How to suggest a theme issue – JMIR Publications

Submit a Theme Issue Proposal

To suggest a theme issue (also called e-collection), please fill out the Theme Issue Proposal form.

Theme Issue Proposal Form

Please only fill out this form if you are proposing a new theme issue. The form will request the following information (you may also fill out the MoU linked below in preparation):

Theme issue Title
Primary target journal. Theme issues are in fact e-collections which may in fact span papers published across a range of journals (see Which journals is JMIR Publications currently publishing?), although usually there is one main target journal for each theme issue. As main target journal (where the call for papers will be published, if any), select a JMIR journal that is closest to the topic. Do not choose by "impact factor". As theme issues are in fact e-collections, high priority papers can be cascaded to the top journals within the JMIR family, while for example formative papers or protocols can be transferred to JMIR Res Protoc.
Will this be open-call, invitation-only, or some combination of both? Describe how authors will be / are being solicited. For example, if the theme issue is a product of a workshop or conference we would expect some indication on who will select the best contributions for the workshop and invites the authors to submit to the theme issue (a theme issue should have at least 5-10 papers).
Who are the editors handling the papers, or should this be done by JMIR editors? You can decide between handling the papers as active guest "section" editor (including assigning reviewers and making decisions) or you can be a "acquisition editor" only, meaning that you just acquire the authors but leave the peer-review and decision-making to staff editors (you will still be credited as guest editor, but can leave the peer-review/decision making to them). The former is preferred.
Will there be an editorial and/or commentary article for this theme issue, written by the editors (usually free of charge)?
Sponsored vs non-sponsored theme issue: Who will pay the Article Processing Fee(s)? You can decide to cover the costs for the theme issue through a sponsor or grant ("sponsored theme issue"), or have the authors pay the APF. We usually give 20% off the regular Article Processing Fees for a theme issue or waive the fee for 1 out of 5 theme issue articles (editors may use this to invite "stars" to publish a paper free of charge). Thus the approximate costs for a theme issue is the APF times number of articles minus 20% (e.g. $1500 * 10= $15.000, minus $3000 (20%) = $12.000).
How many papers do we anticipate publishing? Over what time period will they be submitted (first submission when, last submission when)? See examples for typical timelines below.
Optional, not necessary at the first point of contact): Draft Call for Papers (CfP), see guidelines below

MoU Template

Please review our MoU template and if you want to move forward, try to complete as much information as possible, and send it back to us. It also contains information on timelines and drafting a call for papers (which we would publish on our site as well and disseminate through our channels).

Calls for Papers (CfP) Format

CfPs are usually published as Announcement (sometimes also as an Editorial), if they are open calls, or remain unpublished and are just circulated to invited authors (closed call, “by invitation only”).

A call for papers should have the following elements:

scope/content of the theme issue
sponsoring organization/context, and identity of guest editors (if any)
a clear submission deadline(s) (sometimes there is a two-step approach - initial review of abstracts/extended abstracts emailed by prospective authors to Theme Issue editors, then invitation of a full paper to be submitted through the JMIR portal)
a link to the instructions for authors (http://tinyurl.com/jmir-ifa)
Rather than asking for full papers, the "alternative" approach would be to ask for an abstract or extended abstract to be emailed, then a selection would be made by the editors, and invitations emailed to the authors inviting full papers to be submitted through the JMIR portal.
Unless Theme Issue sponsors have funding to cover the publication costs (Submission Fee/Article Processing Fee) of the invited articles, please state something like "Invited/Accepted articles with
corresponding authors from institutions which are not JMIR institutional members are subject to the regular JMIR publication fees (Submission Fee/Article Processing Fee - for details see Are there costs involved in publishing in JMIR journals, what are your fees?)".
Please clearly point out to authors on how to submit to a theme issue when you invite the to submit the full paper, e.g. by writing "To submit the article to this JMIR Theme Issue, please go to http://www.jmir.org/author/ and select "ISRII Theme Issue 2011" as Journal Section in step 1 of the submission process." (link also to How do I submit to a theme issue?)
When you announce the publication date of the Theme Issue, use language making clear that this is an approximate target date, e.g. "publication in October" - "publication scheduled for approximately October 2011..."
clarify if this is a general (open) call for papers (to be posted on the JMIR website), or if this goes only to presenters at a conference or funded under a certain program etc. (closed call) - in other words, who is eligible to submit a proposal?
clarify if viewpoint/review papers are welcome, or if you only want original research submissions

Typical timeline for Theme Issues

Timeline if authors have been identified

(e.g. abstracts have been prescreened and invited)

t=0 Call for abstracts/papers published

t+2m Submission deadline for abstract submissions

t+3m Full paper invitations sent out by theme issue guest editors

t+6m Submission deadline for full papers

t+8m First round of reviews completed, editors have sent requests for revisions

t+11m Revisions submitted and decisions made

Timeline for open call for papers

(no abstract prescreening)