Special Issue Proposals

iSys welcomes proposals for Special Issues (thematic collections) that address emerging, strategic, or high-impact topics within the field of Information Systems (IS).

Special Issues aim to:

  • Advance theoretical, methodological, or empirical debates in IS;
  • Consolidate research communities around relevant themes;
  • Promote high-quality contributions aligned with the journal’s scope;
  • Strengthen national and international collaboration networks.

All Special Issues are expected to maintain the same scientific rigor, peer-review standards, and editorial policies applied to regular submissions.

Scope and Expectations

Proposed themes must:

  • Be clearly aligned with the Information Systems discipline;
  • Demonstrate scientific relevance and timeliness;
  • Show potential to attract high-quality submissions;
  • Explicitly articulate expected theoretical and/or practical contributions to IS.

Proposals that are purely technical, domain-specific without IS grounding, or limited to descriptive compilations will not be considered.

Proposal Requirements

Special Issue proposals must include:

  1. Title of the proposed Special Issue
  2. Guest Editors
    • Full names
    • Institutional affiliations
    • Short academic bios (max. 150 words each)
    • ORCID
  3. Rationale and Thematic Overview (approx. 500 words)
    • Background and motivation
    • Relevance to the IS field
    • Expected scientific contributions
    • Target audience
  4. Tentative List of Topics
    • Example subthemes or research questions
  5. Editorial Plan
    • Proposed timeline (Call for Papers, submission deadline, review period, publication)
    • Expected number of papers
  6. Community Engagement Strategy
    • Target conferences, research networks, or communities
    • Dissemination plan

Editorial Process

  • All submissions to Special Issues undergo double-blind peer review.
  • Guest Editors are responsible for:
    • Managing the review process;
    • Ensuring quality and timeliness;
    • Recommending editorial decisions.
  • Submissions must follow all iSys Author Guidelines and formatting requirements.

Special Issues are published under the journal’s continuous publication model, integrated into the annual volume.

Timeline and Workflow

A typical Special Issue follows this structure:

  1. Proposal submission and evaluation by the Editors-in-Chief
  2. Approval and publication of the Call for Papers
  3. Manuscript submission through the iSys system
  4. Peer review and revisions
  5. Final decision and publication

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on:

  • Alignment with the IS field
  • Scientific relevance and novelty
  • Qualifications and diversity of Guest Editors
  • Feasibility of the timeline
  • Potential to attract high-quality submissions

Contact

For questions, preliminary discussions or proposals, please contact the Editors-in-Chief.