Journal of Clinical Case Reports and ImagesSpecial Issues
Special Issues
Focused collections may bring related case evidence together, but every manuscript remains subject to JCCI's ordinary scope, ethics and peer-review standards.
Propose a Special Issue
Focused clinical collections
The Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Images welcomes proposals for focused collections of documented clinical cases and clinically meaningful images. Researchers with relevant expertise are invited to review the proposal requirements and contact the editorial office.
Purpose of a focused collection
A Special Issue may examine a diagnostic pattern, procedural challenge, complication, imaging presentation, patient-safety question or another coherent theme within JCCI's aims and scope. The topic must explain why the articles belong together. It may span clinical specialties, including imaging, pathology, genetics or pharmacotherapy, provided documented patient care remains central.
A collection follows the same editorial standards as regular journal submissions. Each manuscript is assessed independently against the approved scope and reporting requirements.
What a proposal must establish
- Clinical focus
- A concise title, rationale, scope boundaries and the clinical communities the collection would serve.
- Guest editor
- A named guest editor whose identity, current institutional affiliation and relevant clinical expertise have been verified by the journal. Check institutional information and available publication or ORCID records before appointment.
- Publication plan
- Proposed opening and closing dates, suitable JCCI article types, anticipated sources of submissions and a realistic minimum collection size.
- Integrity plan
- How consent, patient privacy, image integrity, conflicts and potentially editor-authored manuscripts will be handled.
Guest-editor responsibilities and limits
Scope
Define the collection and screen manuscripts against the approved topic and JCCI remit.
Reviewer selection
Suggest reviewers with relevant clinical or imaging expertise. The journal verifies their identity, expertise and independence and retains control of reviewer selection.
Recusal
Take no part in reviewer selection, handling or decisions for a guest editor's own manuscript or any other conflicted submission. The journal assigns an independent, non-conflicted editor with decision authority.
Final authority
The journal retains independent oversight and final editorial authority for every manuscript and the collection as a whole.
Article, review and fee standards
Case Reports, Clinical Images, Case Series and Technical Notes may be considered when they fit the approved collection scope and remain anchored to documented patient care. Image-led reports are evaluated for their clinical meaning, not as decorative additions to case narratives. A collection theme does not create extra manuscript categories or admit standalone trials, population studies or reviews. The ordinary consent, privacy, image-integrity, conflict and evidence standards apply. Peer review: Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts. Final decisions remain under journal authority.
The ordinary article processing charge applies only after acceptance. Reviewer selection, editorial judgment and acceptance remain independent of fees.
Opening, monitoring and closure
- Before opening
- The title, scope, named guest editor, dates, eligible article types and governance arrangements must be approved and published.
- While open
- The journal monitors conflicts, reviewer independence, submission quality and whether the collection remains within its stated remit.
- If submissions are insufficient
- Suitable accepted manuscripts may be published as regular journal articles rather than held for an incomplete collection.
- Closure
- A call may close at its stated date or earlier where governance, integrity, scope or operational requirements cannot be maintained. No manuscript is accepted merely to fill a collection.
Collection-wide integrity concerns
Refer suspected coordinated misconduct, manipulated review or recurring consent or image problems to the Editor-in-Chief through the editorial office at [email protected]. If the Editor-in-Chief is conflicted, the publisher appoints an independent senior editor.
The journal may pause invitations, review or publication for the affected collection while the concerns are assessed. Document the concern, preserve relevant records, review affected manuscripts individually and communicate decisions to the authors. Resume activity only after the responsible independent editor authorizes it; otherwise revise or close the collection.
Propose a governed clinical collection
Send a concise proposal only when a named, qualified guest editor and a defined JCCI topic are ready for assessment.
Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Images · JCCI · ISSN 2641-5518 · Open Access Pub