COPE Forum discussion: 11 July 2023
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Special issues and guest editorship
Publication of collections that are topic-themed is an established way of communicating focused or unique information that is within the scope of the parent journal, allowing targeted production of related information and promoting innovation in research. Such collections are often overseen and edited by guest editors, who are solicited or propose (unsolicited) to edit a collection of articles on a topical subject area. These guest editors typically invite or commission submissions to the special issue and oversee the peer review process.
The increase in guest-edited article collections has raised concerns about the quality of content in these issues, the peer review processes undertaken, the sometimes-indiscriminate marketing to academics, and the susceptibility of these initiatives to organised fraud (e.g. peer review manipulation, falsification of review, lack of oversight regarding ethical matters, financial conflicts, greater instances of endogeny, citation cartels, and paper mills). It can give the impression that different standards are being applied for regular versus guest-edited content.
COPE recently released an initial discussion document on guest-edited article collections.
During this forum we would like to continue the discussion about these issues, gathering your thoughts and feedback, which COPE will use to develop official guidelines.
Questions for the Forum discussion
1) What is the root problem with large amount of collections?
2) Some publication platforms are dedicated to special issues, such as conference proceedings. Do these bring their own ethical issues or considerations?
3) Are there different peer review or publishing standards for collections that should be considered?
4) Is there increased risk of lower quality and lack of ethical oversight in collections? Why would that be?
We welcome comments on this discussion from members and non-members.
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At the Springer Nature journal Estuaries and Coasts, guest edited article collections (which are also called special issues, themes, or special sections) typically garner more citations and have higher impact factors that regular articles. Publication of special issues and sections is also an important service to members of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation as well as other coastal scientists. However, Estuaries and Coasts has developed unique practices to avoid the potential problems engendered by using guest editors. All submissions to a special issue or section are handled via the normal Associate Editor-peer-review process. Guest editors are asked to invite authors to contribute to the collection and to vet manuscripts prior to submission. The guest editors are asked to review all manuscripts prior to submission to ensure they fit journal scope and are ready for peer review. Upon submission the Co-Editor in Chief assigns the manuscript to an Associate Editor, who in turn requests and referees the peer-review. When performed properly by guest editors, this process leads to low rejection rates (about 5% -10%) and rapid publication times (about 6 months). In contrast, when guest editors do not perform the pre-submission tasks well, the process leads to high rejection rates (about 30%) and long publication times (about 2 years). The guest editors are also asked to provide a short (2-page) introductory summary describing the purpose of and opportunity for the special issue/section. Finally, guest editors order the presentation of the manuscript in the issue/section. Using the normal submission and review process ensures high quality, avoids conflicts of interest, and facilitates an efficient review of manuscripts.
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