Special Issues Policy

Animal Reports may publish special issues on timely and important topics within animal science, veterinary medicine, aquaculture, wildlife science, and related fields. A special issue brings together articles around a defined theme while following the same scientific, ethical, and editorial standards as the journal’s regular content.

1. Proposals and Approval▲

Special issues may be proposed by members of the journal’s Editorial Team or by qualified external researchers. Each proposal is evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief for relevance to the journal’s scope, scientific value, timeliness, feasibility, and the suitability of the proposed Guest Editor or Guest Editor team. Approval of a proposal does not guarantee publication of the special issue or acceptance of any manuscript.

A proposal should include:

a clear title and a brief explanation of the topic’s importance;
the aims, scope, and main themes of the proposed issue;
five to ten representative keywords;
a proposed submission deadline and publication schedule;
the expected article types and approximate number of submissions;
the full name, current affiliation, institutional email address, ORCID iD, and short academic profile of each proposed Guest Editor; and
any known conflicts of interest or relationships relevant to the proposed topic or contributors.

A diverse Guest Editor team from more than one institution or country is encouraged where appropriate, but appointments are based primarily on expertise, integrity, and the ability to manage the issue responsibly.

2. Appointment of Guest Editors▲

Before appointment, the journal verifies the proposed Guest Editors’ qualifications, research record, identity, institutional affiliation, and potential conflicts of interest. Guest Editors must agree to follow the journal’s Editorial Policies and Roles, Peer Review Process, and Research and Publication Ethics.

Guest Editors may help define the scope, promote the call for papers, assess whether submissions fit the theme, suggest qualified reviewers, manage peer review when no conflict exists, and make recommendations to the Editor-in-Chief. They must treat all manuscripts and review information as confidential and must not upload them to external generative AI tools.

The journal may replace a Guest Editor or close a special issue if there is prolonged inactivity, an undisclosed conflict, inappropriate influence on editorial decisions, a breach of confidentiality, or another serious concern.

3. Editorial Oversight and Peer Review▲

The Editor-in-Chief retains responsibility for every special issue and has final authority over all publication decisions. Guest Editors provide recommendations but do not make the journal’s final decision. The Editor-in-Chief or a designated independent Senior Editor oversees the work of the Guest Editors and may intervene when necessary to protect the quality or integrity of the issue.

All research-based submissions undergo the same initial checks and single-anonymous external peer review used for regular submissions. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two qualified and independent external reviewers. Invited manuscripts are not guaranteed acceptance. Editorials may be evaluated editorially and will be clearly identified as such.

Reviewer selection, revision, editorial decisions, appeals, and research-integrity checks follow the journal’s published policies. The journal does not lower its requirements to meet a special-issue deadline or a planned number of articles.

4. Conflicts of Interest and Independent Handling▲

Guest Editors must declare any financial, institutional, professional, personal, or competitive interest that could affect, or appear to affect, their judgment. They must not handle a manuscript involving an author from the same institution, a recent co-author or collaborator within the previous three years, a current or former supervisor or student, a close personal or family relationship, or another relevant conflict.

A manuscript submitted by a Guest Editor will be assigned to an independent editor. The Guest Editor will not select reviewers, access confidential review information, or participate in the decision. Articles authored or co-authored by Guest Editors must not exceed 25% of the articles published in the special issue.

Guest Editor recognition or reimbursement must never depend on the number of manuscripts submitted, accepted, or published. Any approved support must be independent of editorial outcomes and must not influence the peer-review process.

5. Submission and Publication▲

Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s online submission system and prepared according to the Author Guidelines. Authors should select the relevant special issue during submission and disclose any previous communication with a Guest Editor.

Original Research Articles, Review Articles, Short Communications, Case Studies or Case Reports, Perspectives, and Editorials may be considered when relevant to the approved theme. Manuscripts must be original and must not be under consideration by another journal. Preprints and related conference papers must be disclosed and handled according to the journal’s policies.

Accepted articles may be published online as soon as production is complete and will be clearly labelled and grouped on the special issue page. The issue may remain open until the approved closing date. The Editor-in-Chief may extend, shorten, postpone, or cancel the schedule when scientific quality, ethical concerns, or an insufficient number of suitable articles make this necessary.

6. Open Access, Copyright, and Fees▲

Special-issue articles follow the journal’s regular open-access and copyright policies. Animal Reports charges no submission, processing, publication, page, color, or DOI fees. Authors retain copyright, and accepted articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.