Well, it has been a long couple of weeks, what with the ScholarOne conference and the Editorial Manager conference and with Highwire visiting the office, also London Online was a knockout as usual. It is also board meeting season with many of the journals boards and editors meeting up and talking strategy and impact factors, and joining in the festivities of food and drink.
Speaking of food and drink, does there seem to be more parties this year than most? There seems to be about 4 this year, that’s it I’m never drinking again.
Speaking of board meetings and editor meetings, I would like to hear what other journals and publishers do regarding them and what their agendas consist of, because I have been to tonnes of them and really think we can make them so much more productive by changing the content of the meetings. I think I would like to talk to my editors more about the policies and ethics of the articles and speak to them about what COPE and the EQUATOR Network can do for them. Also I would like to get them to take a look at WAME and find out a bit more about the nitty gritty. Maybe have a small ethics workshop at the meeting to give them a taste of real cases. I often find information gets to the Editor in Chief but how that is filtered down to the associates is a mystery; my guess is sometimes it doesn’t. Also good practice in an editorial office needs to be shouted a little louder - who does what and when and why - editors do some things that editorial assistants should do and vice versa. Help me out here.
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Hello Gary, you party animal! I'm afraid it's mostly tea and coffee here at the moment.
ReplyDeleteFor annual editorial meetings I keep a forward folder. Throughout the year I collect things to put in it that might be relevant to discuss/must be discussed at the following year’s meeting. I just put a printout in it with a brief note to myself on the issues involved etc. Then when it’s time to draw up the meeting agenda I look at all of these and see what’s still relevant. I send round briefing documents/web links before for those items that need the editors to come with some background information to make the discussion meaningful and decisions based on facts and insight rather than personal feelings. Eg last year we discussed whether or not to move to double-blind reviewing, and it was vital that they knew what this meant, the current state of evidence, and the implications of doing it.
As for getting things passed on from the EiC to everyone else - managing editors are ideally placed to do this once there is agreement on what is going to be introduced, how it will work etc, and to make sure new editors are aware of a journal’s policies and procedures. But the role of ME, and the level of responsibility they have, varies from journal to journal, and in some cases they may also be instrumental in introducing new policies and working with the EiC to finalise and implement them.
... think I'll have another cup of coffee.