Initiatives to bring together thematically linked
studies have generated considerable interest –and some healthy
debate– in our pages. Critical Clusters help bring a timely area of study
into better focus and provide something of a “state-of-the-question”
for future scholarship. They can provide a way for scholars of a new generation
with fresh approaches to make a more concerted impression on their
specialization. Critical Clusters will be comprised of an introductory essay,
written by one or more specialists serving as Guest Editor(s), and between 5
and 7 articles by contributors
The Editor of the journal may invite other scholars to
serve as Guest Editors or scholars may come to the Editor with proposals for
Critical Clusters. We encourage the Guest Editors to circulate a call for
papers, ideally by publishing it in La corónica, and/or
contacting scholars in the field for possible submissions. The Guest Editor
will select from among the submissions generated for a proposed set of
articles, and pass those articles on to the journal’s Editor. Individual
manuscripts for Critical Clusters are not sent out for peer review by the
journal: it is the responsibility of the Guest Editors to scrutinize
submissions and call on additional readers to evaluate and help perfect the
manuscripts received as needed. Most crucially, Guest Editors do not replace
the existing Editor for that issue. The Senior Editorial Board has the final
say over acceptances. The Editor also retains an overall fiduciary
responsibility for the journal’s cover art, layout, printing,
distribution, and the standards of its contents.
Articles published in Critical Clusters must follow
La corónica style guidelines and word limits. Guest Editors
invite scholars in the specific subfield to contribute to the special issue.
However, solicitation of such pieces is not a guarantee of acceptance, since
manuscripts should be submitted without the name of their authors according to
La corónica’s “Guidelines for Articles”. The solicitation is a sign of
respect and an expression of hope that a piece by the author solicited can make
its way into the issue as finally published; but this outcome is not assured.
Moreover, only the Senior Editorial Board of the journal has the final power to
accept or reject an essay, no matter how enthusiastically it may have been
welcomed by the Guest Editor.
The mission of the Guest Editor therefore is primarily
scholarly. The Guest Editor does not lay out the journal, nor are they involved
in a detailed way with line editing or sub-editing. What they are doing is, in
effect, editing a scholarly anthology of essays on a specialized topic. This is
not far different from an edited book, and should not be seen as less relevant
than an edited book in circumstances of faculty assessment, tenure and
promotion. The scholars and teachers who give of their time, energy, and wisdom
to assemble special issues of journals should receive appropriate honor and
recognition from peers and institutions alike.
Ground rules and expectations for Critical Clusters and
the general work plan we follow in bringing them to final form:
Authors should send in their contribution (as hard
copy and/or as an electronic attachment in a PC program file only) to the Guest
Editor as soon as it is ready.
Guest Editors are responsible for selecting 5 –
7 essays from those submitted to the Cluster.
Guest Editors are responsible for keeping
contributing authors on schedule, and for composing the introductory essay that
presents and frames the Cluster. They may also contribute essays to the
Cluster, although this is not required, but their essays should be peer-edited
by readers of the Editor’s choice.
The Editor will copy-edit all submissions once more
when he/she is sent manuscript copy by the Guest Editor. The Editor’s
copy-edited version will go back directly to the author if substantial changes
are required; all authors receive page-proofs to correct as soon as they are
generated.
Individual authors are responsible for securing
copyright permissions for graphic images associated with their essays.
Illustrations should be submitted as image files with resolution of at least
300 dpi.
If there are funding sources available to support the
Cluster, the Guest Editors should work with the journal’s Editor to apply
for them. Rising publication costs make fundraising a constant concern for the
Editorial staff, but are not a determining factor for publication of a Cluster.
Once the Cluster has appeared, the journal’s
Editor may invite responses in the form of Letters to the Editor for the Forum
section in a subsequent issue. That list will be developed and reviewed with
the Guest Editors, and authors who contributed to the original Cluster will be
provided advanced copies of outside letters so they can reply in the same
issue.
Meeting deadlines and timely turn-around of requests
for revisions and correction of page proofs are crucial to keep the journal on
schedule and to help the Editor in balancing workload, publication or
postponement of articles and reviews by other authors, length of issue and cost
of press run. Pressures near press time can be intense when schedules are not
met.
