Special Issues
Propose a special issue
The Journal of Digestive Disorders and Diagnosis welcomes proposals for focused collections that address an important question in digestive disease or its diagnosis.
A collection works when it gathers work that belongs together and would be weaker apart. The editorial office reads every proposal and replies.
Proposing
What a proposal should contain
01
The question
State the scientific question the collection addresses and why it is timely. A collection needs a question, not only a topic area.
02
Fit
Show how the collection sits within the journal’s remit: digestive disorders and the methods by which they are diagnosed and assessed.
03
Guest editors
Name the proposed guest editors with their affiliations and relevant expertise, and declare any competing interests at the outset.
04
Shape
Indicate the expected number and type of articles, the kinds of contribution sought, and a realistic timetable.
Governance
How a collection is run
A special issue is part of the journal, and it is held to the journal’s standards. Publisher oversight of a collection remains with the journal’s editors throughout.
Guest editors work within the same policies as the standing editorial board, and the safeguards below apply to every collection the journal runs.
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.
Decisions
Editorial decisions are based on scope, scientific quality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and relevance to the journal.
Guest-editor submissions
A guest editor’s own manuscript is handled independently by the journal’s editors, and the guest editor takes no part in the decision on it.
Competing interests
Guest editors declare competing interests before appointment and as they arise, and step aside where an interest is engaged.
Independence
Editorial decisions are independent of fees, membership, editorial or reviewing roles, and optional author services.
Terms
Articles in a collection are published on the journal’s ordinary terms: open access under CC BY 4.0, with an article processing charge of USD 2,100 after acceptance.
Submitting
While a collection is open
Collections that are open for submission are announced on this page with their scope, their guest editors and their timetable. Authors submitting to a collection use the journal’s ordinary routes and say in the cover letter which collection the manuscript is for.
Regular submissions are accepted throughout the year, whether or not a collection is open.