Propose a Special Issue
The Journal of Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy welcomes proposals for focused collections that address important questions in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Researchers with relevant expertise are invited to review the proposal requirements and contact the editorial office.
Who can propose
Proposals are welcome from researchers, clinicians and groups with recognized expertise in the proposed topic, including members of the journal’s Editorial Board. A guest-editor team usually brings together complementary disciplines or institutions and names one lead guest editor as the contact for the editorial office.
A special issue should address a defined question within the journal’s Aims and Scope.
Themes along the continuum
Collections may focus on any area of the disease continuum. Examples of themes that proposals might address:
- 01
Mechanisms
How Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias arise and progress.
- Molecular and cellular pathophysiology
- Genetics and risk
- Neuroinflammation
- Cellular and animal models
- 02
Detection
How the disease is recognized, measured and predicted.
- Biomarkers
- Neuroimaging
- Cognitive assessment
- Risk prediction
- 03
Treatment
How the disease is treated and how treatments are evaluated.
- Clinical trials
- Drug discovery
- Therapeutic development
- Disease-modifying approaches
- 04
Care
How people living with dementia and their families are supported.
- Caregiver outcomes
- Quality of life
- Non-drug interventions
- Digital health and AI in care
What a proposal contains
- Title and summary
- A working title and a short description of the collection.
- Rationale
- Why the topic merits a focused collection now and how it relates to Alzheimer’s research, detection, treatment or care.
- Scope and topics
- The questions the collection will address, with illustrative topics.
- Guest-editor team
- Names, affiliations, ORCID iDs and a brief statement of each guest editor’s expertise.
- Competing interests
- A declaration of any financial or non-financial interests relevant to the topic.
- Plan for the call
- How contributions will be invited, the article types expected and a proposed schedule for the call.
Safeguards for guest-edited collections
Same peer review
Special-issue manuscripts follow the same editorial screening and peer review as regular submissions. Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts.
Independent handling
Manuscripts authored by a guest editor, or by authors with whom a guest editor has a conflict of interest, are handled by an independent editor of the journal. The guest editor takes no part in their review or decision.
Labeling
Guest-edited content is clearly labeled as part of the special issue, with the guest editors named.
Decisions and fees
Editorial decisions are based on scope, scientific quality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and relevance to the journal. Special-issue articles follow the journal’s standard article processing charge terms.
From proposal to publication
Proposal
The lead guest editor sends the proposal to the editorial office.
Assessment
The editors assess scope, rationale, team and plan, and may suggest changes.
Call published
An approved special issue is announced on the journal website with its call for papers.
Peer review
Each submission is screened and reviewed under the journal’s standard process.
Publication
Accepted articles are published open access under CC BY 4.0 and labeled as part of the collection.
Send a special-issue proposal
Proposals and questions go to the editorial office.