2026 Call for Special Issue Proposals

Researchers interested in submitting a proposal for a special issue in the International Journal of Operations & Production Management (IJOPM) are kindly requested to send their submission to the Managing Editor, Dr. Desirée van Dun ([email protected]).

Proposal submissions are now open, with a deadline of 22 May 2026. All submissions will be reviewed by the editorial team and consulting editors, and authors will be notified of the outcomes by the end of June. The approved special issues will be first publicly announced at EurOMA2026, with the approved special issues scheduled for publication in 2027 and/or 2028. All papers accepted for publication in IJOPM will appear online in EarlyCite as the Version of Record within 2–3 weeks of acceptance.

Proposal Structure

Proposals must include the following:

• A description of the special issue including background, objectives and topics of interest. (max. 1,000 words);
• A section explaining why it should be of interest for academics and practitioners/policy/society, as well as the readership of IJOPM. (including, but not limited to, a debate in the literature, open issues, gaps, managerial relevance of the topic, intended contributions compared to existing studies) (max. 1,000 words);
• A description of how you intend to manage the selection of papers moving into the review process, and how you would organise this process (max. 500 words);
• A short biography of each of the maximum four guest editors evidencing their expertise in the topic. (max. 100 words for each guest editor);
• A complete list of submitted and accepted special issue proposals (currently under review, accepted, finalized) for the past 3 years for each guest editor; and
• All guest editor details, including name, affiliation and country, institutional email, ORCID, past, current and planned involvement in other special issues.

Evaluation Criteria

The proposal will be evaluated by IJOPM’s editorial team and consulting editors based on:

• Relevance and originality of the topic in the field of operations and supply chain management;
• Distinction from prior special issues;
• Contribution to theory and practice (based on arguments provided in the proposal); and
• Documented experience of guest editors on the topic.