The International Labour Review (ILR) invites proposals for special issues that contribute to research in a specific area that falls within the aims and scope of the journal, i.e. to advance academic research and foster informed policy debates and decision-making across a spectrum of work and employment-related disciplines. 

Special issues are ideally placed to review critically a well-defined topic, address previously neglected aspects of that topic, propose and develop new conceptual and methodological approaches, discuss different perspectives and provide a basis for new lines of research. 

We encourage special issues of research papers using a variety of methods and approaches that have a broad, international appeal both for authors and readers. The journal expects all special issues to include a diversity of voices and perspectives. 

The selection of special issues will be made by the Managing Editor and the Editorial Board, based on the criteria outlined below. During the evaluation process, the Editorial Team may ask experts in the domain of the special issue topic to evaluate the proposal.

Special issue proposals must contain the following:

• Title.
• Guest editor(s), authors of individual papers and their CVs.
• Background and outline, including the context, rationale and objectives of the proposal as well as its suitability for the ILR. This section should also highlight the following points: (1) how the findings of the collection of papers are placed in the context of the larger research literature, (2) the broader contribution of the special issue to the research and policy literature, and (3) the implications of the special issue for future research directions in the relevant area.
• Abstracts of the articles included in the proposal. The abstracts should include information on the nature of data used for the analysis, a description of the methodology and number of respondents for surveys and interviews conducted by the authors, where applicable.
• Table of contents.
• Time frame.
  • Expected manuscripts to be submitted by:
  • Accepted articles to be submitted to the ILR Managing Editor for approval by: 
• Promotion plan explaining how the Special Issue will be advertised.

Special Issue proposals may be rejected, accepted, or additional information or revisions may be requested before a decision is taken. Requests for revision may concern the proposed selection of articles. Individual articles may be rejected during the review process and, where deemed necessary, additional articles may be suggested for inclusion in the Special Issue. 

If the proposal is accepted, the Special Issue’s editor(s) will be onboarded to the journal by the ILR Editorial Team, and the collection may begin the publishing process according to the agreed timeframes. Each article will be reviewed by the ILR Editorial Board and Managing Editor with the support of the Special Issue editors and will undergo double-blind peer review to ensure that ILR norms of good practice are followed. 

Special issue proposals may be submitted to revue@ilo.org between the 15th of November 2024 and the 15th of January 2025.

A special issue resulting from this call will likely publish in the second half of 2026. 

Call for Special Issue Proposals