Special Issues Editorial and Peer Review Policy

Proposals for Special Issues are evaluated and approved by the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Applied Mechanics and Engineering (IJAME).
Prior to appointment, prospective Guest Editors undergo a formal vetting process by the Editorial Board to verify their institutional affiliation, academic publishing history, and expertise in the respective field, as well as to screen for potential conflicts of interest.

Peer Review Integrity

All manuscripts submitted to a Special Issue undergo the exact same rigorous peer review process as regular submissions (double-blind peer review by at least two independent, qualified reviewers).

Role of Guest Editors

Guest Editors may propose the topic, invite contributors, and coordinate the initial review process. To support diversity and inclusiveness in authorship, and in accordance with COPE guidelines on Guest Edited Collections, the number of contributions from Guest Editors as authors or co-authors in their own Special Issue is strictly limited to a maximum of one manuscript per Special Issue.

Final Editorial Decision

Guest Editors do not have final acceptance authority. The Editor-in-Chief retains full editorial authority over all Special Issues, and the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of every manuscript is made solely by the Editor-in-Chief (or a designated permanent member of the Editorial Board).

Conflict of Interest

To ensure objectivity, if a Guest Editor submits a manuscript to their own Special Issue, the entire handling, review coordination, and final decision-making for that manuscript are managed entirely by the Editor-in-Chief or an independent Editorial Board member. In such cases, the submitting Guest Editor has no access to the peer review process, reviewer reports, or editorial documentation within the manuscript submission system, beyond the standard access level of an ordinary author.

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Compliance Statement: All Special Issue policies of IJAME are fully aligned with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines for Guest Edited Collections and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) criteria for Special Issues.