Conference Collaboration Programme Overview
Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal · Conference Collaboration Programme
Extending Scholarly Research Beyond the Conference
Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal invites academic conference organisers working across the full breadth of research disciplines to explore a formal scholarly collaboration through the RCELL Conference Collaboration Programme. This initiative provides a structured pathway for research presented at qualifying academic conferences to be developed into peer-reviewed contributions to a curated special issue of the journal.
The programme rests on a straightforward scholarly principle: a conference presentation is a beginning, not a completed research contribution. Findings shared in a conference setting — data presented, methodologies tested, arguments opened for critical scrutiny — represent work at an important but intermediate stage. The Conference Collaboration Programme exists to support the development of that work into fully realised, rigorously reviewed, and permanently citable research publications.
Collaboration with Galaxy is not a publication service. It is a scholarly partnership, entered into with care on both sides, governed at every stage by the journal’s independent editorial standards and the ethical publishing practices to which RCELL is committed. Approval of a collaboration proposal establishes eligibility for scholarly collaboration only and does not constitute a commitment to publish a special issue.
What a Special Issue Collaboration Involves
A special issue produced through the Conference Collaboration Programme is a themed collection of peer-reviewed research articles, originating in scholarly work presented at an approved conference, compiled and published as a distinct issue of Galaxy. It is not a conference proceedings volume. Every article in a special issue has been independently reviewed, has met the same scholarly standards applied to all research published in the journal, and has been accepted solely on the basis of academic merit — including the clarity of its methodology, the rigour of its argument, and the originality of its contribution.
The collaboration follows a defined sequence. The conference takes place independently, organised and managed entirely by the host institution. Following the conference, selected presenters are formally invited by the journal to submit substantially developed extended papers for editorial consideration. These submissions enter the journal’s standard double-blind peer review process. Those manuscripts that satisfy the review criteria are accepted for publication; those that do not are declined. Accepted articles are compiled, edited, and published as a themed special issue of Galaxy, assigned individual DOIs, and made available on an open-access basis under a Creative Commons Attribution licence.
The journal’s role throughout this process is that of an independent scholarly curator — bringing editorial rigour, peer review expertise, and archival permanence to research that originated in the conference setting. Conference participation does not create any entitlement to publication. An invitation to submit is an invitation to enter the journal’s standard review process, not a preliminary acceptance decision.
Academic Scope and Thematic Eligibility
Galaxy is a multidisciplinary research journal, and the Conference Collaboration Programme reflects this breadth. The journal welcomes collaboration proposals from conferences in the arts and humanities, social sciences, education, commerce and management, agricultural sciences, and interdisciplinary research areas. Conferences that cross disciplinary boundaries — drawing on multiple fields to address a shared research question or area of inquiry — are particularly well suited to the journal’s interdisciplinary orientation.
It is important to note that Galaxy publishes only research papers. The journal does not publish creative writing, book reviews, or author interviews, and special issues produced through the Conference Collaboration Programme are composed exclusively of peer-reviewed research articles. Conferences that anticipate submitting primarily non-research content should consider whether The Criterion: An International Journal in English, RCELL’s sister publication, may be a more appropriate collaboration partner.
Thematic alignment is assessed through the collaboration proposal process. Organisers are encouraged to review the journal’s published scope and recent issues before submitting a proposal, and to articulate specifically how their conference theme intersects with the journal’s editorial interests. Given the journal’s breadth, thematic relevance is rarely the primary obstacle in evaluating Galaxy proposals; the more common distinguishing factor is the strength of the scholarly rationale and the quality of the research methodology evident in the conference’s design and review process.
Editorial Independence and the Scholarly Curator Model
The defining feature of the RCELL Conference Collaboration Programme is the journal’s absolute editorial independence at every stage of the process. The Editor-in-Chief of Galaxy holds final and binding authority over all editorial decisions. No other party — including the conference organiser, the guest editor, the conference organising committee, or any sponsoring institution — may direct, influence, or seek to influence any decision regarding the acceptance, revision, or rejection of a submitted manuscript.
