Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta will occasionally publish a "Special Issue", which contains a collection of papers with some unifying theme, e.g. presentations at a topical conference of geochemical relevance, or commemoration of a milestone event in the career of a prominent geochemist. Persons interested in proposing a special issue should contact the Executive Editor with the suggested unifying theme and a provisional list of papers/authors.

Each paper submitted for a special issue will be evaluated by normal GCA standards for scientific merit, relevance, etc. Evaluation standards will not be relaxed for papers designated for a special issue.

Special issues will not involve "guest" editors or associate editors; evaluation of special issue manuscripts will involve the same processing as regular papers submitted to GCA. Organizers should make it clear to the prospective author pool, however, that anyone submitting a paper to the special issue will be expected to review at least two manuscripts if requested. Organizers should also plan on assisting the Editor in finding two or three individuals in the author pool who will accept appointment as a regular Associate Editor for GCA.

Planning of a viable special issue should include stated intent for submission of at least 15 to 20 papers. Because normal evaluation standards will apply, organizers should anticipate that not all manuscripts submitted for a given special issue will be accepted for publication. If the number of manuscripts accepted falls below 12, the special issue may be canceled. In such event, authors whose manuscripts are accepted for publication will be offered the choice of publication in regular issues, with no special grouping, or withdrawal.

Schedules for special issues will be established by consultation between the organizers and the Editor. A special issue will not be held up indefinitely because one or two papers are late. If the time of publication of a special issue is fixed by agreement in advance, the schedule will not be adjusted because of late papers. Any papers designated for a special issue which are accepted for publication, but which are excluded from the special issue because of scheduling, may be published in a regular issue of the journal.

The covers for a special issue may follow the usual format, or may be a different color, or may employ special artwork as background. If significant single-issue sales are anticipated, the press run may be larger than normal. For a larger press run, the extra issues may be hardbound.

There are not necessarily any costs for a special issue. Special artwork, an extended press run or special binding will generally involve costs which must be borne by the organizers, however. The amount of any such costs will be determined by negotiation with the Production Manager.