Special Issue

Preparing your special issue proposal

Specific proposals for Special Issues from potential Guest Editors have to be submitted to the Editorial Committee of the TTSERS journal for them to be considered. These proposals can be emailed to the Managing Editor of the Editorial Committee at TTSERS.

As soon as these proposals are received, they will be reviewed by both the Managing Editor and the Editor-in-Chief of TTSERS, who are also likely to recommend some basic adjustments and tweaks that need to be made, so that the proposals align with the standards, scope, and objectives of the TTSERS journal.

Structure of Special Issue Proposal

Every proposal for a Special Issue that is submitted for consideration by the Editorial Committee at the TTSERS journal is required to contain the following information -

1. An Introduction/Overview : This includes a broad summary of the overall theme and topic of focus of the Special Issue, with adequate background references and details that can also be comprehended easily by those with little to no knowledge of the particular specialization within the field of Biomedical Engineering. Additionally, data offering insight into the extent of development taking place within this specialization should also be included.
2. Significance Of The Topic : To The Existing Reader-Base Of The TTSERS Journal An account of how and why the topic of focus of the proposed Special Issue is a matter of concern for the readers of the TTSERS journal as well as of significance to those belonging to other specialties should be included.
3. Biographical Information Of The Guest Editor(s) : A detailed biography of every Guest Editor involved accompanied by a list of all the publications that each Guest Editor is affiliated with, has to be included.
4. An Overview Of All Proposed Articles : A list of all the articles that can be included in the proposed Special Issue has to be included. This list should contain specifics on every proposed article such as their titles, abstracts, and biographies of the Corresponding Authors.
5. Provisional Schedule : A tentative time schema for every stage of the publication of the Special Issue including details such as -
● deadlines for initial submissions of manuscripts,
● the reviewing process period,
● final submission after all due revisions/corrections have been made, and lastly,
● the expected date of publication for the Special Issue,
has to be included

Managing Your Special Issue

Upon the approval of the proposal for a Special Issue of the TTSERS journal, Guest Editors will be required to iron out and confirm specifics such as -

the list of proposed articles,
deadlines of all processes (submission, reviewing, final submission, publication),
excepted article & page count,

promptly. Guest Editors will also have to get in touch with the authors of all the proposed articles that will be included in the Special Issue and relay information on all the finalized deadlines for each process.

Managing the Peer Review Process

Every manuscript that is submitted to be considered for publication in a Special Issue of the TTSERS journal must be subject to a meticulous and thorough double peer-review process.

It is the responsibility of the Guest Editors of the proposed Special Issue to ensure that all of the quality criteria and standards of the TTSERS journal are met. If absolutely necessary, a Guest Editor can also offer assistance as one of the reviewers of submitted manuscripts for the Special Issue.

As far as the criteria for the selection of reviews is concerned, the same criteria that apply to reviewers for regular issues of the TTSERS journal, also apply for Special Issues. These criteria include -

no prospective reviewer should have been a co-author with any one of the authors whose articles are being considered for publication in the Special Issue, within the last five years; and
no prospective reviewer should have a direct student/advisor association, amongst the other usual criteria.

Workflow In ScholarOne Manuscripts

Designating An Associate Editor : As soon as a manuscript has been submitted to be considered for publication in a Special Issue, the Guest Editor is required to designate an Associate Editor who will be responsible for managing the manuscript.
Designating Reviewers : The Associate Editor for a manuscript then proceeds to immediately designate reviewers for the paper that he/she is managing in order to facilitate a quick reviewing process. Reviewers are required to complete their reviewal of the manuscript that they have been assigned within a period of three to four weeks. Within one week of the reviewed manuscript being due, automated reminders are sent out to the concerned reviewers. Reminders are also sent out when the deadlines have been breached.
Make Decision: As soon as the reviewers submit their reviewed manuscripts, the Associate Editor is notified via email. The Associate Editor is then required to take a prompt decision based on the suggestions of the reviewers. When it comes to rectifying minor details, authors will be given a period of 14 days to do so. As far as major modifications are concerned, authors will be given up to 30 days to do so. The Associate Editor can also choose to modify these deadlines according to the severity of the revisions that need to be made, if necessary.
As soon as revised manuscripts are submitted, they are subject to the same workflow as that of initial submissions.

Plagiarism and Copyright Information

Every manuscript that is submitted to the TTSERS journal to be considered for publication (whether in a regular issue or a special issue), is subject to mandatory screening for plagiarism. This process is carried out using a highly advanced plagiarism detection tool called 'Turnitin'. As soon as the tool completes evaluating a manuscript, it produces a detailed plagiarism report detailing every part of the manuscript that contains duplications and resemblances to articles that have been published earlier.

Finalizing Your Special Issue

Upon the acceptance of all prospective articles for the proposed Special Issue of the TTSERS journal, the following obligatory requirements are to be met by the Guest Editor(s).

Scanning the Issue

The 'Scanning The Issue' section of a Special Issue of the TTSERS journal, is written by the Guest Editor(s). This section is meant to serve as an introduction of the issue to the readers and should typically -

have a suitable introduction to the topic of focus of the Special Issue, and offer suitable justification for why this topic and the Special Issue holds due significance to the field of Biomedical Engineering in the time that it is being published.
offer some insight into the history of this focus topic and provide readers with sufficient context as to why the topic is of consequence to all other specializations within the field of Biomedical Engineering.
offer an overview of the coverage of the Special issue by providing a brief summary of every article in the Special Issue, in the order of its appearance.
provide an account on the subject matter that has not been covered in the Special Issue, where further information on these and the subject matter that has been covered can be found, what the future holds for the topic of focus, and the sort of developments that are currently underway.
provide due acknowledgments wherever necessary.
incorporate the photographs and biographies of all the Guest Editors involved in the Special Issue.