[ecrea] Invitation to join the Editorial Team of Participations

*_Invitation to join the Editorial Team of /Participations/_*__

Dear colleagues,

This is an invitation to apply to join the Editorial Team of the online 
Journal /Participations/.  We are seeking one or two early- or 
mid-career colleagues with a demonstrable interest in and commitment to 
the field of audience and reception studies, who are interested in 
becoming involved in the day-to-day running, upkeep and development of 
our Journal.  At the end of this message are some questions which should 
help guide and structure applications for this role.  If you wish to ask 
any questions before making an application, please email either Martin 
Barker ((mib /at/ aber.ac.uk) <mailto:(mib /at/ aber.ac.uk)>) or Sue Turnbull 
((sturnbul /at/ uow.edu.au) <mailto:(sturnbul /at/ uow.edu.au)>).  We invite 
applications from all those interested, to reach us by Friday April 20^th .

/Participations/was founded in 2003 as an entirely online journal, from 
its inception at the prime web address: www.participations.org 
<http://www.participations.org>.  Over the 14 years of its existence, it 
has published more than 600 substantial contributions to the broad field 
of audience and reception studies, with an increasing emphasis more 
recently on the publication of Themed Sections curated and overseen by a 
small group of editors with special interest in a topic or issue.  We 
believe that /Participations/ has established itself as a, if not the, 
leading Journal for this whole area of work.  The Journal has a number 
of distinctive features:

1.  It is entirely free and independent of commercial publishers.  It is 
hosted by Huddersfield University, following a move in 2016 from its 
original base in Aberystwyth University.  The minimal costs of 
sustaining its website and address are generously provided from there.  
Everything else is done by volunteers interested in the field and its 
progress.

2. /Participations /is rare, if not almost unique, in operating a policy 
of open refereeing, whereby the names of authors and reviewers are known 
to each other.  We pioneered this from our outset, and have found it to 
be hugely beneficial, leading to a culture of critical support for 
authors, helping them develop and improve essays in very many cases.  
This stands in contrast with many other Journals which “celebrate” their 
rates of rejections of submissions.

3.  Everything in /Participations/ is free-to-use, without any 
hindrance, while copyright – and the right to republish – remains firmly 
with authors (asking authors only that they acknowledge prior 
publication in the Journal).  Editorially, we strongly encourage authors 
to give clear statements of their methodology and methods, including 
indicating honestly where they are unsure, and there are limits to their 
work.  These features have made the Journal popular with students at 
undergraduate and postgraduate levels, alongside making substantial 
contributions to knowledge and understanding.

4.  Being an online Journal, /Participations/ does not operate either 
strict word-limits on individual essays, or restrictions on the number 
of essays it publishes in any one issue.  Our general principle is to 
publish materials as soon as possible after they have completed their 
editorial processes.  This has meant that some individual Issues of the 
Journal are very large.

The Journal is overseen by an Editorial Board of 25 people, who came 
together in 2015 as part of a process of strengthening and future 
planning of the Journal.  But it is run on a day-to-day basis by four 
people: Martin Barker and Sue Turnbull (Joint Editors); Ernest Mathijs 
(Chair of the Editorial Board); and Rhys Fowler (Web Manager).  It is 
this central group we are seeking to expand and strengthen.  The roles 
of the group, currently, are these:

1. Receiving and processing of individual submissions, locating and 
communicating with reviewers (usually two per submission), forwarding 
reviews with suggestions and recommendations (or of course sometimes 
decisions to reject), receiving and checking revised versions.

2.  Working with Editors of Themed Issues, following our detailed 
published guidelines, as they prepare CfPs, gather and edit submissions, 
and prepare them for publication.  Final formatting is however always 
done by a member of the core editorial group.

3.  Formatting essays to a standard look and template ready for 
publication, and confirming with authors that all is well – and from 
there converting files to PDF, assembling a contents list and forwarding 
everything in good order to our Web Manager.

4.  Annually updating the Journal’s Index of published essays, for the 
website, and keeping an eye on the accuracy of other website information 
(such as the job titles and institutions of members of our Board).

5.  Building and revising as necessary a timetable of planned future 
issues, with one or more EB-edited Themed Sections per issue.  At the 
same time receiving and working with external proposers of such 
Sections, to ensure their best fit with the goals and ambitions of the 
Journal, to agree CfPs, and a place in our publication timetable.  We 
encourage Section Editors to arrange their own reviewing processes, and 
only exceptionally help out with difficult cases.

6.  Preparing topics for consideration by the broader Editorial Board, 
and managing subsequent discussions to the point of decision.  (Most 
recently, topics requiring discussion have been: the decision and 
management of the move of the Journal to Huddersfield; the construction 
of a draft programme of future Themed Sections to be curated by members 
of the Board; and this decision to expand the core Editorial Team.)

We are now seeking to expand the core Editorial Team, in order both to 
share out the work of the Journal, and to bring on board people involved 
in newer areas of work around audiences and reception.  The precise 
allocation of roles will be a topic of discussion, and may well evolve 
(by agreement) over the next several years.  Some of our current 
detailed ways of working are likely to need improvement, and we hope 
that the new recruits to the Core Team will share in thinking about the 
best ways to do our work. /Please think of this as a potential long-term 
engagement. /

Your expression of interest/application for this role: please email 
Martin Barker with an attached letter giving us the following:

A. Your personal details (name, email address, institutional location 
and position, and a brief academic history)

B. A summary of your research work and publications to date, with 
particular emphasis on your connections with the broad field of audience 
and reception studies.

C. A brief statement of your reasons for being interested in working 
with the Journal, and an indication of any particular skills and 
experiences that might be of relevance to the Journal.

D. Any thoughts you have on particular directions or developments that 
the Journal might consider in the future.

Martin Barker

(mib /at/ aber.ac.uk) <mailto:(mib /at/ aber.ac.uk)>

---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please
use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at
http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------