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Italian Culture Policy on Special Issues

Scholars not formally affiliated with the journal may be invited to coordinate submissions, or scholars may come to the editor with suggestions on a special issue topic. These Guest Editors circulate a call for papers, contact leading and promising scholars in the field for possible submissions, select from among the submissions generated to reap a proposed set of articles, and pass those articles on to the journal’s Senior Editor.

Importantly, the Guest Editor does not replace the existing Senior Editor or Editorial Board for that issue. The Senior Editor or Editorial Board has the final accountability for the ultimate product. If the Guest Editor does not follow a formal referee process, with the articles vetted by outside readers, the Editor or Editorial Board may put the articles through this process if such is the normal practice of the journal. The Editor also retains an overall fiduciary responsibility for the journal’s cover art, typography, layout, printing, distribution, and the standards of its contents.

Pieces may be solicited from specific scholars for the special issue. However, solicitation of such pieces is not a guarantee of acceptance. The solicited submission must go through the normal refereeing process. The solicitation is a sign of respect and an expression of hope that this author’s piece can make its way into the issue as finally published. But this is not an assured outcome.

In addition, the referee process, already subject to delays in processing, assessment, and revision, can be further delayed by the Senior Editor’s consultations with the Guest Editor and invited authors. People involved in special issues should be aware of time-related factors and are advised to be sure to prepare far in advance for deadlines and other contingencies.

Therefore, the mission of the Guest Editor is primarily scholarly. The Guest Editor does not, for instance, do line editing or sub-editing. In other words, the Senior Editor is still heavily involved as would occur in a normal issue, the difference being that the Guest Editor has sculpted the shape of the issue. The cross-fertilization of this process is one of the primary benefits that the academic conversation can reap from the production of special issues.