Guidelines for Proposing

Special Issues
European Journal of Psychological Assessment

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 Guidelines Special Issues 2/5

The European Journal of Psychological Assessment occasionally publishes Special Issues on

relevant topics and strong proposals for Special Issues are always welcome. This document
provides guidance on how to increase the chances of success when submitting a proposal.1

Special Issue articles need to fulfill all the normal requirements of any individual European
Journal of Psychological Assessment article and should be of relevance to a wide international
readership. Authors should note that the review process applies for articles in Special Issues as
for regular articles, namely a rigorous and blind peer-review process.

Special Issues should be about a topic of notable significance (see here for the journal’s aims
and scopes: http://www.hgf.io/ejpa) and it is expected that at least some of the guest editors
proposing a Special Issue will be highly acknowledged researchers in their respective field.

(A) Initial proposal and agreement in principle

All Special Issues must receive initial approval from the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) before papers
are submitted. Proposals should be emailed to the EiC, currently Dragos Iliescu from the
University of Bucharest (dragos.iliescu@fpse.unibuc.ro). There are two main formats
proposals can take; whereby a combination of the two (with some proposed papers and some
to be added byan open call) is also possible:

1: A detailed formal proposal, which includes the titles and abstracts of the proposed articles.

This proposal format must contain:

The title of the Special Issue;

A brief CV of the proposed Guest Editors (usually no more than three);
A statement of the Special Issue’s significance for European Journal of Psychological
Assessment and a draft introduction if possible;
Titles and draft abstracts of each of the proposed articles. Preferably, there should be
at least 10 proposed articles to allow for possible rejections;
Brief details of contributors;
An outline timetable (see below for a template)

2: A proposal for a Special Issue Call for Papers.

This proposal format must contain:

The title of the Special Issue;

A brief CV of the proposed Guest Editors (usually no more than three);
A statement of the Special Issue’s significance for European Journal of Psychological
Assessment and the likely content to be covered;
A draft of the Call for Papers. The EiC can be contacted for guidance and examples of
previous Calls for Papers;
An outline timetable (see below for a template).

1 These guidelines are an adapted version from Thinking Skills & Creativity; used with permission from Rupert Wegerif
 Guidelines Special Issues 3/5

The Editors of European Journal of Psychological Assessment 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. If a Special Issue moves forward,
Guest Editors are expected to oversee the peer review process for the Special Issue, but final
acceptance approval for each paper will be given solely by the EiC (or an assigned Associate
Editor).

The EiC and Guest Editors will point liaise directly with each other regarding progress of the
Special Issue and any queries that arise throughout the process. In cases where a Call for
Papers is issued, the EiC will liaise with the Guest Editors to finalize and disseminate the Call
for Papers as widely as possible. Guest Editors will also be given full support and guidance
regarding the use of the online submission and reviewing system (“Editorial Manager”) used
by European Journal of Psychological Assessment.

(B) The review process and editorial procedure

1: For the detailed formal proposal (type 1 above):

After agreement in principle, the Guest Editors consider the articles and, when they are
convinced that they meet the appropriate standard, instruct the authors to submit their papers
via European Journal of Psychological Assessment’s online submission system. Guest Editors
should make it clear to authors that being invited to submit a paper is absolutely no guarantee
of its publication. Authors should submit their papers to the appropriate Special Issue and
clearly note this in their cover letter to the editor during the submission process. The submitted
papers will then be available within the online system for the Guest Editors to send out for
double-blind peer review. It is expected that at least one (or better, two) of the reviewers are
not involved as contributing authors or Guest Editors in the Special Issue.

2: For proposals for a Special Issue Call for Papers (type 2 above):

As submissions for the Special Issue will arrive directly from authors in the online submission
and review system, the Guest Editors will be able to access these and assess whether each
paperis in scope for the Special Issue. The paper will then either be rejected or should be sent
out for external peer review. If a paper does not meet the criteria required for the Special Issue,
Guest Editors may reject papers without them having been sent out for external peer review.
It is expected that at least one (or better, two) of the reviewers are not involved as contributing
authors or Guest Editors in the Special Issue.
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For all Special Issue types please note that:

(a) The EiC may wish to take a first look at all papers submitted to a Special Issue and may
reject papers without review on the basis of quality, originality, or significance, or ask for
further revisions to be made prior to review.

(b) The double-blind peer review of each paper will be carried out in the normal manner via
the journal’s online submission and peer review system under the lead of the Guest Editors.
Once reviews are returned, the Guest Editors will need to make a provisional decision
accompanied by a detailed action letter (templates can be provided by the EiC). This will be
communicated to the EiC for confirmation of the decision. Should the EiC not agree with the
acceptance decision proposed, the Guest Editors may appeal, but the final accept/reject
decision lies with the EiC only.

(c) As articles start to be accepted, the Guest Editors will be prompted to start preparing an
introductory article, which should be original and not previously published, to be submitted
no later than 2 weeks after the acceptance of the last article in the issue (i.e., an editorial for
the Special Issue). This introduction should set the scene and provide the premise for the
Special Issue referencing the articles included within.

(d) It should be noted that, during the review process, the EiC can reject individual papers, or
the Special Issue as a whole, if it does not meet quality standards. If fewer articles than
anticipated are accepted, a Special Section (instead of a full Special Issue) may be proposed by
the EiC, or, alternatively, a grouped publication of articles without an introduction.

(e) Accepted articles will possibly be published and be citeable as an “advance article”
(= “online first”) prior to completion of the full Special Issue. Authors receive proofs to check
and approve, as usual.

(C) General information

(a) Length: As a general guide, a full Special Issue should comprise of approximately 6 to 10
articles. Where the review process results in fewer articles, then a Special Section can be
published.

(b) Timetable: Authors should work to clear deadlines set by the Guest Editors and the EiC,
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, this might ultimately mean rejection of the article.

(c) Promotion and Ordering of Copies: European Journal of Psychological Assessment is

always interested to hear of any society meetings or research groups that are relevant to the
theme of a specific Special Issue. Occasionally it may be possible to arrange for promotional
leaflets to be sent to such meetings, if plenty of notice is given. Please note that the publisher
does not routinely generate Special Issue flyers nor does it print extra copies of Special Issues
unless specifically agreed with the Publisher prior to publication.
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(d) It is expected that all Guest Editors and authors involved in the Special Issue will comply
with the strict ethical standards enforced by the journal.

(D) Additional Resources

Template Timeframe

Contributing authors confirmed XXX

First draft papers submitted to journal XXX
Reviewers return comments on manuscripts; XXX
editorial review completed; first decision
communicated to authors
Authors submit revised manuscripts to journal XXX
Decision and final comments sent to authors XXX
Final manuscripts due from authors XXX
Special Issue finalized XXX
Publication of Special Issue XXX

February 7, 2022