Feeling a bit left out?

Do you feel that when you work in an editorial department or work editorially that you feel you get left out? I most certainly used to and found it quite bizaare as the manuscript tracking system is the centre of the universe. Ethical debates and policy were swept under the carpet. On agendas at editorial board meetings it would be all about content or society stuff, acceptance rate is up or down, what shall we commission next, etc. Nothing about the workflow that the editors work within, nor the interaction between the editorial office and the editors, nothing on the system itself. So maybe if it aint broke then don’t fix. But then why did I always get the feedback of ‘Oh this bloody system is poo’ what is wrong with it?
So even though it was not on the agenda I used to bring it up and mutter the odd word about system or policy and then all of a sudden there would be an hours conversation on it, wow we really are on this planet, we do exist. Editorial matters are now quite high on the agenda and editors can’t wait to hear about the innovation and hear the wish list of what we have in store and the ethics has become popular among some, where others see it as meddlesome. There is a difference between asking editors to do something different and getting them to do it. Interesting to hear from editors on this view. I think it is just a mind frame of change and change is difficult for most.
Editorial matters and policy matters are heavily discussed at conferences such as the user conference in Virginia last week for ScholarOne, no page is left unturned, also the conference with Editorial Manager in June.
ISMTE are also holding 2 conferences in August and are very important to the editorial office and production office. The first one on the 4th is in Baltimore and will be focusing on best practice in editorial offices and how to manage editorial boards. This will be your chance to focus on the important things that you day job involves. Also there will be speakers on Ethics which is a very high profile topic this year and years to come. Also the ISMTE will be holding a Conference in Oxford, UK, on the 25th and a guest speaker the former chair of COPE will be speaking about ethics and policy, also talk and workshops on authors and reviewers, again very important to your everyday needs.