Special Calls

JISA is permanently open to receiving new submissions, working with a single issue per volume, an approach in which accepted papers are published online as soon as they are approved by the editorial board. 

Having a single issue per volume, Special Issues are now approached as Special Calls: a collection of significant work about challenging themes, hot or emerging topics, specific problems, and relevant opportunities in the area.

Special Calls have specific deadlines, norms, and editors. A Special Call is intended to attract papers that offer substantial contributions to help our communities to advance their capacity to understand, solve or deal with relevant problems. Special Calls for papers that investigate specific topics from both theoretical and technical perspectives are encouraged, and Special Calls for papers that discuss challenges of social and cultural nature, requiring contextualized approaches and discussions, are also welcome. 

JISA accepts special calls proposals to attract both original papers and extended versions of papers previously published in conferences and workshops (at least 35% of new content). JISA considers only calls that will be announced worldwide to all relevant scholars, accepting submissions from anyone, and adopting the same rigorous process as regular submissions.

Proposing a Special Call

Proposals for special calls must be submitted using the SBC Open Lib system. Begin your submission as you would do for a paper, but select “Special Call Proposal” from the drop-down menu on the first page of the submission form. Proposals must include the following components in one PDF file (see an example here):

  1. Title and a brief statement of the scope and focus of the special call (up to 150 words);
  2. Explanation of why it is opportune and important to announce the special call (less than 500 words);
  3. Summary of the proposers’ editorial experience and their expertise on the theme;
  4. List of key potential submitters to/authors for the proposed special call;
  5. The “call for papers” message that will be published and distributed worldwide, describing the focus of the special call, important dates, and other relevant information (less than 1000 words);
  6. Schedule and plan for the special call:
    • where and when the “call for papers” will be distributed
    • the selection process
    • the important dates covering at least:
      • submission deadline
      • reviews deadlines (1st, 2nd, 3rd round)
      • submission of revised versions deadline
      • decision deadline (rejection, acceptance)
      • camera-ready submission deadline
      • the ultimate deadline for publication 
    • the prospective reviewer's list

If your Special Call accepts extended versions of papers previously published in conferences, your review process must guarantee all accepted papers meet the following criteria:

  • English language
  • At least 35% of new content
  • Different title and abstract than the original paper
  • Each paper must be reviewed by at least 3 independent reviewers, and at least one of them must have not reviewed the original paper
  • Explicit mention and citation to the original paper (i.e., a footnote or information in the acknowledgment section including the complete reference to the original paper)

Review Process

Submitted proposals will be reviewed by members of the Editorial Board who will accept/reject proposals usually within 30 days. If your proposal is accepted, the editorial board may require changes and adaptations according to the journal's policies and scope. 

For accepted proposals, proposers will work as Special Call Editors, answering to the current Editorial Board. All submissions must occur via the SBC Open Lib system, following the same process and norms adopted for regular submissions. Special Call editors will be responsible for all the call dissemination, paper reviewing, and publishing processes.  All papers published by JISA follow the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

 

If you have any questions about proposing a Special Call, contact the Editors in Chief.