Guidelines for Special Issues and Supplements

This document is created as a guideline for preparing and administering thematic special supplements in Acta medica Lituana journal.

Step 1. Coming up with the idea to organize a supplement (S)

1. Topics for supplements (S) are suggested by Editor in Chief or other members of Editorial Board, or by scholars from outside of the Editorial Board.
2. The supplement (S)needs to align with the mission of the journal.
3. Conference abstracts may be published as a Supplements of the journal.
4. Decision on whether or not to organize the proposed special supplement is taken by the Editor in Chief in consultations with these members of Editorial Board, who have expertise in the given thematic.
5. There should be more than one Editor for a supplement. In exceptional cases, one Editor may be allowed to run the supplement. In this case the decision to make the exception must be supported by the evidence of exceptionally sound qualifications of the Editor.
6. The editors of S are expected to establish for the S a board of reviewers, which includes both the regular members of the EB and scholars and practitioners from outside of the EB who have expertise in the topic (better than the core editorial board of the journal). Practitioners should be included when S topics are such for which practitioners are having a big influence.

Step 2. Evaluation of the qualification of the Editors of the special issue

7. The candidate(s) to the role of the Editor(s) of supplement must possess sufficient qualification for the job.
8. Qualifications are evaluated based on the publications record of the candidates, or by alternative means which can proof sufficient expertise of the candidate in the given topic and in familiarity (and experience) with the academic publishing practice (how to organize the review process, how to evaluate the reviews, etc.)
9. If none of the candidates to the role of editors of the supplement has sufficient qualifications to run the special issue, EiC in consultations with EB will nominate an editor with sufficient qualifications to complement the list of the candidate editors.

Step 3. Establishing quality controls for the supplement

11. Situations when S is organized/run by only one Editor should be avoided. In exceptional cases, one Editor may be allowed to run the supplement. In this case the decision to make the exception must be supported by the evidence of exceptionally sound qualifications of the Editor.
12. The Editors must present to EiC plans for the planned number of abstracts for S, and envisioned promotional and dissemination activities, other relevant to the journal’s administration information.

Step 4. Publication of the supplement

12. Editors of the supplement are expected to prepare an editorial introduction. Ideally, the editorial will provide an overview of the abstracts complemented by the editors’ views on how the selected abstracts contribute to the development of the field and the Journal.