Celebrating 6 Years at Exchanges

Chief Editor commemorates their sixth year at Warwick, and looks to the future.

On a personal note for once, today marks my sixth anniversary of coming to work at Warwick as the Exchanges journal’s editor-in-chief. 2018 was a very different time for the world, when a Teams call was an outlier not a daily occurrence, and also a time when the journal was smaller, based in a very different building and with a much smaller editorial base.

Six years is also an auspicious moment for more than one reason. For starters Exchanges as it exists today is not the journal I first took on back in 2018 by many metrics. We have grown beyond measure over this time in terms of issues produced not to mention the range of activities we do and personal who are involved in the title. We’ve also evolved in terms of collaborations, as these have become very much at the heart of much of what we do – both with colleagues at Warwick but also with partners and contributors around the world. That I’ve enjoyed more than one breakfast meeting this week training up new associate editors from Australia stands as one example of this ongoing and lively international collaboration. Indeed, I did a back of the envelope calculation earlier which pointed out that I currently oversee the work of over 50 editors as part of our team – helped immensely by our incredible and expanding special issue programme!

Today, where once we produced a couple of annual issues, this year we potentially have upwards of four or five issues which will be seeing publication, which is a massive development for what is, after all, a relatively modestly resourced scholar-led title. Looking back at my own career journal too, entering the seventh year tends to be a moment of change of direction for myself also. Does this mean that the next 12 months herald big career changes for myself? Perhaps, perhaps not, it is hard to tell, as my magic eightball is not cooperating currently.

Nevertheless, it’s still a moment for some light celebration today, even as I keep my eye firmly focused on what the future brings. My grateful thanks to all of Exchanges’ contributors, editors and reviewers past, present and future for everything they have and continue to do which help keep making our little interdisciplinary research journal a going concern!

Gareth Johnson : 11 Apr 2024 10:24 |  Tags: Anniversary Back Looking Six Years |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem