Special Issues of the Rangeland Journal

The Rangeland Journal aims to publish two Special Issues per year that comprise collections of papers around a particular theme, or arising from a particular conference, workshop or other forum. Special Issues will usually be of similar size to normal issues and comprise 8-12 papers with a total of approximately 100 printed pages.

Special Issues will be the subject of a contract between the Australian Rangeland Society, owner of The Rangeland Journal, and the proposer of a Special Issue (usually an organisation) who will be responsible for appointment of the Guest Editor(s). The Guest Editor(s) will be selected by negotiation between the Editor-in-Chief and the proposer. The Guest Editor(s) will be responsible for organising the collation and submission of the papers, and will have a major role in the process of peer review. The final decision on publication of any manuscript remains with the Editor-in-Chief.

Benefits of publication of a Special Issue include:

• Rigorous peer review (publication is not guaranteed for any submitted paper);

• Publication in an ISI-ranked journal with solid impact factor (Impact Factors in recent years have ranged from 1.080-1.276 over two years and 1.206-1.532 over five years);

• Rapid publication, including Online Early.

The terms of the contract will include a fee payable by the proposer for the production of the Special Issue. This fee is usually AUS$10,000 (+ GST for domestic proponents) but could be negotiated between the Editor-in-Chief, the Chair of the Publications Committee of the Australian Rangeland Society, and the proposer in particular circumstances. The fee includes:

• Sponsor logos on front and back covers, and a one-page advertisement on the inside back cover;

• Promotion of the Special Issue on the websites of CSIRO Publishing (publisher of The Rangeland Journal) and the Australian Rangeland Society, and on social media;

• Open access publication for one paper selected by the Guest Editor(s) and the Editor-in-Chief.

The fee does not include colour printing, hard copies for use by the proponent, or the use of specialist editorial services if required for foreign language contributions. These additional charges will be negotiated, through the Editor-in-Chief, directly with CSIRO Publishing. Charges for open access publication of additional papers will also be negotiated in this way but the opportunity is available, for one (only) special issue per year, to have the entire issue published open access at a concessional price.

Proposers seeking to produce a Special Issue of The Rangeland Journal should contact the Editor-in-Chief, Dr Paul Novelly (penovelly@gmail.com).