This independence is the structural condition that allows a special issue to constitute genuine research rather than conference output reclassified as journal content. Peer reviewers are independent of the conference and are selected by the editorial office. Review criteria are identical to those applied to any paper submitted to a regular issue of the journal, with particular attention to methodological clarity, research design, and the demonstrability of scholarly contribution. The threshold for acceptance is not adjusted to achieve a target number of publications, and the programme makes no commitment to producing a special issue of any particular size.
Conference organisers entering into this collaboration accept these terms in full. The editorial office will not enter into arrangements that require, imply, or structurally create an expectation of guaranteed publication. Any communication to conference participants about the journal collaboration must make clear that submitted papers are subject to full independent peer review and that acceptance is not guaranteed. Draft communications should be submitted to the editorial office for review before dissemination.
Who Should Consider Applying
The Conference Collaboration Programme is designed for academic conferences with a clearly articulated research focus, a credentialled organising committee, and a demonstrated commitment to scholarly quality. Proposals are most likely to succeed where the conference addresses a genuine research question or field-level problem, where the organising body is affiliated with a recognised academic institution, where the conference operates a rigorous review or screening process for presentations, and where the proposed special issue theme has the intellectual coherence to make a meaningful contribution to the relevant field or fields.
Given Galaxy‘s multidisciplinary scope, proposals are welcome from a particularly wide range of disciplinary communities. Interdisciplinary conferences — those that draw together researchers from two or more fields around a shared theme or methodological approach — are especially welcome, as they align naturally with the journal’s commitment to cross-disciplinary scholarly dialogue.
Organisers of inaugural conferences are eligible to apply. Where a conference has no prior track record, the proposal itself must carry the full weight of demonstrating academic credibility, methodological rigour, and operational readiness. Particular attention should be given to the scholarly qualifications of the organising committee, the quality of the conference review process, and the specificity of the proposed special issue theme.
The programme is generally unsuitable for commercially organised events whose structure prioritises participation volume over scholarly review, for conferences that accept all submissions without academic assessment, or for organisers who seek a guaranteed publication pathway for their participants. The editorial office applies a structured evaluation process to every proposal received, and proposals that do not meet the programme’s academic and ethical standards are declined.
The Guest Editor Role
Each approved collaboration is supported by a Guest Editor, nominated by the conference organiser and appointed by the journal following the Editor-in-Chief’s assessment. The Guest Editor is a specialist in the relevant research area or areas who brings thematic and methodological expertise to the special issue process — advising on scholarly coherence, recommending potential reviewers, and, upon completion of the review process, drafting an editorial introduction to the published issue.
The Guest Editor’s role is advisory. Guest Editors do not hold authority to accept or reject submissions, to assign reviewers independently, or to communicate editorial decisions to authors. These functions remain with the editorial office and the Editor-in-Chief. The Guest Editor’s contribution is a genuine scholarly service; it is not a mechanism for the conference organiser to influence publication outcomes.
Full details of the Guest Editor role, eligibility criteria, and responsibilities are set out in the Guest Editor Guidelines, available as part of the Programme Documents accessible through this site.
Programme Governance and Documentation
The Conference Collaboration Programme is governed by a suite of institutional documents that establish the responsibilities of all parties, the standards applied to submissions and review, and the ethical framework within which the collaboration operates. These documents — the Guest Editor Guidelines, the Special Issue Review Protocol, the Extended Paper Requirements, the Manuscript Submission Standards, the Publication Ethics and Peer Review Framework, and the Collaboration Agreement — collectively constitute the formal basis of every approved collaboration.
Organisers are expected to read the Programme Documents in full before submitting a collaboration proposal. The proposal evaluation process assumes familiarity with these documents, and proposals that reflect a misunderstanding of the programme’s governing principles are unlikely to meet the evaluation criteria. All documents are available for download from this site.