<p>While academic cronyism is an acknowledged phenomenon it is rarely the subject of research in higher education except by reference to staff recruitment and academic in-breeding. It constitutes a ‘wicked’ problem that is complex to understand and investigate since it is based on networks of individuals that are grounded on reciprocal professional benefits that are often private or at least partly hidden from view. Drawing on social network theory, this paper demonstrates how academic cronyism works by reference to journal special issues developing illustrative case studies of relationships between authors and special issue editors. Publicly available data from journal home pages, journal special issues, individual bibliometrics, citation systems and social media are used to trace prior and current authorship relationships between contributors to journal special issues. The case studies indicate that academic social networks are a significant factor in respect to journal special issues providing a strong <i>prima facie</i> indicator of academic cronyism. While some journals use the standard peer review process for special issues based on open calls for papers others use irregular procedures and operate a closed system that promotes academic cronyism. It is recommended that a set of principles labeled ‘CORE’ –consistency, openness, rigour, and equity – should be adopted by journals to protect the integrity of journal special issues.</p>