Special Issue Policy

Engineering Perspective may publish special issues in selected scientific areas that fall within the aims and scope of the journal. Special issues are intended to provide a focused scholarly platform for high-quality research on timely, emerging, or strategically important topics in engineering and applied sciences.

Engineering Perspective publishes two types of special issues:

1. Conference/Symposium Special Issues, consisting of selected manuscripts based on studies presented at scientific conferences, symposiums, workshops, or similar academic events, provided that they have not previously been published as full-text papers.
2. Thematic Special Issues, planned by the Editorial Board in selected research areas and published according to the journal’s editorial priorities and publication schedule.

All manuscripts submitted to special issues are subject to the same editorial, ethical, peer-review, and publication standards as regular submissions. Submission to a special issue does not guarantee acceptance or publication.

General Principles

All special issues must comply with the journal’s policies on publication ethics, peer review, authorship, plagiarism, conflicts of interest, corrections and retractions, data availability, and the use of generative artificial intelligence.

Special issue manuscripts are evaluated solely on the basis of scientific quality, originality, methodological soundness, ethical compliance, relevance to the journal scope, and contribution to the relevant field.

Engineering Perspective does not publish conference proceedings as journal articles. Conference/Symposium Special Issues may include only original full-length journal articles that have not previously been published as full-text papers in any conference proceedings, symposium book, abstract book containing full-text papers, printed/electronic proceedings volume, institutional repository, or any other publicly accessible publication platform.

Abstracts, short conference summaries, presentation-only materials, presentation slides, posters, or non-peer-reviewed materials are not considered full-text publications. However, full-text papers published in any form are not eligible for publication in Engineering Perspective.

Types of Special Issues

Conference/Symposium Special Issues

Conference/Symposium Special Issues may be prepared in cooperation with scientific conferences, symposiums, workshops, or similar academic events that are relevant to the aims and scope of Engineering Perspective.

Such special issues may include selected manuscripts based on studies presented at the relevant event. However, presentation at a conference or acceptance by a conference committee does not constitute acceptance for publication in Engineering Perspective.

All manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s official submission system and must undergo the journal’s standard editorial screening, similarity check, ethical evaluation, and peer-review process.

For Conference/Symposium Special Issues:

• Guest Editors are not appointed.
• The entire editorial evaluation and decision-making process is managed by the Editor-in-Chief.
• Conference chairs, symposium organizers, organizing committee members, or scientific committee members may recommend suitable manuscripts or potential reviewers, but they do not have editorial authority over submissions.
• The Editor-in-Chief may consult journal editors or independent experts when necessary, but final editorial responsibility remains with the Editor-in-Chief.
• Manuscripts are subject to independent peer review by qualified reviewers.
• No manuscript is accepted solely on the basis of conference presentation, invitation, award, or recommendation by event organizers.

Thematic Special Issues

Thematic Special Issues are special issues planned by the Editorial Board of Engineering Perspective in selected scientific areas and within specific publication periods determined by the journal.

Thematic Special Issues may focus on emerging technologies, interdisciplinary research areas, strategic engineering topics, or rapidly developing fields that require concentrated scholarly attention.

For Thematic Special Issues:

• The topic, scope, timing, and editorial structure are determined or approved by the Editorial Board.
• Guest Editors may be appointed where appropriate.
• Guest Editors may support the academic development, promotion, reviewer suggestion, and preliminary editorial assessment of the special issue.
• Final editorial responsibility and final decision-making authority remain with the Editor-in-Chief and/or the journal editors assigned by the Editor-in-Chief.
• All submitted manuscripts must undergo the same peer-review process as regular submissions.

The appointment of Guest Editors is not automatic. The journal may decide to manage a Thematic Special Issue entirely through its own editorial structure without appointing Guest Editors.

Proposal and Approval Process

Special issue proposals may be initiated by the Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Board, journal editors, conference/symposium organizers, or qualified researchers in relevant fields.

All proposals must be evaluated and approved by the Editor-in-Chief and/or the Editorial Board before any public announcement or call for papers is made.

A special issue proposal should include, where applicable:

• the title and scope of the proposed special issue;
• the scientific rationale and expected contribution of the topic;
• the type of special issue: Conference/Symposium Special Issue or Thematic Special Issue;
• information about the related conference, symposium, workshop, or academic event, if applicable;
• proposed timeline for submission, review, revision, and publication;
• estimated number of manuscripts;
• proposed Guest Editor information, if applicable only for Thematic Special Issues;
• potential conflicts of interest;
• planned dissemination or call-for-papers strategy.

The Editor-in-Chief and/or Editorial Board may approve, revise, postpone, reject, or cancel a special issue proposal. Approval of a special issue proposal does not guarantee acceptance of any manuscript submitted to the special issue.

Guest Editors

Guest Editors may be appointed only for Thematic Special Issues.

Guest Editors are not appointed for Conference/Symposium Special Issues. In such cases, the evaluation process is managed directly by the Editor-in-Chief.

For Thematic Special Issues, Guest Editors must have recognized expertise in the relevant field, a strong academic publication record, and no unmanaged conflict of interest related to the special issue.

