IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Special Issue December 2023

Published on June 2, 2022

The IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication requests proposals for guest editorship and special issue topic for the December 2023 issue.

• Anyone may propose a topic and apply for guest editor status. Guest editors need not be members of the IEEE Professional Communication Society.
• The proposed guest editor may be a single person or a group of 2 or 3 people. If a group is proposed, the proposal should describe the group members’ experience working together and indicate how the work will be divided.
• The proposed guest editor(s) should have demonstrated expertise on the topic being proposed.
• The proposal should demonstrate that the topic is one of current interest to technical and professional communication practitioners, teachers, or the engineering community in general, and that it fits the Transactions’ scope and audience (see https://procomm.ieee.org/transactions-of-professional-communication/).
• The topic should not repeat a special issue topic covered in the past 5 years (that is, social justice, accessibility, user-generated content, data-driven approaches to professional communication, and plain language).
• Although the choice of topic is entirely up to the proposed guest editors, the Transactions editorial staff have identified some topics that intrigue us.
  • Showcase of graduate student research
  • Ethics, methods, and practice in data science, automation, artificial intelligence, or machine learning
  • International projects and possibilities for academic programs and collaborative research
  • Professional communication’s role  in promoting and realizing environmental justice
  • The role of professional communication in entrepreneurship in an age of uncertainty

Note that choice of one of these suggested topics will not advantage a proposal, nor will choice of a different topic disadvantage it.

• The proposal should include a resume/CV for each proposed guest editor (maximum of 3 pages each).
• The proposal should include a draft call for submissions for the special issue (use the attached example as a model), including the list of five article genres and link to the “Submitting a Manuscript” from the Transactions web site. We welcome articles in all these genres.

Proposals will be evaluated on three criteria:

• The expertise of the proposed guest editor(s) as demonstrated by their resumes/CVs—50%
• The potential contribution to the profession of an issue on the proposed topic—25%
• The quality of the draft call for submissions for the special issue—25% 

Responsibilities of Guest Editor

The guest editor’s responsibilities include the following:

• Communicate at least monthly with editor-in-chief to ensure that all tasks and activities are on schedule.
• Revise call for submissions with the input of the editor-in-chief.
• Publicize call for submissions through appropriate listservs and personal networks. (The editor-in-chief will assist with this task.)
• Recruit subject matter experts to serve as peer reviewers. (The editor-in-chief will assist with identifying candidates if needed.)
• Coordinate double-anonymous peer review of abstracts, drafts, and revisions of proposed articles. Reviews of drafts and revisions should use the journal’s review rubrics.
• Correspond regularly with authors to notify them that their abstracts and drafts have been accepted, and to ensure that they are on track to submit their complete drafts and revisions on schedule.
• Correspond with peer reviewers to ensure that reviews are submitted on schedule.
• Edit final drafts.
• Submit edited final drafts to editor-in-chief.

Timeline for Proposals

Schedule for December 2023 Special Issue