Outstanding Special Issue Awards 2013

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Awards for Excellence

Outstanding Special Issue Award

We recognize the very distinct contribution made by special issues to our journals and the database by making an annual award to the Guest Editor(s) of the outstanding special issue of the year. It is a way of recognizing and rewarding the very real contribution made by the Guest Editors and of acknowledging the added value brought to the journals through their hard work and expertise. Most of these guest editors undertake the full role of the "Editor" for that particular issue and most do not receive any monetary reward.

They:

• collaborate with the Editor on the subject of the special issue using their own specialist subject knowledge and interest
• identify and define the subject scope of the special issue
• use their own networks to commission papers or arrange calls for papers to attract the authors to write for the issue
• manage the peer-review process and reviewers and liaise with the authors for revisions if needed
• collate the issue for the Editor/Managing Editor
• write a Guest Editorial for the journal – these are often extensive essays which draw together the component papers and provide an overview of the topic.

What makes an outstanding special issue?

The criteria by which we select our winning special issues are varied but, we believe, sensible, fair, demonstrable and applicable to all subject fields and journals:

• internationality in content and/or authorship
• cutting-edge content and originality
• broad subject appeal
• a consistency in the papers either through a commonality of approach, theme or their comparative nature
• the authors of the papers are some of the most active and respected figures in the field
• a well written Guest Editorial that exhibits real understanding of the value and import of the issue and, above all
• hard-working Guest Editor(s) who put so much effort in to the commissioning and production of the special issue.

The winners for 2013

Emerald is particularly pleased and proud to announce the Outstanding Special Issue Awards for 2013.

Winner:

Qualitative research: exploring the visual in organizations and management
Guest Editors: Professor Jane Davison, Dr Christine McLean, Professor Samantha Warren
Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, Volume 7, Issue 1, 2012

Juliet Harrison, Publisher, Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal had the following to say about the award: "I’m delighted that 'Exploring the visual in organizations' has won the Outstanding Special Issue Award for 2013, and would like to congratulate Jane Davison, Christine McLean and Samantha Warren. The issue has already received 10 citations on ISI since publication, and in the words of the Editors: 'studying 'the visual' holds great potential for qualitative organizational researchers and show how this field is fast developing around a number of interesting image-based issues in organizational life'."

The Editors of the journal, Prof Gillian Symon and Prof Catherine Cassell, are also delighted with the news: “This special issue is of very high quality and tackles an issue that is currently of great significance to the qualitative organizational research methods community: how can we incorporate the visual into our understanding of occupational and organizational life? We think the Guest Editors have done a marvellous job of bringing a number of insightful studies and commentaries together to address this issue. This recognition for their efforts is richly deserved”.