About Special Issues
Special Issues are an important component of all the journals published by the Psychonomic Society. They are focused collections of papers on specific topics and provide a venue for new and emerging areas in the field and help extend the scope of the journal. If you would like to propose a Special Issue topic for a Psychonomic Society journal, please review the information below.

Guidelines
Special Issue proposals can be solicited by the Editor-in-Chief of a journal, but unsolicited proposals are also welcome. A Special Issue proposal should adhere to these guidelines:

• The proposal should be framed in both theoretical and empirical terms. It should speak to a wide readership on cutting-edge topics.
• For your Special Issue to form a cohesive article collection, we typically expect at least ten papers to be published within the scope of the journal.
• A Call for Papers, sent to the broader Psychonomic Society membership, will be required, though Guest Editors may also invite colleagues or other authors to submit manuscripts.
• Guest Editors may choose to receive full papers by a specified deadline or request an abstract or brief description for review and then invite full proposals by a later deadline.
• Final manuscripts must be prepared in line with the style of the journal, and must be accompanied by an abstract, keywords, and correspondence address.
• It is expected that the articles will follow the Statistical Guidelines as set by the Society.
• Guest Editors are expected to make full use of the online submission and peer-review system provided by Springer.
• The Editor-in-Chief maintains the highest authority of the publication on all editorial matters.

Proposal Submission Process
The Special Issue proposal should include the following:

• Name of the journal
• Title of the Special Issue
• Detailed information about the Guest Editor(s), including their experience relevant to the role of editor
• A clear and feasible timeline, including:
  • Submissions open date
  • Submissions deadline
  • Author feedback deadline
  • Target publication date (month/year)
• An extensive list of potential authors
• The opportunity for authors to contribute to the Special Issue should be framed broadly, to encourage submissions from many perspectives. (Generally, 2 to 4 paragraphs)
• A statement on how the make-up of the potential authors is consistent with the Society’s diversity statement:

The Psychonomic Society is committed to scientific merit, which entails the inclusion of scientists regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, disability status, country of origin, geographic location, and disciplinary expertise. Please critically examine your deliberations to eliminate biases that detract from our commitment to merit.

• The proposal should, additionally, consider Diversity across the entire Special Issue.
• The proposal should be sent via e-mail to the Editor-in-Chief of the relevant journal:
  • Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics: Sarah Shomstein
  • Behavior Research Methods: Erin Buchanan & Dora Matzke
  • Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience: Diego Pizzagalli
  • Cognitive Research: Principles & Implications: Sarah Creem-Regehr
  • Learning & Behavior: Lauren M. Guillette
  • Memory & Cognition: Bennett Schwartz
  • Psychonomic Bulletin & Review: Daniel Mirman

Review and Revision of the Special Issue
If the Editor-in-Chief feels the proposal has merit, they submit it to the Publications Committee for review. The Publications Committee then reviews the proposal, suggests revisions if needed, and ultimately accepts or rejects the (revised) proposal. This decision is then communicated to the Editor-in-Chief, who will inform the Guest Editors.

If the proposal is accepted, the Guest Editors will work with the Society’s staff to create a Call for Papers which will be sent out to over 10,000 scientists in the Society’s database. Staff will continue to promote the Call on the website, Springer’s website, and through social media until the submission deadline.

Article Processing Charges/Open Access
Currently, all but one of the Psychonomic Society journals are subscription-based, though articles can be published open access by paying the appropriate APCs to our publisher, Springer. Cognitive Research: Principles & Implications is fully open access. Members of the Society are eligible for a member discount in APCs for this journal only. There are no other mechanisms for financial support from the Society for the other journals.

Questions?
Have additional questions about the Special Issue process? Please contact Claudia von Bastian, Chair, Publications Committee, at C.C.vonBastian@sheffield.ac.uk or Lou Shomette, Executive Director, at lshomette@psychonomic.org.