Guidelines for Special Issue Guest Editors - JEIM

JEIM welcomes enquiries and suggestions for Special Issues at any time of the year. However, except for situations where an important opportunity must be seized in a very timely fashion, full proposals will be evaluated twice a year: immediately after January and July. All proposals should be submitted in the last week of January or July to Sankar Sivarajah ([email protected]) copying in Zahir Irani ([email protected]) and Muhammad Mustafa Kamal ([email protected]). A decision on each proposal will be decided within one month of each date where possible.

You should submit a full proposal using Emerald’s ‘Special Issue Proposal form’, which is available from the Editors on request. When requesting the proposal, please include a short abstract or ‘expression of interest’ to the Editors, with the following details:

1.    Proposed Title of the Special Issue (Note: The proposed title theme should fit with the aim and scope of JEIM).
2.    Brief summary of scope and justification for why the Special Issue is needed, including why it is particularly suitable for JEIM (Note: The potential guest editors need to ensure the theme is topical and should be able to contribute to the journal and add new knowledge to the body of research).
3.    A proposed timeline (Note: The timeline should also include suggested events or actions to attract suitable papers).
4.    Brief details of guest editors. The lead guest editor is required to invite co-guest editors from multiple regions. (Note: The number of guest editors should be no more than three).

All proposals will be evaluated with respect to the following criteria:

1.    Fit with the scope of JEIM.
2.    Relevance, importance, timeliness, clarity and focus of the theme.
3.    Experience and current involvement of the Guest Editors in the proposed topic area. 
4.    How successful the Call for Papers is likely to be and its dependence on any workshops, conferences or research programmes.
5.    Other Special Issues in the JEIM pipeline (see JEIM website).
6.    A due diligence check will be carried out by Emerald to ensure the suitability of the Guest Editors. Please note this process can take 2-3 weeks.

Special Issue Editor Agreement

Should your proposal be accepted, you will be asked to sign an agreement (“Letter of Engagement”) with JEIM regarding the expectations of the Guest Editors.

Editing Your Special Issue

Emerald’s in-house team will also be available to support you through the process. The Journal Editorial Office contact (as listed on the website) will ensure you are set up in ScholarOne, send you the “Letter of Engagement” and any other information you require. The Emerald Commissioning Editor and/or Assistant will contact you to set up your call-for-papers (if applicable) on the website.

Note: Guest Editors may publish their own article within a special issue they have edited, however, they must not be involved in the review process or editorial decision on that article. If you do wish to submit your own article to the issue, you must contact the Journal Editorial Office (JEO) to discuss how to manage the review process. Please be aware that multiple article submissions to your own special Issue will not be permitted.

The lead Guest Editor will conduct the submission, review and decision processes using the journal submission system in a timely way and with all correspondence handled within the system. We expect the Guest Editors to prepare decision letters with high quality feedback. For papers that may require longer to develop than the timing of a Special Issue allows or do not fit within the scope of the Special Issue, Guest Editors are expected to discuss these cases with the assigned JEIM Deputy Editor, who may invite the author(s) to submit the paper as a regular research paper to JEIM.

A Special Issue should aim to be ready for publication within maximum two years of the submission deadline. In order to be published, Special Issues should contain no fewer than eight papers not including the Introduction written by the Guest Editors; Special Issues that do not reach that minimum level may be absorbed into a regular issue.

Promoting Your Special Issue

JEIM will work with Guest Editors to increase the visibility of the Special Issue in the months leading up to the submission deadline and once it has been published.

What JEIM will do?

1.    JEIM will circulate your Call for Papers to the JEIM Editorial Board and advertise it on the JEIM website.
2.    Once the Special Issue is published, announcements will be made to the JEIM Editorial Board, and targeted mailing lists.
3.    Free access to the Special Issue will be made available to all contributing authors, Guest Editors, and reviewers.

What is expected of Guest Editors?

1.    We expect that Guest Editors will circulate the Call for Papers within their own personal networks, social media groups, and at any relevant conferences or workshops they may attend.
2.    If it has not already been suggested as part of the proposal, consideration should be given to organising a conference or workshop either to generate submissions or to aid in the development of submitted papers. A symposium/workshop/seminar at a well-known conference may also be considered. Please note the Emerald policy  for conference papers here: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/publish-with-us/author-policies/…. You should notify the Emerald Commissioning Editor and the JEIM Editors if you are intending to do this, and agree the paper revision requirements.
3.    We expect Guest Editors to identify up to 50 scholars for whom the Special Issue will be particularly relevant, who may serve as potential reviewers.

If you have any queries, please contact Sankar Sivarajah ([email protected]), Zahir Irani ([email protected]) and Muhammad Mustafa Kamal ([email protected]).