Special collections policy

Ubiquity Press journals may publish guest edited article collections, either in the form of a special issue or a special collection of articles. A special issue is published as a traditional separate issue, whereas a special collection is a page which groups together articles that are published as part of the general journal volume. In both cases, it is common practice for guest editors to be brought in to oversee and edit the articles, and manage the peer review process. 

All our journals follow the below guidelines, based on the DOAJ requirements for special issues and collections:

• The Editor-in-Chief must be responsible for the content of the entire journal, including all special issues/collections, which must fall within the scope of the journal
• Special issue/collection articles must have the same editorial oversight as regular articles, including external review where appropriate, and be clearly labelled
• Guest editors must be made aware of and follow all standard journal policies
• Journals must ensure that guest editors’ credentials are checked and approved. Competing interests must be declared, including financial.
• The Editor-in-Chief or dedicated board members must oversee the guest editors
• Papers submitted to a special issue/collection by the guest editor(s) must be handled under an independent review process and make up no more than 25% of the issue/collection's total

For more detailed guidance, our editors are encouraged to read the COPE discussion document: Best practices for guest edited collections. Further information, including guidance on how to set up collections using the Ubiquity workflow, is available on the Ubiquity Knowledge Base.