We are seeking a Section Editor to serve as a senior member of the Editorial Board of All Earth and lead the ‘Lithosphere’ section of the journal.
The Lithosphere section covers all aspects of the solid Earth, including all areas of geology, geochemistry, and geophysics that relate to the Earth's processes and forces. This role is a great opportunity for an academic with a strong research background in any of these areas, and who also has the commitment, drive and ability to help develop the journal.
As part of this role, you will be responsible for the oversight and administration of a rigorous and proper peer review process that delivers an agreed amount of content of suitable scope and quality within an agreed publication timeframe.
Becoming the editor of a journal is a rewarding and fulfilling experience where you have the opportunity to build your own networks, develop and promote the research in your field, and be recognized as a leading figure within the academic community.
At the heart of the Section Editor’s role is oversight and administration of a rigorous and proper peer review process. The peer review process will deliver:
- An agreed minimum number of accepted articles every year
- Within the Aims & Scope of the Journal
- To an agreed minimum quality threshold
- In an agreed publication timeframe
- In accordance with the Taylor & Francis Editor Code of Conduct, with particular reference to Editorial ethics.
To achieve this Taylor & Francis provides an online peer review management system and relevant support. Within that online peer review management system the Editor is responsible for the following activities:
- Working with the Editor-in-Chief to assess whether each submitted article is within the Journal/Section’s scope and is appropriate for further independent peer review.
- Regular and confident use of an online peer review management system.
- Ensuring all associate editors and members of the Editorial Board register for, and use, the online peer review management system.
- Encouraging independent experts to register for and use the online peer review management system.
- Ensuring all submitted manuscripts are considered in a prompt, consistent and professional manner.
- Securing at least two independent peer reviews from appropriate experts for all manuscripts.
- Managing Associate Editors and/or reviewers to ensure timely publication decisions.
- Monitoring performance to ensure fair and prompt processing of submitted papers.
- Reviewing suitability of referees.
- Finding new referees when those approached decline, fail to respond or respond with insufficient feedback.
- Ensuring that authors, members of the Editorial Board, and referees/reviewers adhere to the Journal’s Guidelines on Publishing Ethics to assure the integrity and reputation of the Journal is maintained.
- Reading, summarizing, and basing judgements about acceptance, rejection, or revision on referees’ reports, and communicating this in writing to authors in a professional manner and within a reasonable period.
- Requesting further reports for subsequently revised papers, communicating as necessary authors’ responses and arguments.
- Liaising with Associate Editors (where applicable) to ensure workload is divided fairly, that their role and responsibility is understood and that expectations around turnaround and quality have been defined.
- Communicating promptly, consistently and professionally with authors during the peer review and publication process.
- Liaising promptly with Taylor & Francis staff and suppliers to implement necessary processes and improvements to the online peer review management system.
Alongside management of the peer review process, other responsibilities of the Section Editor include:
- Proactively and effectively managing the Section’s Editorial Board (in close collaboration with the Editor-in-Chief) including refreshing its membership periodically to ensure appropriate expertise and diversity, providing members with updates, and arranging and leading meetings.
- Acting proactively on any expressions of concern or allegations of research misconduct received about content published in the Journal, assisting and working with Taylor & Francis to resolve these according to the Journal’s Guidelines on Publishing Ethics.
- Being actively involved in subject communities, identifying emerging research trends, and awareness and understanding of major developments in the publishing industry, such as open research and Open Access.
- Taking part in an annual review of the Journal’s performance with Taylor & Francis to set strategic development and development goals, including the Journal’s Aims & Scope.
- Reaching out to potential authors to encourage and support authors in developing their work and submitting it to the Journal.
- Commissioning content and article collections for the Journal.
We welcome applications for Editorial Board Members and Peer Reviewers.
