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[ecrea] Invitation to join the Editorial Team of Participations

Mon Feb 26 20:53:49 GMT 2018





*_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)>

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