A team with Robyn M. Gleasner and Akshay Sood conducted a study that aimed to enhance the understanding of the role of special issues in the evolving landscape of academic publishing, offering insights for publishers, editors, guest editors, and researchers, including how new technologies influence transparency in publishing processes, open access models, and metrics for success.

The main conclusions from the study are:

• The publishing process of special issues varies widely by publisher and journal title, adding to the complexity for authors to understand these processes.
• Benefits to researchers for publishing in a special issue include potentially higher citation rates and the opportunity to contribute and/or establish one's self in a new or developing field.
• Challenges of publishing a special issue include ensuring the integrity of the research through transparent processes, from the call for papers to the peer-review process, as well as the development of metadata to ensure the findability of articles.
• When it comes to special journal issues, open access publishing models, in particular article processing charges, complicate the publishing landscape and incentives for authors, editors, and reviewers.