Submission of Special Issue proposals

The International Labour Review (ILR) welcomes proposals for guest-edited thematic Special Issues, which fall within the aims and scope of the ILR. Please read the following guidelines and information before proceeding to the submission of a proposal.

Proposal

Before submitting your proposal, please ensure you have read the aims and scope of the ILR.

To submit a Special Issue proposal, download the Special Issue proposal form and fill it in according to the guidelines below.

The proposals should then be sent to revue@ilo.org

Proposals can be submitted in English, French or Spanish.  

Proponents are encouraged to submit them in whichever of these languages they feel most comfortable.

Preparing the proposal

The proposal should contain the following:

• The proposed title of the issue (see Wiley's best practice SEO tips);
• The full names and institutional affiliation(s) of the Guest Editor(s) and, in case of multiple Guest Editors, the name of the corresponding editor (i.e. the person who will have the primary responsibility for communicating with the ILR during the evaluation of the proposal and, if accepted, throughout the subsequent process);
• A background and outline text (500 words) explaining:
  1. the origin of the issue (i.e. whether it is the outcome of a conference, a call for papers or contains commissioned articles);
     N.B. Special Issue proposals that are the outcome of a conference should focus on a theme; the ILR does not publish conference proceedings.
     The ILR welcomes both proposals comprising a set of proposed articles and proposals involving an open call for papers. In the latter case, the Guest Editor(s) will then select the articles to be submitted to peer-review.
  2. the scope (i.e. the theme that ties the articles together) and a summary of the issue;
  3. the contribution of the issue to the knowledge of the theme addressed;
  4. the proposed length of the issue;
     N.B. The total length of a Special Issue should, in principle, not exceed 70,000 words, including an introduction. The number of articles included may vary. However, the number of words per article should remain within the limit set by the ILR (between 7,000 and 10,000 words including tables, boxes, footnotes and references, with an abstract of no more than 100 words).
• A table of contents including abstracts (300 words each), prospective authors’ full names and institutional affiliations for each proposed article;
• A proposed time frame for the following stages of the project:
  1. the submission deadline for the expected manuscripts
  2. the planned completion date of the final review by the Guest Editor(s) and of any suggested revisions (i.e. the date on which articles are to be submitted to the ILR Managing Editor for final review and approval)
  3. Any additional information (e.g. regarding planned promotion of the Special Issue)

Evaluation process, decision and peer-review process

The ILR Managing Editor will approve or decline proposals for guest-edited Special Issues after consulting with the Editorial Board.

The evaluation of the proposals will be guided by the principles of the ILR editorial policy. Moreover, the main evaluation criteria will be:

• coherence of the issue
• the quality of its potential contributions
• interest to the ILR’s readership.

A proposal may be rejected, accepted, or additional information or revisions may be requested before a decision is taken. Requests for revision may concern the proposed selection of articles.

If the proposal is accepted, each article (including the introduction) will be reviewed by the ILR Editorial Board and Managing Editor and will undergo a double-blind peer-review.

Responsibilities of Guest Editors

Guest Editors are responsible for:

• sending the ILR Managing Editor the final list of prospective article titles and author names together with the submission declaration and conflict of interest statements for each article (see sections 1.4. and 1.5. of the guidelines on submitting manuscripts);
• dealing with authors throughout the editorial process and providing guidance to ensure that their articles constitute a coherent set;
• ensuring that authors read and abide by the ILR guidelines on submitting manuscripts (except for section 1.2.);
• submitting the initial manuscripts to the ILR Managing Editor;
• writing an introduction to the issue (in addition to the introduction, they may submit a maximum of one article) which,  beyond providing an inventory of the articles in the volume, brings an added value to the volume as a whole;
• proposing a list of reviewers (a minimum of two per paper) to the ILR Managing Editor, who will decide the final list and handle the communication with the reviewers according to the standard practices of double-blind review processes;
• communicating the reviews to authors and providing them with the necessary guidance throughout the revision process; 
• regularly updating the ILR Managing Editor on the progress of the Special Issue;
• sending the ILR Managing Editor the articles that have been recommended for acceptance for final review and approval, and the suggested order of appearance;
• communicating publication decisions to authors and, in the case of  accepted articles, informing them that the process will be followed up by the ILR Managing Editor and editorial team;
• providing the ILR Managing Editor with the full contact details of all the authors of accepted articles.