All 3 entries tagged Back

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) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Well, That About Wraps It Up for 2023: Reflecting back on the year that was

Writing about web page https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/exchangeshistory

The Editor-in-Chief takes a look back over the year that was for Exchanges

It has been a year, and what a year it has been for the Exchanges journal as we celebrated ten years of publication. It has certainly been a very busy year, with three issues of the journal published and no fewer than five issues currently underway for publication in one degree or another. It’s also been a year when our special issue programme really took off, and if certain potential projects are funded, we’ll be able to expand what we considerably. Which means behind the scenes we’ve been welcoming and training more associate editors than ever before.

Certainly, there have been some particular highlights worthy of especial attention. First among these was the launch back in February of our monthly email newsletter, which lets subscribers [1] keep up to date with the month to month operations of the journal. If you want to make sure you know what’s happening with Exchanges, and where there are opportunities to contribute or get involved, sign up for the newsletter is a great way to do that. Alongside that we saw those three issues, one of which celebrated the end of a two-year collaboration with the universities of Delft and Nottingham – it was very well received by the readership.

Collaborations, Publications & New Pages

Looking more to the future, 2023 was also the year we established two productive collaborations, firstly with the National Centre for Research Culture(NCRC) and secondly with Warwick’s Modern Records Centre(MRC). If plans come to fruition, the NCRC collaboration may be a longer-term engagement too, going beyond the production and publication of a single issue. Watch this space [2] for more details as and when that arrives as this is exciting news for the whole Exchanges team. Speaking of the team, we were also pleased this past year to welcome four new Editorial Board members, including the first new member from Monash University in four years. This was because we’d said farewell to a number of longstanding Board Members as their careers and lives moved on, and so we wished them well in their future endeavours. [3]

Mid-year we were delighted to launch a new suit of pages on and about Exchanges on our host department’s, the IAS (Institute for Advanced Study), website. We used to have a page but, this was pulled a few years ago – so having an enlarged space to talk about the journal was only to our advantage. Have a look if you haven’t already, as you may be surprised by what you find, especially in regard to what our editors, Board and associates actually do.

Social Media, Guidance & Podcasting

There were a few minor developments too – we rolled out alternatives to the Twitter/X microblogging sites with accounts on Mastodon and Bluesky.Social, which are both slowly building a following. We – and I should really say ‘I’ here – finally found time to not only update our editorial guidance handbooks, but also revise and refresh all our online author guidance as well. This was a task long in the delivery, and I was pleased to at last have a little time spare to tackle it, as it has sat on my ‘to do list’ for far, far too long for my personal taste. If you’ve not had a look as of yet and are thinking of submitting to us in 2024, I’d really encourage you to go have a good glance over the guidance. I hope you find it helpful![4]

The Exchanges Discourse podcast continued from strength to strength as well, with 13 episodes largely dedicated to interviews with past authors, but also a few focussing in on what makes a good critical reflection or conversation, and our most recent special issue call for contributions too. This marks the fourth season of the podcast(!), and I can’t believe that next year marks our fifth year of producing it – at times it still feels like a new idea! [5] I’ve already got one interview lined up for early 2024, with a second one pending the author’s availability, so there’s plenty of content still to come. We also hosted a range of symposium, workshops and seminars covering topics from publication strategies, effective editorial and reviewing work, book publication and publishing for post-graduate researchers. Each of these sessions was varied, and often called upon old ‘friends’ of the journal to contribute as panellists – to whom I’d like to add a note of thanks!

Behind Closed Doors

Of course, like an iceberg, much of what Exchanges does – and certainly what I get up to on a daily, weekly and monthly basis – is hidden ‘beneath the water’, in terms of keeping the wheels spinning, supporting my editors, liaising with authors and reviewers alike. 2023 saw the first year the Warwick University Press Journals group came together to seriously discuss some of the challenges we all face running our journals, and to explore routes in which the institution and ourselves could work smarter, better and more effectively. While more concrete developments here are still pending senior stakeholder buy-in, I’ve already been talking about a phase II piece of related work with one of my fellow chief editors, which bodes well for the medium to long term health of Exchanges and the WUP itself too.

