The Academic Editor's Role in Launching a New Journal

As a member of the Editorial Board (which can include Editor-in-Chief or a standard Editorial Board Member) of a small new scholarly journal, you play a crucial role in its development and success. Drawing on the sources and our conversation history, here is what you should keep in mind and do to best serve the journal:

Understand and Fulfil Your Defined Responsibilities: Your specific duties as an Editorial Board Member (EBM) are typically defined by the journal. These responsibilities often include pre-screening and making decisions on submissions, supervising or setting up Special Issues, providing feedback on journal policies, promoting the journal, and reviewing manuscripts. If you are the Editor-in-Chief (EiC), your role involves being a champion for the journal, making scientific decisions about its scope, inviting scientists to the board, suggesting Special Issue topics, guiding other editors and staff, overseeing the editorial process and final decisions, and upholding peer review and publication ethics. Clarify these responsibilities during onboarding.

Contribute to Journal Development and Quality: Actively participate in improving the journal. This includes providing input on journal policies, suggesting topics for Special Issues or new sections, and attending board meetings to suggest strategies. Your expertise is vital for making scientific decisions about the journal's scope. For a new journal, establishing policies and procedures based on best practices like COPE's Core Practices is essential for a well-managed infrastructure. Ensuring policies reflect the journal's discipline and relevant regulations is also important.

Attract Quality Content and Experts: Help recruit prominent scholars from your field to submit papers or join the Editorial Board. Scholars are more likely to trust a journal when distinguished experts are on the board. For small-medium journals, maximising the potential of EBMs is crucial. Consider submitting your own papers if relevant.

Engage in Manuscript Handling: You may be involved in pre-screening and making final decisions on manuscripts within your area of expertise. You might also be invited to review manuscripts. When reviewing, be objective, constructive, and professional in your feedback. If asked to review revisions, try to accommodate the request. Ensure reviewers you recommend or select are qualified, free of conflicts of interest (CoIs), and have no known ethics or performance concerns.

Organise or Supervise Special Issues: As highlighted in our previous discussion, Special Issues are important for attracting quality content and are a defined responsibility for EBMs. If supervising, you will evaluate the feasibility of topics and the qualifications of proposed Guest Editors. Ensure the Guest Editor is active and has a good background, and that the Special Issue covers a relevant topic.

Uphold Publication Ethics Rigorously: This is a core responsibility. Ensure that decisions are based solely on the paper's importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal's remit, not on personal characteristics of the authors. You are responsible for everything published, taking steps to ensure quality. Be vigilant about potential Conflicts of Interest for yourself and others involved, including authors, reviewers, and Guest Editors. Declare your own CoIs and disclose any that arise during your appointment. Ensure peer review is conducted according to the journal's policies, respecting confidentiality. Be aware of processes for identifying ethical concerns like misconduct, data issues, and ethical oversight of research. For manuscripts involving studies that require ethical approval, ensure compliance with the journal's requirements. You may have an independent obligation to judge whether a study is ethical, even if a local ethics committee approved it. Promptly respond to suspected ethical breaches or complaints, adhering to journal procedures.

Maintain Professional Communication and Transparency: Communicate openly, transparently, and professionally with journal staff. Avoid disclosing confidential information like reviewer criteria or internal targets. Ensure the journal's policies are clearly communicated to authors and reviewers. If an editor provides a review, this should be done transparently.

Focus on Quality Over Quantity: For a small journal, focus on the quality of published content. This is essential for journal development and potentially gaining indexing in major databases.

Learn and Stay Updated: Being an editor is exciting but can be daunting. Keep up to date with new developments in publishing and peer review. For small journals, it can be helpful to learn from larger, more established journals.

Ensure Compliance with Journal Policies: Familiarize yourself with and adhere to all journal policies and guidelines, including those for authors and reviewers. For a new journal, establishing clear, up-to-date instructions is crucial.

By actively engaging in these areas, particularly in helping to attract quality content and ensuring rigorous ethical practices, you can significantly contribute to the growth and reputation of a small new scholarly journal.