Special issues
Special Issues
Focused collections at Journal of Water are led by researchers who propose them. The journal welcomes proposals across its remit.
Propose a special issue
Bring a collection to the journal
Journal of Water welcomes proposals for focused collections that address important questions in water science. Researchers with relevant expertise are invited to review the proposal requirements and contact the editorial office.
A collection works best where a question is active enough to draw several independent contributions and specific enough that the papers speak to each other: a process that is being reinterpreted, a method coming into wider use, a class of system under new pressure, or a body of regional work that deserves to be read together.
What a proposal sets out
The question
The scientific question the collection addresses, and why it is worth assembling several papers around it now.
Fit with the journal
How the collection sits within the journal’s remit, described on the Aims and Scope page.
Guest editors
The proposed guest editors, their expertise and their affiliations, with any competing interests declared at the outset.
Expected contributions
The kinds of paper the collection would carry, and how contributions would be sought.
How collections are handled
The same standards as any submission
Manuscripts submitted to a collection are screened and reviewed on the journal’s ordinary terms. All submissions undergo initial editorial screening. Manuscripts that meet the journal's scope and minimum requirements proceed to independent 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. Editorial decisions are based on scope, scientific quality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and relevance to the journal.
Guest editors declare competing interests and step aside from any manuscript they are connected to, which is handled by a member of the journal’s own editorial board. Editorial decisions rest with the handling editor and the reviewers, and remain independent of fees, membership, and editorial or reviewing roles.
A collection gathers work around a question; it does not change what the journal publishes. The remit stays as set out in the Aims and Scope.
Contact the editorial office
Proposals and questions about a collection go to [email protected], with the question, the proposed guest editors and an outline of the contributions.