Special issue guidelines

The special issue and all manuscripts to be published in it must be within the journal scope and comply with the manuscript types and with the same quality standards as regular submissions to WCD.
All submissions to a special issue undergo the regular process of editor assignment and peer review. The review process will be guided by the regular editorial board members of WCD and overseen by special issue coordinators.
Two regular editorial board members of WCD act as special issue coordinators. They should not be closely involved in the activities from which the special issue arises, and they are not expected to guide the review process of all submissions. The special issue coordinators are expected to oversee the special issue in exchange with the WCD executive editors, to liaise with co-organizers from the special issue community, and to handle submissions that are not picked up in the regular editor assignment process. One editorial board member ready to serve as coordinator should be proposed by the special issue proponents for approval by the WCD executive editors, who nominate the second coordinator.
One or more colleagues from the special issue community (e.g., the proponents of the special issue) may be appointed and listed as co-organizers of the special issue. They are expected to facilitate the exchange with the scientific community of the special issue, but not to interfere in the editorial handling and peer review of the submissions. Normally, one to three co-organizers may be proposed for approval by the WCD executive editors; more co-organizers may be proposed and approved for exceptionally large and diverse special issues (e.g., inter-journal special issues).

Special issue proposal

If you would like to propose a special issue, please follow the above guidelines and check with a suitable editorial board member if they would be ready to serve as special issue coordinator. For assessment and approval by the executive editors, please submit your special issue proposal to editorial@copernicus.org with the following information included:

title of the special issue;
start date and end date of submission;
expected number of papers and tentative list of manuscript titles and authors (as far as available);
a statement of the purpose of the special issue, whether it arises from a project, field measurement campaign, or conference, and whether it will include only invited papers or is open for all submissions within its scope;
name of one proposed special issue coordinator who agreed to take on this task;
names of up to three proposed co-organizers;
names of constituent journals if it is to be an inter-journal special issue, with the lead journal identified (see below).

Special issue guidelines

Weather and Climate Dynamics (WCD) offers an efficient way of publishing special issues to collect and connect papers related to a particular project, measurement campaign, or conference. The individual contributions undergo the same process of peer review and publication as regular submissions; in addition they are labelled as part of the special issue and co-listed on the corresponding special issue web page. The key features and advantages are the following:

The publication date is not delayed by the latest paper, which is behind in the peer-review process: every individual contribution to the special issue is published as soon as it is available.
The posting and public review of manuscripts enables efficient interactive discussion of the common theme and appropriate cross-referencing between the papers.
All contributions are efficiently linked and coherently presented on dedicated special issue web pages (an appropriate logo is welcome as a *.jpg file) easily accessible from the WCD library.
Usually, special issues are open for submission during a period of one or two years. Longer periods and extensions can be granted depending on the nature of activity from which the special issue arises.
The special issue coordinators can define the order of the published papers on the SI web page.
Individual papers may be linked to more than one special issue. Provided that all involved parties agree and subject to approval by the executive editors, individual papers can also be linked to a suitable special issue formally opened after or closed before publication of the paper.
Special issues may be introduced through a non-peer-reviewed editorial preface or a peer-reviewed scientific paper, and they can be summarized in an overview paper (see manuscript types).
Print versions are available upon completed publication of all contributions. A minimum order of 20 copies is necessary, and the price will depend on the total number of pages in the special issue.

Inter-journal special issues

A special issue can comprise publications in any number of Copernicus’ open-access journals, of which one should be nominated as the lead journal for administrative purposes. The handling of individual manuscripts follows the standard procedures for special issues in the journal to which the manuscript is submitted. Afterwards, all published papers are co-listed on a joint special issue web page (in addition to the regular chronological volume of each journal).

If you intend to propose an inter-journal special issue, please first send your proposal to the executive editors of the lead journal. If your proposal is accepted, please also contact the executive editors of the constituent journals to find out if they want to participate in the inter-journal special issue. Only after all journals have agreed, should all information (see above) on the inter-journal special issue be sent to the Copernicus Publications Editorial Support.