Guest Editors may assist with:

• defining the scientific scope of the special issue;
• promoting the call for papers;
• recommending qualified reviewers;
• conducting preliminary academic assessments;
• advising on the relevance of submissions to the special issue topic;
• preparing an editorial introduction, if requested by the journal.

Guest Editors do not have independent authority to accept manuscripts. All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief or by journal editors assigned by the Editor-in-Chief.

The journal reserves the right to decline, remove, or replace a Guest Editor if ethical concerns, conflicts of interest, insufficient editorial performance, lack of responsiveness, or failure to comply with journal policies are identified.

Editorial Oversight and Final Decision

Engineering Perspective maintains full editorial oversight over all special issues.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the content of the journal, including all regular issues, Conference/Symposium Special Issues, and Thematic Special Issues.

For all special issue manuscripts:

• submission must be made through the journal’s official submission system;
• editorial screening is conducted according to journal standards;
• similarity/plagiarism checks may be performed;
• peer review is conducted by qualified and independent reviewers;
• revision requirements are determined according to reviewer and editor evaluations;
• final decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief or authorized journal editors.

The journal may reject, reassign, request additional review, or withdraw any manuscript from special issue consideration if concerns arise regarding scope, quality, ethics, peer-review integrity, authorship, plagiarism, conflicts of interest, prior publication, or publication standards.

Peer Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to special issues are subject to the same peer-review policy as regular submissions.

Each manuscript must be reviewed by qualified reviewers with relevant expertise. Reviewers must be independent and free from conflicts of interest.

Invited manuscripts are not exempt from peer review. Selection by a conference committee, recommendation by Guest Editors, or invitation by the journal does not guarantee peer review, acceptance, or publication.

The journal does not permit peer-review manipulation, fabricated reviewer identities, reviewer rings, coercive citation practices, inappropriate reviewer suggestions, or any attempt to influence editorial decisions improperly.

If peer-review manipulation or publication misconduct is suspected, the manuscript may be rejected, and further action may be taken in accordance with the journal’s publication ethics policy and COPE principles.

Prior Publication and Conference Full-Text Papers

Manuscripts submitted to a Conference/Symposium Special Issue must not have been previously published as full-text papers in any form.

If a study was presented at a conference, symposium, workshop, congress, or similar academic event only as an oral presentation, poster presentation, or abstract, it may be considered for submission to Engineering Perspective, provided that the submitted manuscript is prepared as an original full-length journal article and complies with all journal policies.

However, if the study has already been published as a full-text paper in any of the following forms, it cannot be considered for publication in Engineering Perspective:

• conference proceedings;
• symposium proceedings;
• congress book;
• symposium book;
• abstract book containing full-text papers;
• printed proceedings volume;
• electronic proceedings volume;
• conference website;
• institutional repository;
• online archive;
• any publicly accessible publication platform.

Engineering Perspective does not accept extended versions of full-text conference papers. If a conference or symposium paper has already been published as a full-text paper, the manuscript is not eligible for publication in the journal, even if the authors revise, expand, restructure, or modify the manuscript.

Such submissions will be rejected during editorial screening, peer review, or any later stage before publication.

Authors are required to clearly disclose at the time of submission whether any part of the manuscript has been previously presented, included in a conference program, published as an abstract, or published as a full-text paper.

The journal may request supporting documents, including the conference abstract, conference program, proceedings paper, symposium book entry, or any other related material. The journal may also request a written declaration from the authors confirming that the manuscript has not been previously published as a full-text conference or symposium paper.

If it is discovered after publication that an article published in Engineering Perspective had previously been published as a full-text paper in a conference proceedings, symposium book, congress book, electronic proceedings volume, or any similar publication platform, the article will be retracted on the grounds that it does not comply with the journal’s Special Issue Policy and Publication Ethics Policy.

Conflict of Interest

All authors, reviewers, Guest Editors, conference organizers, journal editors, and Editorial Board members must disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

A person must not handle, review, or influence the editorial process of a manuscript if there is a personal, academic, institutional, financial, supervisory, collaborative, or competitive conflict of interest.

Guest Editors, conference organizers, symposium chairs, scientific committee members, and journal editors must not be involved in the evaluation of manuscripts:

• authored or co-authored by themselves;
• submitted by colleagues from the same institution;
• submitted by recent collaborators;
• submitted by former or current students or supervisors;
• submitted by close academic associates;
• involving any financial, personal, institutional, or professional conflict.

In such cases, the manuscript will be handled by the Editor-in-Chief or another independent journal editor.

Submissions by Guest Editors, Editorial Board Members, and Conference Organizers

Guest Editors of Thematic Special Issues may submit manuscripts to the same special issue only in exceptional cases and only if the manuscript is directly relevant to the topic. Such manuscripts must be handled through an independent editorial and peer-review process. Guest Editors must not take part in reviewer selection, editorial evaluation, decision-making, or communication regarding their own manuscripts.

The number of peer-reviewed articles authored or co-authored by Guest Editors must not exceed 25% of the total peer-reviewed content of the relevant special issue.

