Biogeosciences

Special Issues

Biogeosciences (BG) and its discussion forum Biogeosciences Discussions (BGD) offer an efficient new way of publishing special issues for measurement campaigns, conferences, etc. The individual papers are peer-reviewed & published as soon as available in regular issues, but then labelled as part of the special issue and linked electronically. The special issue can comprise any number of journals, the special issue editors can be the same or different in different journals, the manuscript processing follows the standard special issue pathway of the journal where the manuscript is submitted, all published papers are co/listed on a joint special issue webpage (in addition to the regular chronological volume of each journal).

The specific advantages are:

• Publication date is not limited by the latest paper/slowest peer-review process: every individual contribution to the special issue is published as soon as available.
• Efficient interactive discussion of the common theme on the BGD website.
• Pre-publication of discussion papers in BGD allows efficient cross-referencing between the final revised papers in BG.
• All contributions efficiently linked and coherently presented on dedicated special issue webpages (an appropriate logo is welcome as *.jpg file) easily accessible from the BG/BGD Online Libraries.
• Guest editors can define the order of the published papers on the SI webpage.
• Either a non-peer reviewed editorial preface or a peer-reviewed scientific paper can be used to introduce a Special Issue.
• Print-version available upon completed publication of all contributions. A minimum order of 20 copies is necessary, and the price will depend on the total number of pages in the special issue.
  
  The price per printed copy is calculated as follows:
  
  Number of pages x €0.15
  + Softcover and Binding (€2.25) (Hardcover price on request)
  + Priority Mail (individually calculated)
  
  = Net Price + VAT
  
  Please contact the Copernicus Publications Production Office for an official offer.

BG special issues are usually handled by 2-3 editors, comprising the guest editors and at least one member of the BG editorial board with experience in the subject area of the SI. As much as possible, the editors (at least some of them) should not be closely involved in the work from which the special issue arises. An editor must not handle papers he/she is a co-authoror one which is likely to be perceived as associated with a conflict of interest. The proposers of a SI should directly contact appropriate editorial board members to find a willing staff editor whose role will be to assist the other guest editors in taking decisions and facilitating communication with the electronic editorial office. All guest editors are given access to the electronic editorial office.

Each manuscript is handled by one of the guest editors. Acceptance to act as a guest editor implies that decisions will be made in a timely manner, as described on the BG web site, and that prompt action will be taken upon receiving email messages from the editorial and production offices.

Proposals of the SIs should be submitted to the editors-in-chief providing the following information:

• Name and email address of the guest editor(s);
• Title of special issue;
• A short synopsis on the purpose of the special issue that will be published on the SI website (including information whether the special issue will include only invited papers or is open for all submissions within the scope of the special issue);
• BG staff editor willing to be associated with the special issue;
• Opening date;
• Closing date (usually 4 months after the opening date; exceptions on request);
• Tentative list of manuscripts and, if available, abstracts.

After acceptance by the editors-in-chief and implementation of the SI by the editorial office (usually completed within a few days), the SI may be announced by the guest editors who should inform potential contributors about the BG publication policies outlined above.

The guest editors are obliged to ensure the high standard of publication in BG. All manuscripts rated as "poor" in one of the fields Scientific Significance, Scientific Quality or Presentation Quality must be rejected. The regular editor should monitor the quality.

The guest editors must ascertain that all manuscripts are within the scope of BG, do not contradict each other and that they cite each other.

The guest editors can provide a 1 to 2 pages long Preface to the special issue. The draft has to be sent around to all leading authors of the SI and will be read and approved by the chief editors before publication. The Preface/Introduction is published free of cost. A longer summary providing a synthesis of all papers could be published as separate article, which however will be treated as a regular contribution, i.e. it will be peer-reviewed and also involves payment of service charges.

Please view currently Scheduled Special Issues or browse existing special issues following the links BGD Special Issues and BG Special Issues, respectively.