Publishing roles

Editor/Co-Editors

Together with the publisher, editors are responsible for forming the scope and policies of a journal and ensuring the content published reflects important work in the research field. They will select papers they deem to be high enough quality, and fit with the scope of the journal for peer review.

Editors are generally appointed by the publisher or society for society-owned journals.

Editorial/Advisory Boards

Editorial boards are made up of experts appointed by the editor from within the journal's field. Individuals may be on several journals’ editorial boards. Their role may include:

• Reviewing papers
• Advising on journal aims and scope
• Attracting new paper submissions
• Submitting some of their own papers
• Putting forward special issues topics

Guest Editors

Guest editors will act as editors for a special issue, supplement or Procedia.

Guest editors play a vital role in curating high-quality contributions on a particular topic and driving the editorial review process for special issue publications.

As guest editor, you are responsible for the following actions:

• Preparing a proposal for a special issue
• Inviting submissions to this special issue

All submissions should be submitted via an online submission and review system indicated on the journal homepage. The submission and peer review of special issue papers must be managed using this system. In addition to reading the material contained below, you should also familiarize yourself with any journal-specific guidelines which will be available on the journal’s homepage.

• Selection of papers and decision process

You are responsible, in cooperation with any other guest editor(s) for the special issue, for ensuring that the review process is conducted in an appropriate manner and in line with normal review practices for the journal. You shall consult with the Editor-in-Chief about the refereeing procedure to be adopted.

This selection of papers should be based on the scientific quality of the content and the topic should clearly fall within the scope of the special issue and the journal hosting it.

You will typically make the preliminary decision on all manuscripts based on reviews but all manuscripts (and revisions) will then be transferred to the Editor-in-Chief who normally has the sole right to review and/or reject any manuscript(s) or arrange for any manuscript(s) to be independently peer reviewed prior to final acceptance for publication.

• Selection of reviewers

As guest editor, you should select reviewers who have suitable expertise in the field and must review all disclosures of potential conflicts of interest made by reviewers in order to determine whether there is any potential for bias.

Research articles must typically be reviewed by at least two external and independent reviewers, and where necessary you should seek additional opinions. The guest editor must follow best practice guidance provided by the Publisher on avoiding the selection of fraudulent peer reviewers. You might find the information available on Finding reviewers page useful in this regard.

• The guest editor must not be involved in decisions about papers in which s/he has written him/herself. Peer review of any such submission should be handled independently of the relevant guest editor/co-editor and their research groups.

Should you have any questions during your guest editorship, please direct these to the relevant contact through our publishing team.

KeAi Staff

Editors are supported by the following KeAi staff:

• Publishers
  The main contact for journal strategy, journal performance indicators, editorial rotations, finances, ethics and support.
• Journal Manager
  Manages the production process from acceptance to publication.
• Marketing Manager
  Responsible for marketing planning, implementation and evaluation.