For Conference/Symposium Special Issues, conference chairs, organizing committee members, scientific committee members, or symposium officials may submit manuscripts only if their submissions are handled independently by the Editor-in-Chief and undergo the standard peer-review process.

The journal also monitors the proportion of published research articles authored by journal editors, Editorial Board members, reviewers, Guest Editors, and other persons involved in editorial processes in order to minimize endogeny and protect editorial independence.

Conference/Symposium Special Issue Requirements

For a Conference/Symposium Special Issue to be considered, the related event must be academically credible, scientifically relevant, and aligned with the scope of Engineering Perspective.

The journal may request information about:

• the event title, date, location, and organizing institution;
• the scientific committee;
• the conference review or selection process;
• the list of selected manuscripts or authors;
• the criteria used for selecting manuscripts for journal submission;
• whether abstracts, full papers, or proceedings are publicly available;
• whether any version of the work has already been published;
• whether the event has published or plans to publish a proceedings book, symposium book, congress book, or electronic proceedings volume.

Only selected manuscripts that meet the journal’s standards may be invited for submission. The invitation to submit does not imply acceptance.

If the study has been published as a full-text paper in the conference or symposium outputs, it cannot be submitted to Engineering Perspective.

If the study has only been published as an abstract, it may be considered, provided that the submitted manuscript is an original full-length journal article and complies with all editorial and ethical requirements of the journal.

Conference organizers must clearly inform authors that manuscripts intended for submission to Engineering Perspective must not be published as full-text papers in the conference proceedings, symposium book, congress book, or any other publication platform.

Thematic Special Issue Requirements

Thematic Special Issues must be based on topics selected or approved by the Editorial Board. These topics should reflect current scientific developments, strategic research priorities, or areas where concentrated academic discussion would benefit the journal’s readership.

A Thematic Special Issue must have:

• a clearly defined title and scope;
• a scientific rationale;
• a planned publication period;
• an approved editorial structure;
• a transparent call for papers, if publicly announced;
• a clearly stated submission deadline;
• the same peer-review and ethical requirements as regular submissions.

If Guest Editors are appointed, their names, affiliations, and roles may be displayed on the special issue page. Guest Editors are required to comply with all journal policies.

Article Processing Charges

Articles submitted to special issues are subject to the same Article Processing Charge policy as regular submissions.

Payment of an Article Processing Charge does not influence editorial decisions and does not guarantee acceptance or publication.

No payment is requested before editorial acceptance. APC-related procedures are handled according to the journal’s official price policy.

Publication Volume, Scheduling, and Issue Structure

Special issues are planned according to the journal’s editorial capacity, publication schedule, indexing responsibilities, and quality standards.

Engineering Perspective reserves the right to limit the number of manuscripts published in a special issue, distribute accepted articles across regular issues, publish them as a thematic collection, postpone publication, or cancel a special issue if necessary.

Accepted manuscripts may be published within a regular issue and grouped under a special issue or thematic collection title, depending on the journal’s publication model and editorial planning.

The journal does not guarantee that all manuscripts accepted for a special issue will be published in the same issue if publication volume, timing, or indexing-related considerations require otherwise.

Transparency

All special issues must be clearly labelled on the journal website.

For each special issue, the journal may provide:

• the title of the special issue;
• the type of special issue;
• the scope and topic;
• submission deadline;
• publication period;
• Guest Editor information, if applicable;
• related conference or symposium information, if applicable;
• applicable editorial and ethical policies.

Each article published as part of a special issue should clearly indicate its association with the relevant special issue or thematic collection.

Cancellation, Modification, or Transfer to Regular Issue

Engineering Perspective reserves the right to cancel, postpone, merge, rename, modify, or close a special issue if:

• the number or quality of submissions is insufficient;
• the topic no longer aligns with the journal’s editorial priorities;
• ethical or peer-review integrity concerns arise;
• conflicts of interest cannot be appropriately managed;
• Guest Editors fail to comply with journal policies;
• conference/symposium cooperation does not meet journal standards;
• prior full-text publication concerns arise;
• publication volume or indexing-related considerations require adjustment.

Manuscripts already under review may be transferred to regular issue consideration if they remain within the scope of the journal and comply with all editorial and ethical requirements.

However, manuscripts previously published as full-text conference or symposium papers cannot be transferred to regular issue consideration and will be rejected.

Ethical Compliance and Retraction

All manuscripts submitted to special issues must comply with the journal’s publication ethics and research integrity standards.

Manuscripts may be rejected at any stage if they fail to comply with journal policies.

If ethical concerns are identified after publication, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate notice in accordance with its policies and COPE guidance.

If it is confirmed after publication that an article published in Engineering Perspective had previously been published as a full-text paper in a conference proceedings, symposium book, congress book, electronic proceedings volume, institutional repository, or any other publicly accessible publication platform, the article will be retracted because it does not comply with the journal’s Special Issue Policy and Publication Ethics Policy.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts submitted to Engineering Perspective have not been previously published as full-text papers elsewhere. Failure to disclose prior full-text publication may be considered a breach of publication ethics.