Climate of the Past

Special Issues

Climate of the Past (CP) and its discussion forum Climate of the Past Discussions (CPD) offer an efficient new way of publishing special issues for measurement campaigns, conferences, etc. The individual papers are peer-reviewed & published as soon as available in regular issues, but then labelled as part of the special issue and linked electronically. The special issue can comprise any number of journals, the special issue editors can be the same or different in different journals, the manuscript processing follows the standard special issue pathway of the journal where the manuscript is submitted, all published papers are co/listed on a joint special issue webpage (in addition to the regular chronological volume of each journal).

The specific advantages are:

• Publication date is not limited by the latest paper/slowest peer-review process: every individual contribution to the special issue is published as soon as available.
• Efficient interactive discussion of the common theme on the CPD website.
• Pre-publication of discussion papers in CPD allows efficient cross-referencing between the final revised papers in CP.
• All contributions efficiently linked and coherently presented on dedicated special issue webpages (an appropriate logo is welcome as *.jpg file) easily accessible from the CP/CPD Online Libraries.
• Guest editors can define the order of the published papers on the SI webpage.
• Either a non-peer reviewed editorial preface or a peer-reviewed scientific paper can be used to introduce a Special Issue.
• Print-version 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.
  
  The price per printed copy is calculated as follows:
  
  Number of pages x €0.15
  + Softcover and Binding (€2.25) (Hardcover price on request)
  + Priority Mail (individually calculated)
  
  = Net Price + VAT
  
  Please contact the Copernicus Publications Production Office for an official offer.

There are two different styles of Special Issue (SI) possible:

1. Special Issue (Thematic): The normal route is an SI (Thematic) that focuses on a particular, often relatively narrow, topic. An SI (Thematic) has dedicated guest-editors, one of whom must be an existing CP editor, but the others are drawn from the specialist community for the particular topic.
2. Special Issue (Collection): In certain cases, where the topic is very broad, cutting across multiple editorial expertises, it is possible to have an SI (Collection). In this case an SI coordinator works with the contributors and the CP co-editors-in-chief, but papers are edited by the existing CP editors of the regular editorial board.

In exceptional cases, and if agreed by all the journals involved, SIs of potentially either style can be created that include papers from more than one journal published by Copernicus Publications.

To make arrangements for a Special Issue of any style, please contact one CP co-editor-in-chief. For a Special Issue (Thematic), please also contact one CP editor covering the relevant subject areas, as you will need one of them on your guest-editorial team (see Editorial Board and Journal Subject Areas). Please provide the following information:

• Title for the special issue;
• Names, affiliations and short CVs of the proposed Special Issue Editors (SI (Thematic)) or coordinator (SI (Collection));
• Start date & end date of submission;
• A statement of the purpose of the special issue (including information whether the special issue will include only invited papers or is open for all submissions within the scope of the special issue);
• Before final approval, the co-editors-in-chief will expect to see a list of the planned papers (titles and authors required; abstracts if feasible).

Responsibilities of special issue editors and coordinators:

• Coordinate a rigorous peer-review process (at least two independent referees) to the same standard as regular papers.
• Encourage timely submission of the papers expected for the issue.
• Ensure that the English is at a high level, and request a copy-editing if necessary.

Please view currently Scheduled Special Issues or browse existing special issues following the links CPD Special Issues and CP Special Issues, respectively.