Shagi / Steps publishes both monothematic issues and issues containing several clusters which usually correspond to one of the journal’s academic priorities.. The themes of future issues may be determined either by the subject matter of submitted papers or established beforehand. In the latter case, an issue is organized by the person responsible for it; alternatively, we announce an open call for papers devoted to a particular topic (see the title page of the journal’s website).

Different individuals may assume responsibility for organizing certain issues:

1) A member of the Editorial Team / Editorial Board; 2) A member of the Editorial Team / Editorial Board in collaboration with a Guest Editor(s) from scholarly centers in Russia and abroad; 3) An invited Guest Editor(s).

We welcome proposals for organizing individual clusters or whole issues by Guest Editors. A cluster usually consists of 3 to 6 articles united by a common theme. Articles included in a whole issue curated by Guest Editors can be either divided into several clusters or arranged as a single unit. In addition to analytic papers, reviews of recent books on topics close to the theme of the issue would be included; other kinds of thematically relevant publications are also possible (translations of sources, archive and field materials, scholarly chronicle). In addition to organizing clusters / issues, both members of the Editorial Team / Editorial Board responsible for the issues and/or Guest Editors contribute to writing a foreword to an issue, and, if necessary, are involved in the work on an issue.

Colleagues wishing to become Guest Editors are kindly requested to send applications to shagisteps-ion@ranepa.ru (with a obligatory copy to shagisteps@yandex.ru). Applications should include the following data.

1. Title (for a cluster); theme and a list of possible clusters (for an issue).
2. A detailed annotation, including a description of the problems and goals; the proposed themes; the material of the articles and other relevant information.
3. A preliminary list of the authors (with affiliations) and working titles of papers.
4. The deadline by which the Guest Editor will be able to put together a complete cluster / issue.

Submitted applications are discussed by the Editorial Team and, if accepted, are taken into account when drawing up the working plans of the journal. All articles received because of the Guest Editors’ contribution, if approved, go through the usual review process. The order of publication of such clusters is determined based on the journal’s working plans and the actual date of their acceptance, taking into account the date of submission of an application.