Guideline for Special Issue articles

Special Issue articles should fulfill all the normal requirements of any individual article submitted to 3Bio Journal of Biological Science, Technology and Management (please see our guideline for individual article here), and should be of relevance to the readership of the 3Bio Journal. Authors should note that the same criteria of quality, significance and originality apply to articles in Special Issues as to regular articles. Please see 3Bio Journal’s Focus and Scope for further guidance on the topic/theme that can be included in the journal.

There are a few necessary steps to be taken to publish your special issue with us.

1. Initial proposal and agreement in principle

All Special Issues must receive initial approval from the Editor-in-chief before the articles are submitted. Proposals should be emailed to our Managing Editor at editor3bio@sith.itb.ac.id.  You do not need to submit all the complete articles at this stage. A formal proposal should include:

1. Title of the proposed special issue
2. A  brief CV of the proposed Guest Editors
3. A statement of the Special Issue’s significance in the field of Biological Science and a draft introduction, if possible
4. Titles and draft abstracts of each of the proposed articles; preferably, there should be at least 10 proposed articles to allow for possible rejections
5. A brief detail of contributors
6. An outline timetable (including a scheduled call for articles, review/revise process, and timeline for publication)

The Editor-in-chief will consider whether the initial proposal is of interest to the journal and the proposed Guest Editors will be informed whether or not it will be granted agreement in principle to proceed. The Editor in Chief will then appoint our Managing Editor to assume responsibility for the sponsorship of a Special Issue.  Guest Editors are expected to oversee the peer review process for the Special Issue but final acceptance approval for each paper will be given by the sponsoring Editor.

 

2. A draft announcement for a Special Issue Call for Articles

After the initial proposal has been approved, the Guest Editors should submit a draft announcement for a Special Issue Call for Articles.  This needs to be done to stand for the principle that 3Bio Journal should be opened for public in terms of submission as well as readership. This draft should include the followings:

1. Title of the special issue
2. The contact person for the special issue (commonly one of the Guest Editors, or someone assigned for the role)
3. A brief description (normally 2-3 paragraphs length) of the special issue topic/theme
4. A coverage description of topics/subtopics that are considered to be included in the Special Issue 
5. The agreed timetable (submission deadlines and estimated publication time)

Our Managing Editor will liase with the Guest Editors to finalise and release the Call for Articles as widely as possible through our networks and openly from our website. Interested parties, as well as the pre-invited contributors as written in the proposal, will be able to submit the articles through our online system. Please note that we will only consider manuscripts submitted through our online system. Guest Editors will also be given full support and guidance regarding the use of the online submission and reviewing system used by 3Bio Journal.

 

3.  The review process and editorial procedure

Guest Editors should make it clear to authors that being invited to submit a paper is not a guarantee of its publication. Authors should make a clear statement in the Comments to the Editor section that the manuscript is submitted to the appropriate Special Issue.  The submitted papers will then be available within the online system for the Guest Editors to send out for double blind peer review. For manuscripts submitted by parties outside of the initial contributors, the Guest Editors will be able to assess whether each paper is in scope, and meet the criteria required, for the Special Issue, and decide to either reject or send out the manuscript for peer review. Our Managing Editor is available to assist should there be any doubt about a course of action to take.

Guest Editors should also provide a list of potential reviewers for the Special Issue, as well as, in coordination with our Managing Editor, ask for 3Bio Journal to support with our list of reviewers.

For all Special Issue types please note that:

• Our Managing Editor/Editor-in-chief may wish to take a first look at all papers submitted to a Special Issue and can reject papers without review on the basis of quality, originality, or significance, or ask for further revisions to be made prior to review.

• The double blind peer review of each paper is carried out in the normal manner via the journal’s online submission and peer review system by the Guest Editors. Once reviews are returned the Guest Editors will need to take a provisional decision and this will be communicated to our Editor-in-chief for their confirmation of decision. Should our Editor-in-chief not agree with the acceptance decision proposed, the Guest Editors may appeal at this point if wished.

• Close to the estimated publication date, the Guest Editors should provide an introductory article (and a closing article, if necessary), highlighting the rationale of the Special Issue and summarizing the list of articles published in the Special Issue in a coherent and concise manner. Although the introductory article will not be subject to double blind peer review process, our Editor-in-chief will review the quality of this introductory article and make recommendation for revisions, if needed.

• It should be noted that during the review process, our Managing Editor can reject individual papers, or, in consultation with the Editor-in-chief, the Special Issue as a whole, if it does not meet quality standards.

• If fewer articles than anticipated are accepted, our Managing Editor may decide to change the Special Issue into a Special Section (within a regular issue) instead.

• The Editor-in-Chief will adjudicate on any disagreements that arise during the editorial process.

 

4. Timetable

In setting deadlines, Guest Editors should be aware that our normal processing time from submission to publication is 6 (six) months. Please set a reasonable timeline for authors to work on. Authors should work to clear deadlines set by the Guest Editors and our Managing Editor, and be made aware that if they miss deadlines for submission, revisions or return of proofs then their papers may be excluded from the Special Issue so as not to disadvantage other authors.