Guidelines for the Publication of Special issues

In the following, you'll find the guidelines which apply to the publication of a special issue and which the guest editors are kindly requested to observe:

1. The guest editors send a proposal to Hermann Maurer (hmaurer@iicm.edu) or Dana Kaiser (dkaiser@iicm.edu) with information about the subject of the special issue, guest editors, URLs to relevant sites (conference, workshop etc.).
2. Only guest editors who have either published at least one article in J.UCS or who have published at least 3 articles which are listed in either CiteSeer or ISI Thomson or who are members of J.UCS editorial board will be accepted as guest editors.
3. Before the proposal is accepted, the guest editors must submit a list of the reviewers of the special issue (their names and URLs of their homepages). This is to ensure that the reviewers are experts in their fields so that the quality of the published papers is guaranteed.
4. If the special issue includes extended versions originally presented at a conference or a workshop, a public call for papers must also be made. Preferably, the issue should consist of papers from both groups. The extended version of papers originally presented at a conference or workshop must contain at least 30-50% new material and the title of the extended version must clearly and unmistakably differ from the title of the article presented at the conference.
5. The papers can only be accepted for publication after a rigorous review process. Each paper must be reviewed by at least 3 reviewers. All three reviews of the accepted papers stating the names of the reviewers and the final versions of the articles must be sent to the J.UCS office for final approval. A summary of the reviews is not accepted. The authors can be informed about the acceptance of their papers only after the decision has been confirmed by the J.UCS office.
6. As a means to secure and increase the impact factor of the journal, it is expected that the authors consult J.UCS prior to the publication of their articles and quote relevant J.UCS publications in their articles. This measure is in the interest of the authors since it is a contribution to the reputation of the journal.
7. Only 35% of the authors may originate from one country.
8. The guest editors may only be authors or co-authors of 1 paper at the most. Preferably, the guest editors should rather consider submitting their articles for publication in a regular issue.
9. Each author may publish only two papers in one issue (as sole author or co-author).
10. A special issue may contain a maximum of 8 papers.
11. The length of a paper may not exceed 20 pages.
12. The guest editors inform on a regular basis the J.UCS office about the progress of the preparations as well as the number of submitted, rejected and accepted papers.
13. The guest editors take care of the review process so that only final versions are sent to the J.UCS office. The final versions of the papers must be submitted in J.UCS style.
14. The authors must sign a copyright transfer statement for their paper.
15. The guest editor provides an introduction to the issue (at least one page long).
16. The guest editors vouch with their names and academic reputation for the quality of the papers.
17. All published articles appear yearly in a printed archive edition. Because of the increased number of publications (particularly special issues), the costs of the printing have risen considerably. For this reason, J.UCS charges a fee of 1000,- Euro for the publication of a special issue to help the journal carry the costs of the printing. Often, the budget of a conference allows a small sum for such purposes. All other publication costs are carried by the publisher, the Graz University of Technology, Austria. The issue can only be published after the fee has been paid.