Opening up the (Editorial Board) Books

Writing about web page https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/announcement/view/40

It seems a long time since I last made a call for new editors. Sure, we’ve had various calls for associate editors over the past couple of years but the last time I actually made an open call for new Editorial Board members[1] was before the pandemic when we reached out to CY Cergy Paris University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Before I was on the journal myself, my impression was that editors came and went with a greater regularity. Since I took on the Chief Editorship though, we’ve seldom seen members of the team stand down from their roles, or at least those that came onboard have stayed for the long haul.

Now, I would love to attribute this shift to the healthy, collegiate and respectful environment I strive to operate the title under. Perhaps there’s a modicum of veritas in that perception, but you’d have to ask the editors themselves for their perceptions as it not really for me to say! Nevertheless, from time to time my editors do confess how much they enjoy working on the title, so I’m clearly doing something right. Additionally, I’m sure the prestige and experience each gains from contributing to Exchanges plays no small part in retaining so many of the team over such a span of time. Perhaps then this is the key element which has kept them on the team over the years.

That said, in recent months as I’ve watched the IAS’ involvement with the EUTOPIA Alliance, a consortium of European universities of which Warwick is proud to be a member, a thought occurred to me. Surely, there could be a way through which Exchanges could tap into and contribute to these useful inter-intersectional networks in some mutually beneficial ways. Afterall, we were set up to engender a broad, and international, interdisciplinary discourse. Not to mention, for the journal itself, bringing on a few new faces to the Board would help to enrich and strengthen it, alongside giving the team as a whole some greater resiliency.

You see, there’s a truism which suggests the longer anyone remains in a post, the increasing likelihood they will call time on their commitment and depart. While it may not apply to everyone, as the individual tasked with running the journal, this idea does form part of my informal risk registerer associated with maintaining smooth and effective operations. Given so many of our editors have now been with us for such a relatively long time, at the back of my head I’ve always had concerns we might suddenly witness as a ‘great resignation’ all of our own. Which would put me in a difficult spot trying to keep all the plates/wheels/cats spinning[2] on the title, while simultaneously recruiting and training new members of the team. Moreover, with the traditional summer quiet time on the journal operational front, it feels the time couldn’t be better to open up a call and start assessing some potential new editor candidates.

Hence largely for these reasons I’ve concluded it is the right point at which to see if we can find a few new members of the team to join us. Editors play such a crucial role in not only managing the reviewing and copyediting stages of our processes, but also directing and encouraging new author submissions through promoting the journal within their local and professional networks. Bringing in some fresh [3] faces will bring with them some interesting, insightful and useful new perspectives to the table.

Now, as with past calls I suspect I won’t be overwhelmed with applications, early career researchers generally have a lot on their plates [4] to deal with as it is. But I remain hopeful that we’ll have a good batch, varied and diversly international set of candidates willing to throw their hat into the ring.

If you’re interested in finding out more – you can read about the call via the link below. Or of course, by dropping me a line directly via the usual contact routes.

https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/announcement/view/40

Here’s to an enriched and energised set of new editors working on Exchanges by the year’s end!

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[1] Lets just call them ‘editors’ in this post for brevity

[2] Insert your own preferred metaphorical device here. And maybe not think too hard about spinning cats.

[3] Or at least candidates early in their personal research career journeys – as a mature ECR myself when I joined, age isn’t actually a consideration or barrier here to being considered.

[4] Spinning or otherwise.

Gareth Johnson : 11 Aug 2022 15:23 |  Tags: Board Editors Members Recruitment |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem