Why Propose a Special Issue

Special issues focus attention on urgent epilepsy topics such as drug resistant epilepsy, seizure safety, neurostimulation, and care access. They accelerate collaboration and draw new submissions from the global community.

Proposal Elements

Submit a clear theme, a short rationale, and a list of potential topics or invited authors. Include a proposed timeline and guest editor bios if available.

Editorial Partnership

Guest editors collaborate with IEJ to manage peer review and maintain ethical standards. The editorial office provides workflow support and production coordination.

Suggested Themes

Examples include drug resistant epilepsy, pediatric epilepsies, EEG and neuroimaging analytics, neuromodulation therapies, and SUDEP risk prevention with real world outcomes.

Quality Standards

Special issues follow the same peer review standards as regular issues to maintain clinical credibility and citation impact.

Guest Editor Qualifications

Proposals should identify guest editors with relevant epilepsy expertise and prior publications. Clear leadership improves reviewer selection and issue coherence.

Scope and Deliverables

Define the number of expected manuscripts, article types, and a timeline for submissions and reviews. This helps the editorial office plan production resources.

Community Engagement

Special issues can include invited reviews or consensus statements that set epilepsy care benchmarks. IEJ supports outreach to societies and epilepsy centers to increase participation and society partners globally.

Timeline Planning

Provide target dates for submissions, reviews, and final decisions. Clear timelines help ensure that special issue articles are published together and remain cohesive for coordinated release.

Peer Review Management

Guest editors recommend reviewers and oversee revisions while IEJ maintains final editorial control. This balance ensures consistent quality across the issue.

Promotion Strategy

We encourage guest editors to share the call for papers across professional networks. Targeted outreach increases submissions and strengthens the issue impact from epilepsy services worldwide.

Data and Ethics Expectations

Special issue proposals should consider data sharing and ethical requirements for patient information. Clear expectations help authors prepare compliant submissions.

Guest Editor Responsibilities

Guest editors coordinate topic development, recommend reviewers, and monitor revisions. IEJ provides guidance to maintain consistency across manuscripts.

Editorial Approval

Proposals are reviewed by the IEJ editorial team to confirm scope, feasibility, and relevance. Approved topics receive a defined schedule and publication plan.

Feedback is provided to refine scope and align with epilepsy priorities and readership needs before launch.