Guidelines

Special Issue Guidelines – Scholarly Summit

Scholarly Summit welcomes Special Issues that highlight emerging research areas, promote academic collaboration, and provide focused discussions on specific topics within our journal domains. These Special Issues may be based on conference proceedings, workshop papers, research project groups, or thematic collections curated by Guest Editors.

This page outlines the procedures, requirements, responsibilities, and submission process for proposing and publishing a Special Issue with Scholarly Summit.

1. Purpose of Special Issues

Special Issues aim to:

• Present cutting-edge research on a specific theme
• Support academic conferences by publishing selected papers
• Encourage collaboration among researchers
• Offer a dedicated platform for focused and timely scholarly contributions
• Increase visibility for high-quality, theme-based academic work

2. Types of Special Issues Accepted

a. Thematic Special Issues

A collection of articles centered around a focused academic topic or emerging theme.

b. Conference Proceedings / Dossier

Selected and extended papers from academic conferences, seminars, workshops, or symposiums.

c. Collaborative Issues

Papers arising from research groups, grants, or project-based collaborations.

3. Who Can Propose a Special Issue?

Special Issue proposals are accepted from:

• Conference organizers
• Senior researchers or professors
• Research groups and academic societies
• Guest editors with strong expertise in the proposed theme
• Institutional partners

4. How to Submit a Special Issue Proposal

A complete Special Issue proposal must include:

• Title of the Special Issue
• Theme Description (150–300 words)
  • Importance of the topic
  • Current gaps in research
  • Expected contributions
• List of Topics/Sub-Themes
• Guest Editor Details
  • Full name
  • Affiliation & designation
  • Email address
  • Short biography (100–150 words)
• Expected Number of Articles
• Article Source
  • Conference papers
  • Open call for submissions
  • Invited papers
• Proposed Timeline
  • Opening date for submissions
  • Review and revision schedule
  • Final deadline for camera-ready versions
• Conference Details (if applicable)
  • Conference name and date
  • Organizer details
  • Website (optional)

Proposals should be emailed to:
📧 [email protected]

5. Responsibilities of Guest Editors

Guest Editors play a central role in managing the Special Issue. They are responsible for:

• Preparing and promoting the Call for Papers (CFP)
• Ensuring submissions align with the Special Issue theme
• Conducting initial manuscript screening
• Assigning qualified peer reviewers
• Overseeing the peer review and revision process
• Ensuring ethical standards and quality compliance
• Recommending acceptance or rejection of articles

Note: Final publication decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief of Scholarly Summit.

6. Submission Requirements for Authors

Authors submitting to a Special Issue must provide:

Mandatory Documents

• Complete manuscript (as per journal formatting guidelines)
• Cover letter confirming:
  • Originality
  • No simultaneous submission elsewhere
  • Fit with the Special Issue theme
• Author information:
  • Full names
  • Affiliations
  • ORCID (optional)
  • Email addresses
• Conflict of interest statement
• Funding acknowledgment (if applicable)
• Ethical approval certificates (for human/animal studies)
• High-quality figures and tables
• Supplementary files (if any)

Plagiarism Check

• Articles must pass plagiarism screening (Turnitin/iThenticate).
• Acceptable similarity index: ≤ 15–20% (excluding references).

7. Peer Review Process

All manuscripts undergo the standard double-blind peer review process:

• Initial screening by the Guest Editor
• Assignment to reviewers (minimum 2 experts)
• Peer review and comments
• Author revisions
• Final recommendation by Guest Editor
• Final decision by Editor-in-Chief
• Copyediting and production by Scholarly Summit

8. Publication Workflow & Timeline

A typical Special Issue timeline:

• Proposal approval – 1–2 weeks
• Call for Papers announcement – on journal website and social media
• Submission window – 1–3 months
• Review process – 4–8 weeks
• Revision submission – 2–4 weeks
• Final decision – 1–2 weeks
• Publication online (with DOI)
• Full Special Issue release – after all accepted papers are finalized

9. Publication Format

Special Issues may be published as:

• A standalone issue
• A supplementary issue
• A section within a regular issue (labelled “Special Issue”)

All accepted articles receive:

• DOI
• Online publication
• Indexing (based on journal’s indexing scope)

10. Required Materials for Final Special Issue Compilation

The Guest Editor must submit the following after the issue is complete:

• Final list of accepted articles
• Preface/Foreword (1–2 pages)
• List of reviewers (optional)
• Conference details (for conference-based issues)

Scholarly Summit provides layout, formatting, typesetting, DOI assignment, and online hosting.