Journals sometimes focus the attention of the research community by having a special collection, sometimes an entire special issue, devoted to a single topic. A reasonable question to ask is whether the extra effort of organizing, promoting, and maintaining the special collection is worthwhile. The paper that this data set accompanies examines paper impact in the Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics, separating the special collection papers from the non-special-collection submissions. The conclusion is that special collections are worth the extra work.
Liemohn, M. W., & Wooden, P. (2019). Editorial: Impact of special collections in JGR Space Physics. Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics. https://doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10501036.2