Special issues
Browse all special issues from Religion, State and Society.
Special issue information
Special Issues
The journal welcomes proposals for guest-edited special issues (SI). We see SIs as paving new, agenda-setting, directions of research at the intersections between religion, politics, and society. SIs can identify timely and significant themes, elaborate new perspectives, theories, and concepts, and bring in fresh empirical evidence.
A typical single special issue includes between 5 and 7 papers of 6,000-8,000 words, a guest editor’s introduction (up to 3,000 words) and, in some cases, a short conclusion. A double special issue would include 8 or more papers. Once a special issue is published, guest editors can apply to our publisher Taylor & Francis to consider if it can be reprinted as an edited book.
Procedure for submitting a proposal for a special issue
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Contact the journal editors (Daniel Nilsson DeHanas and Marat Shterin) with an email, briefly describing the proposed theme, its significance, expected participants, and timeline.
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If you receive positive feedback from the journal editors, you will be invited to submit an extended proposal which would normally include an extended description of the special issue and brief abstracts for each contribution. Please have in mind that a SI is not simply a collection of academic papers but is marked by internal thematic and analytical coherence that should be clear from the extended proposal.
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Once the proposal is accepted, guest editor and journal editors will agree on the timeline and procedure for submitting papers. Please let the journal editors know if you will consider applying for republication of your special issue as an edited book.
Responsibilities of guest editors
As guest editor, you would be responsible for ensuring that all manuscripts comply with the Taylor and Francis guidelines on research ethics and consent, and meet the standards outlined in our Instructions for Authors. This includes following guidelines on the word limit, formatting, and referencing style.
Importantly, it is your responsibility as guest editor to ensure the quality of writing before the manuscripts are submitted to our peer review process. The journal does not have the resources to hire English language editors, and if these are necessary for any papers this will need to happen before submission to peer review.
We expect you to set up your own internal review process for manuscript and writing quality, to put the manuscripts in a strong position for when they enter our double-blind peer review process. The fact that a paper has been included in the agreed proposal does not guarantee its eventual publication, if it fails to pass the peer reviewing process.