Special Issues / Guest Editor Policy

Special Issues / Guest Editor Policy of TJEB

1. General Principles

TJEB may publish special issues on focused themes that fall within the journal's Aims and Scope. Special issues are intended to advance scholarly discussion on important, emerging, or interdisciplinary topics in economics, business sciences, and related transdisciplinary fields.

Special issues must follow the same standards of academic quality, editorial independence, peer review, publication ethics, transparency, and author requirements as regular submissions. Special issues must not be used to bypass normal editorial procedures, weaken peer review, promote particular authors or institutions, or manipulate citations.

2. Approval of Special Issues

A special issue may be developed only after approval by the Editor-in-Chief (EIC). A special issue proposal should normally include:

  • proposed title and theme;
  • rationale and relevance to TJEB's Aims and Scope;
  • proposed Guest Editor(s), including affiliation and expertise;
  • expected types of manuscripts;
  • proposed timeline;
  • proposed call for papers, where applicable;
  • any known or potential competing interests.

The EIC may approve, request revision of, or reject a special issue proposal based on academic relevance, feasibility, editorial capacity, and alignment with TJEB's policies.

3. Appointment of Guest Editors

Guest Editors are appointed by the EIC for a specific special issue or thematic collection, based on scholarly expertise, publication record, subject knowledge, editorial experience, and relevance to the proposed topic. Guest Editors must agree to follow TJEB's editorial and ethical requirements, including the Competing Interests / Conflict of Interest Policy and Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.

4. Role of Guest Editors

Guest Editors may support the special issue by:

  • helping define the theme and scope;
  • advising on the call for papers;
  • identifying relevant research communities;
  • recommending suitable reviewers;
  • providing academic advice to the EIC or editorial team;
  • supporting timely communication where requested.

Guest Editors do not replace TJEB's editorial governance structure. The EIC retains oversight and final decision authority for all manuscripts submitted to special issues.

5. Peer Review and Editorial Decisions

All manuscripts submitted to a special issue must follow the same peer review process and quality standards as regular submissions. Guest Editors may recommend reviewers or provide academic advice, but final editorial decisions are made by the EIC. Reviewer selection, editorial assessment, revision decisions, acceptance, and rejection must remain consistent with TJEB's established editorial procedures.

6. Competing Interests and Guest Editor Submissions

Guest Editors must disclose any competing interests related to the special issue topic, authors, funders, institutions, or submitted manuscripts. A Guest Editor must not handle any manuscript where a competing interest exists — such manuscripts must be handled by the EIC or another independent editor.

Guest Editors may submit manuscripts to their own special issue only where permitted by the EIC and where independent editorial handling is ensured. Guest Editor-authored papers must not dominate the special issue.

7. Publication Ethics and Citation Practices

Special issues must not be used for citation manipulation, coercive citation, inappropriate self-citation, paper-mill activity, guest authorship, ghost authorship, or other unethical publication practices. Concerns will be handled in accordance with the Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement and the Corrections, Retractions, Withdrawals, and Expressions of Concern Policy.

8. Call for Papers and Promotion

Calls for papers for special issues must be accurate, transparent, and approved by the EIC before circulation. A call for papers should clearly state:

  • the title and theme of the special issue;
  • scope and expected topics;
  • submission deadline;
  • peer review requirements;
  • Guest Editor information;
  • link to the Guide for Authors;
  • relevant journal policies.

Promotion of special issues must not make misleading claims about guaranteed acceptance, rapid publication, indexing status, impact factors, or peer review outcomes.

9. Monitoring, Withdrawal, or Cancellation

TJEB will monitor special issues to ensure academic quality, publication ethics, conflict-of-interest management, peer review integrity, and editorial independence. The EIC will pause, modify, withdraw approval for, or cancel a special issue if:

  • the topic no longer fits the journal's scope;
  • Guest Editors do not comply with TJEB policies;
  • serious competing interests arise;
  • peer review integrity cannot be ensured;
  • ethical, legal, or quality concerns are identified.

10. Relationship with Other Journal Policies

This policy should be read together with other relevant TJEB documents, including:

  • Aims and Scope
  • Guide for Authors
  • Peer Review Policy
  • Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
  • Competing Interests / Conflict of Interest Policy
  • Corrections, Retractions, Withdrawals, and Expressions of Concern Policy
  • Reviewer Guidelines
  • AI Use Policy for Authors, Reviewers, and Editors

11. Compliance with Ethical Guidance

TJEB manages special issues and guest-edited content in accordance with internationally recognised publication ethics principles, including relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) on guest-edited collections.