Special Collections at Sage

As an independent publisher, integrity is a core value of our organization and we are committed to upholding the highest ethical standards across the whole publication process. This commitment is reflected in our Special Collection practices, learn how below.

Our Special Collections

At Sage, we launch Special Collections that:

• Are timely and relevant
• Are led by and curated by expert Guest Editors
• Bring together authors and communities
• Are free to access and therefore wide-reaching.

Our focus on quality means that we can maintain the individuality and value of each collection, while also ensuring that they are successful in achieving their research goals.

Our Special Collections add value to the research community, and consistently enrich the research landscape.

Guest Editors with Sage

We have a dedicated in-house Editorial team that carefully reviews each proposal from potential Guest Editors. All our Guest Editors are leading experts in their respective fields, which ensures they have the credibility to invite papers and make initial suggestions about the papers submitted to their Special Collection.

All Special Collection proposals are subject to a multi-layered approval process managed by each journal’s Editorial Team, who also ensure Guest Editors are qualified to lead the project. Every accepted Sage Guest Editor has:

• A track record of publications in the research area of the Special Collection
• Professional qualifications consistent with their research area and the proposed topic
• A verifiable institutional positions
• Well-developed ideas and goals for their Special Collection.

Publishing high-quality articles

All Special Collection articles will undergo full, independent peer review, in line with Sage’s peer review and publishing policies. There is no guarantee of acceptance, for any submitted paper. All articles within a Special Collection are held to the same standard as any article would be outside of them.

These policies ensure that all submissions are handled fairly and ethically and are rigorously reviewed to ensure only the highest standard articles that best suit the Special Collection are published.

We only select the highest quality research to publish in Special Collections, and we dedicate the required time and effort that each paper publication needs to be scientifically and ethically sound, and accurate.

The role of our Editorial Boards

Our Guest Editors have full support from our Editorial staff to identify topics of interest to the Special Collection, to encourage manuscript submissions, and to use their expert knowledge to curate the content by advising which manuscripts fall within the scope of the Special Collection. These processes are all independent to peer review.

While our Guest Editors can make recommendations on the suitability of the scope of an article for their Special Collection, the journal's, the journal’s Editor-in-Chief and/or Publisher have final authority on editorial decisions.

Being an independent publisher

Our guaranteed independence is the cornerstone of our identity — it means that we can never be acquired, will never go public, and will never be beholden to shareholders. Sage can therefore measure success not by the health of our share price, but by how we fulfil our mission of building bridges to knowledge — how we support the development of ideas through the research process to scholarship that is certified, taught, and applied. It frees us up to do more to champion new ideas that advance disciplines and drive social change; to work together with researchers and Guest Editors to truly advance knowledge; and to think long-term to anticipate and respond to changing higher education and research community needs. See what our President of Global Publishing had to say about Sage and open access publishing with us here.

You can find out more about what it means to be a Guest Editor with Sage here.

If you have any questions about our Special Collections program, you can contact us.