the guest editor/s.
  • Date of when abstracts should be submitted.
  • Date of when final manuscript should be submitted.
  • Aims and scope of the special issue.
  • A link to submission guidelines.

You can find a template Call for Paper here.

• Peer review: all articles, including those that were directly commissioned, must be peer reviewed in accordance with the journal’s policy. Your submission system must be used to handle guest-edited special issue submissions. Please let your publishing editor know about any forthcoming special issue titles before papers are solicited, so that they can set up a dedicated submission category.
• Competing Interests: take steps to ensure that contributions from guest editors and their close colleagues (with close professional or personal relationships) are limited to a small part of the content of the guest edited collections, to avoid real or perceived competing interests, as well as endogeny and publishing cartels.

Statements should be provided by the guest editors of the collection for any conflicts of interests (real, potential, or perceived) related to the topic of the research (e.g. existing patents or ongoing patent applications, institution or company non-disclosure agreements, sponsorship of publishing fees for the collection by the hiring institution, or ongoing collaborations or other connections with invited authors) as well as any other relevant conflicts of interests. If the editor-in-chief has competing interests with the collection, or does not have the capacity to handle more guest edited issues, another relevant editor of the board, or member of the editorial office, should be assigned as the contact and coordinator for these queries.

• Roles and responsibilities: although the guest editor of the collection will primarily select the content for the collection, the editor-in-chief of the journal has ultimate responsibility for queries on scope, competing interests, and peer review issues. If the editor-in-chief does not have the capacity to handle more guest edited issues, another relevant editor of the board, or member of the editorial office, should be assigned as the contact and coordinator for these queries. Ensure the guest editor is aware that:
  • They are responsible for managing the peer review of articles submitted for the special issue in accordance with the journal’s standard practice, SAGE’s ethical and publishing policies and SAGE peer review best practice.
  • They should ensure the complete and full peer review of all articles, reviewing peer reviewer comments, communicating necessary changes to the contributor and assessing final contributor changes before final decision making. If they do not comply with the ethical and quality standards of the Journal, or the production schedule, this may result in the postponement or rejection of the special issue. 
  • They will make final recommendations on decisions to you as  the journal editor. As the journal editor, you have the final say on manuscript decisions and if any of the material is not up to quality and/or ethical standard, you have the right to refuse publication.
  • The guest editor may wish to publish some of their own research in the special issue. Papers authored by guest editors must be dealt with independently and be subject to the same peer review process as all other submissions to the journal. They will be encouraged to contribute an Editorial, if permitted by the journal’s policy.
  • Guest editors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest relating to the submitting authors or submitted manuscripts. This includes papers authored by members of their own lab and any other authors based at the guest editor's institution. 
  • The journal editor and the guest editor should work together to help diversify the authorship of the journal where possible. For suggestions on how to do that, read SAGE Taking Action on Diversity page.

Benefits for Guest Editors

• Curate a collection of high quality articles on a topic of interest.
• Advance their career and demonstrate leadership in their field.
• Gain invaluable editorial and organizational experience.
• Strengthen and grow their research networks.
• Make a meaningful impact in their field.

Running a special issue can:

• Provide an enduring association between the guest editor and the topic chosen, as the research featured will be read for years to come.
• Boost the impact of the guest editor/s work by providing increased exposure and expansion of the research network.
• Provide practical experience of journal editing, and deeper insights into how the peer-review process ought to work. This can streamline the publishing process for the guest editor in the future, and lead to additional roles.