Special Issues, Thematic Collections and Guest Editors Policy

1. Purpose and scope

This policy governs special issues, thematic collections and other coordinated groups of articles published by the International Journal of Disaster Risk Management (IJDRM). It ensures that all content is subject to the same standards of relevance, peer review, editorial independence, ethics and quality as regular submissions.

A special issue or thematic collection does not guarantee publication of any submission. Editorial decisions remain based on scientific merit and compliance with journal policies.

2. Proposal requirements

A proposal should include the title, rationale, relationship to the journal’s Aims and Scope, expected scholarly contribution, proposed timeline, target audience, potential contributors, dissemination plan, and the names, affiliations, qualifications and competing-interest declarations of proposed Guest Editors.

The proposal must demonstrate international and disciplinary relevance and should not be designed primarily to publish the work of a single institution, project team, conference group or closed network.

3. Approval and oversight

The Editor-in-Chief, together with non-conflicted members of the editorial team, evaluates each proposal. Approval may be refused, revised or withdrawn when the topic falls outside the journal’s scope, the proposed leadership lacks suitable expertise, conflicts are not manageable, the contributor pool is insufficiently diverse, or the project creates a risk to editorial quality or publication integrity.

The Editor-in-Chief retains overall responsibility for the collection and the authority to reject any manuscript, replace a Guest Editor, modify the timetable, close the collection or cancel it.

4. Selection and responsibilities of Guest Editors

Guest Editors must have relevant subject expertise, a credible scholarly record and sufficient availability to perform the role. They must agree in writing to follow IJDRM policies and disclose financial, institutional, personal and academic interests.

Guest Editors are responsible for helping define the call, identifying qualified reviewers, managing assigned submissions impartially and promptly, protecting confidentiality, monitoring conflicts of interest, evaluating reviewer reports and recommending decisions. They may not promise acceptance or bypass journal requirements.

5. Peer review

Every research article, review, case study, policy paper or practice contribution in a special issue or thematic collection undergoes the journal’s standard double-blind peer-review process, normally involving at least two independent expert reviewers. Guest editorials, introductions or similar non-research content will be clearly identified and reviewed editorially as appropriate.

Reviewer selection must be based on expertise and independence. Reviewers should not be from the authors’ institution and should not have recent close collaboration, personal relationships or other interests that could reasonably affect impartiality.

6. Editorial independence and final decisions

Guest Editors may recommend a decision but do not have unilateral authority to accept a manuscript. Final acceptance is issued by the Editor-in-Chief or a designated non-conflicted journal editor after confirming that peer review and policy requirements have been met. The publisher, sponsors, partner organisations, funders and conference organisers may not influence editorial decisions.

7. Manuscripts authored by Guest Editors or journal editors

A Guest Editor, Editor-in-Chief or Editorial Board member must not handle, access reviewer identities for, recommend a decision on, or otherwise influence a manuscript in which they are an author, co-author or competing-interest holder. Such a submission will be assigned to an independent editor and at least two external reviewers. The published article will include a statement explaining the independent handling process when appropriate.

Submissions authored by Guest Editors should be exceptional and must not constitute a disproportionate share of the collection.

8. Conflicts of interest

Guest Editors must declare conflicts at appointment and update them throughout the collection. A Guest Editor will be recused from a manuscript involving a current or recent collaborator, colleague, student, supervisor, close personal relationship, institutional dependency, financial interest or other circumstance that could reasonably be perceived as bias.

9. Calls for papers and contributor recruitment

Calls for papers must accurately describe the topic, scope, timetable, peer-review process, fees and Guest Editors. Invitations must not imply guaranteed acceptance, special treatment or inclusion in an indexing service. IJDRM does not support aggressive, misleading or indiscriminate solicitation.

10. Fees and waivers

The standard IJDRM Article Processing Charge and published discount or waiver policy apply equally to regular and collection submissions. Payment status, waiver requests and institutional support are not disclosed to reviewers and do not influence editorial decisions.

11. Conferences and partner organisations

A conference presentation, project membership or organisational partnership does not guarantee consideration or publication. Submissions derived from conference papers must meet journal requirements, disclose prior dissemination and provide a substantial scholarly contribution beyond any earlier version.

12. Research integrity

Suspected manipulation of authorship, peer review, citations, data or editorial processes will be handled under the journal’s publication-ethics policies. The journal may suspend the collection while concerns are investigated and may contact institutions or other relevant bodies.

13. Transparency in publication

The collection page will identify its title, scope, Guest Editors, timetable and published articles. Articles will clearly indicate their inclusion in a collection while retaining individual bibliographic details and DOI. A collection will not be presented as a separately numbered issue unless it is formally designated as such in the journal’s publication schedule.

14. Discontinuation or cancellation

IJDRM may close or cancel a collection if editorial standards cannot be maintained, deadlines are repeatedly missed, conflicts become unmanageable, too few suitable manuscripts are received, or integrity concerns arise. Manuscripts already under consideration may continue through the regular journal workflow where appropriate.