Guidelines on Special Issues

2023 Call for Proposals

Proposal submission deadline: Nov 30, 2023
Decision date: January 15, 2024
Publication issue: Spring 2025

The Canadian Journal of Education/Revue canadienne de l’éducation (CJE/RCE) is announcing a Call for Proposals for a Special Issue. The Special Issue will have two independent sections which are organized under a specific theme and introduced by the Guest Editor(s). One section is designated for a themed collection of English articles and one for a themed collection of French articles. The themes do not need to be the same in the two sections. Prospective bilingual Guest Editors can submit a proposal to edit either the French or English section but not both.

Submitting a proposal

Proposals are accepted in response to a “Call for Proposals for a Special Issue” and will have an identified deadline.  Please submit the proposal to the Managing Editor, Sharon Hu, at <journalrevue@csse-scee.ca>. The Editors and the Rédacteur/Rédactrice will review and respond to all proposals.

Guidelines

  1. In order to be considered, the proposal should include a rationale, a list of potential topics for the articles under a particular theme, an indication of scholars who have committed to submitting, and a discussion of how appropriate reviewers will be identified.
  2. A rationale should present a case for exploring the topic or issue. The timeliness, significance, and broad impact should be clear, as well as the gaps in theory/research to which the Special Issue would be addressed.
  3. The articles chosen for publication must be from diverse perspectives and modes of inquiry, so the issue or topic is taken up in a way that shows a comprehensive understanding of the issue or topic from diverse perspectives.
  4. Reviewers must be drawn from a variety of institutions, scholarly associations or special interest groups, and disciplines. Reviewers may not review more than two articles.

Timelines and workload

The workload for Guest Editors is considerable, and this should accord with institutional workload policies, planned sabbatical leaves, and so on. CJE/RCE will provide the timeframe for the Special Issue publication in the Call.

Roles and Responsibilities

Guest Editors are responsible for:

  • Developing a theme for the issue clarifying a plan for the English or French section (but not both);
  • Submitting a proposal with the following content:           
    • Name(s) of guest editor, credentials, CVs
    • Rationale for the proposed issue (approximately 500 words)
  • Provide a timeline from a call for papers to submitting reviewed manuscripts to the CJE/RCE.
  • Issuing an open or closed call for papers as well as secure commitments for submissions from at least 2-3 well-recognized scholars in the field;
  • An outline of proposed articles (once five article proposals are chosen after the CFP), including working titles, the names and institutional affiliations of contributing authors,
    • Each article should include a brief statement about the topic, theory, methodology, and significance (about 100 words)
  • A description of the peer review process: Screening manuscripts, retaining/supporting at least two appropriate reviewers per article (at least one external reviewer and two reviewers preferred), overseeing the revisions, and delivering five accepted articles to the CJE/RCE;
  • Ordering the articles and preparing an introduction to the respective English or French section; and
  • Publicizing the issue through Twitter, the Web, email lists, and any other channels available.

The CJE/RCE is responsible for:

  • Assistance with screening of and decision-making about submissions
  • Support in the use of our online journal system (OJS);
  • Support in identifying appropriate reviewers;
  • Copyediting and layout of articles; and
  • Uploading of final articles and introduction, and publicizing the issue through its regular communications channels.

Policies

  • All accepted themed Special Issues must meet the CJE/RCE’s high editorial standards.
  • Authors and reviewers must represent diverse ontological and epistemological orientations to educational research.
  • The CJE/RCE recommends no more than two guest editors within the French and English sections.
  • The Guest Editors will work in conjunction with the respective Anglophone and Francophone CJE/RCE editor or rédacteur/trice, who will collaborate on all decision-making.
  • Guest editors are asked to be aware of potential conflict of interest situations with respect to author-colleagues.