And this doesn’t even touch on all the work I do promoting the journal in one way or another in conversations, personal appearances and in promotional materials. It might be less ‘note-worthy’ and even arguably ‘less tangible' in visibility but by Grabthar’s Hammer, if we didn’t do it – all the other stuff wouldn’t happen.[6]

Looking Ahead

So yes, undoubtedly a busy, busy year with many successes. But as we head into the new year, and the 11^th of publication for Exchanges, we are not resting on our laurels. This is certainly because 2024 is shaping up to be even busier, so rest isn’t on the agenda for now! [7]

So I do hope you’ll be joining us, contributing or attending one of our events next year, or maybe even simply listening to our podcasts or reading the journal. I’m sure you’ll find it well worth your time.

Other than that, on behalf of the Board and associates, thanks for reading, and see you in the new year.[8]

---

Endnotes

[1] In the sense they join the list, there’s no charge for the newsletter, naturally. :)

[2] The blog in general that is, not this actual specific post. But then you probably knew that already.

[3] It may be too early to tell, but I’d expect to see more new Board members in 2024 – assuming any of the current long-standing members feel the time is right to depart.

[4] If it’s not helpful – let me know too, as I’m always interested in areas of information we can improve upon or better clarify.

[5] There are plans – hush hush and TBC at the moment – to launch a new podcast series associated with Exchanges. But I’ll talk more about that if and when I can.

[6] Does the university get a fair ROI out of their investment in me and the journal? I’d argue they do magnificently well! Of course, were they to invest more, we could do so much more of course.

[7] Christmas/New Year vacation time aside that is.

[8] By a strange freak of nature, this makes the 44th entry for the blog this year...tying us with last year! How many posts in 2024? Possibly just as many...if not more!

Gareth Johnson : 21 Dec 2023 15:03 |  Tags: Back Forward History Looking Reflection Retrospective Round-Up |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Looking Back at 2021: Most Popular Podcast Episodes

Writing about web page https://open.spotify.com/show/5amW8qMjCrUihAvtBq5ChM

We take a look back at the most popular episodes of the Exchanges Discourse podcast in the past twelve months

Happy new year, Exchanges readers. And what could be a better way to start the new year, than by sharing a couple of our most access, read and used items within our communities. First off, it’s our run down of the most popular episodes – based on listener statistics – for the Exchanges Discourse podcast. As we moved into this second year of the podcast there was an upswing in the number of episodes and content duration too. In fact, we produced 13 episodes in 2021 which lasted a grand total of 3hrs 33mins and 18 seconds. Which equates to fully two more episodes and over 90 minutes more content than the previous year. Hence, cheers all around to everyone who participated and helped make this happen!

So out of these 13 glorious episodes – which were the ones most beloved by our audience?

>Number 5 (audience share 9%): Introducing Volume 8.3 of Exchanges – a look back at the Spring 2021 issue of the journal.

>Number 4 (audience share 10%): A Conversation with…Doro Wiese. A chat with a past author, and Warwick scholar.

>Number 3 (audience share 12%): The Cultural Representations of Nerds – in Conversation with Filippo Cervelli & Ben Schaper – a special issue focus.

>Number 2 (audience share 13%): A Conversation with...Urmee Chakma. Talking with a past author about teaching English to speakers of other languages.

>Number 1 (audience share 19%): Conversations with…Associate Editors – a panel discussion exploring what working on Exchanges & its special issues means for early career scholars.

And you can freely listen to these and all our other episodes on Spotifyand Anchor.Fm

I am quite surprised to see one of my solo efforts, looking at a recent issue of the journal, in there by the skin of its teeth at number 5. I had rather assumed that listeners most preferred to hear guests, and while for the most part the rest of the top 5 hold this up, it is gratifying to know there is an audience for me talking (mostly) to myself.

For contrast - here are the most listened to episodes in 2020.

We have already two episodes recorded and pending editing for the new season of the podcast, which will be coming out over the next week or so – giving you something to look forward to already. Plus I’ve two further guests lined up for February, and maybe even something a little special…a live recorded podcast session with an audience. More on that idea if we can pull it together!

Next time though, I’ll share what were the 10 most downloaded papers in the journal last year. Stay tuned for that – next week! 

Gareth Johnson : 13 Jan 2022 16:56 |  Tags: 2021 Back Discourse Exchanges Listeners Looking Podcast Reflections Statistics |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem