Policies and Responsibilities: Editorial Board and Managing Editor(s)

I. Editorial Board Policies and Responsibilities 

A. Responsibilities of Board Members May Include:

  1. Attending regular full board meetings (almost always online), usually twice a year
    • Contributing to conversations on shared docs
    • Attending more frequent meetings with smaller groups of board members (subcommittees)
  2. Promote the journal, including:
    • Wearing journal swag at conferences!
    • Handing out swag at events and conferences (contact managing editor[s] ahead of time with swag needs)
    • Approaching authors of promising conference papers and asking them to consider submitting to the journal
    • Adding the journal to your email signature
  3. Peer review
    • Be available to peer review submissions in your subdiscipline, approximately once a year
    • Suggest peer reviewers when needed
  4. Special issues
    • Consider and approve special issue proposals (by vote)
    • Suggesting special issue topics and potentially editing special issues
  5. Outreach, such as meeting with graduate students to provide advice and guidance about the journal/publishing; brainstorm with issue editors about digital formats, etc.
  6. Advise on journal policy and scope
    • Is the journal meeting the needs of the scholarly community? How can the scope be enlarged and/or improved?
    • Are the journal’s policies effective? What could be changed to make them more effective?
  7. Assist managing editor(s) in making difficult decisions about submissions, especially when peer reviewers and/or editors are not in agreement or there is a possibility of plagiarism or other unethical behavior
  8. Select or appoint managing editors; Board members may rotate into the managing editor role
  9. Estimated commitment per year for committee members: 10-15 hours

B. Selection and Tenure of Board Members

  1. The Different Visions board consists of 8-12 members, along with the current managing editor(s) who serve as board chair(s)
  2. Members join through invitation or through expressing interest through our form
    • Maintain a list of people who have expressed interest (this will be created by form)
    • Happens at a particular point in the year (July/Aug)
  3. Members serve three-year terms, and have the option to renew twice (for a max of 9 years)
  4. Make up of the board: the board aims to reflect a wide range of perspectives in the field, including diversity in terms of career stage, type of institution, geographic area (of their research, or of where they live?), methodological approaches, etc.


II. Managing Editor(s) Policies and Responsibilities

A. Selection

  1. Managing editor(s) are appointed by the advisory board
  2. Managing editor(s) often serve as board members before taking editorial role
  3. Managing editor(s) usually serve a 3-year period, but may renew

B. Board

  1. Organize board meetings and share notes/minutes
  2. Manage document that keeps track of board members and their scholarly interests and professional roles

C. Issues

  1. Conceive of new thematic issue ideas
  2. Reach out to and communicate with scholars interested in guest editing a special issue
  3. Work with issue guest editors throughout process
  4. Keep open issues up, running, and ongoing

D. Review

  1. Keep list of past peer reviewers
  2. Send out essays for peer review and communicate with authors about the peer review process and results
  3. Document peer review process

E. Edit/Images

  1. Provide general editing for authors
  2. Create image folders for each essay and make sure authors have correctly formatted images

F. Website

  1. Oversee general health of the journal’s website
  2. Assign tasks to student workers and/or content manager
  3. Posts essays in web and PDF formats on the site, when needed

G. Manage

  1. Onboard incoming managing editors
  2. Supervise others who work on journal (i.e. student workers at editor’s home institution or Content Manager funded by grant)
  3. Apply for grants and other opportunities to help financially support journal in future

H. PR

  1. Regularly post on social media about new issues, CFPs, and individual essays
  2. Share CFPs and new issues on listservs and via email
  3. Create new swag
  4. Host reception at ICMS Conference (Kalamazoo)
  5. Sponsor session(s) at ICMS Conference (Kalamazoo) – usually organized by others

 

(Created 6/20/24)