Image courtesy of Digby Oldridge/PR Eye
The Society is seeking a new co-editor for its journal Area. We are particularly keen to receive applications from those with expertise in environmental geographies.
About Area
Area publishes groundbreaking research and scholarship from across the field of geography. Publishing concise 5,000-word papers in a range of formats, Area is an outlet for new debates and original ideas from both established and emerging scholars. The journal is committed to supporting early-career scholars and each year offers a prize to the best paper from an early-career researcher.
Purpose of post
The new Editor will join the experienced editorial team of Professors Alan Latham, Sarah Marie Hall, and Julian Leyland, replacing Professor Hilary Geoghegan who completed her term earlier this year.
Area’s Editors provide strategic direction for the journal, actively seek out quality submissions and Special Sections, and provide an active editorial function, both in making decisions on manuscripts following peer review, and in actively working with authors to ensure their papers are as rigorous and engaging as possible.
The editorial processes for Area are supported by the Society’s Managing Editor, who takes responsibility for much of the submission and peer review process, including conducting initial administrative checks on manuscripts, finding peer reviewers, and much of the correspondence with reviewers and Wiley, the publishers.
The key responsibilities of the Editor, working independently and with the other co-Editors, are as follows:
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To actively encourage submissions to the journal and to promote papers published in the journal.
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To make decisions on manuscripts submitted to the journal and offer detailed feedback which enables authors to improve their article.
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To actively encourage and make decisions on Special Section proposals submitted to the journal.
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To work alongside the Society and Wiley to devise and implement strategies for the journal.
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To arrange external facing events and initiatives under the journal’s name, including at the Society’s Annual International Conference.
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To co-author regular editorials.
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To attend publications sub-committee meetings (one per year) and regular meetings with the other Area Editors and the Society’s Managing Editor.
Selection criteria
The following are the requirements for this post. These are the criteria against which candidates will be shortlisted and judged. It is in your interest to ensure that you cover each of these areas in the covering letter of your application.
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Broad knowledge of geography with an expertise in environmental geographies.
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Proactive approach to encouraging submissions to the journal.
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The ability to work with a wide variety of authors in different contexts to make improvements to their papers.
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Collegiate approach to editorial duties and desire to work as part of a team of editors.
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The ability to make quick and effective decisions.
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International research networks/esteem within the discipline.
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A knowledge and passion of how to work with early-career researchers who may be new to the process of academic publishing.
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Previous editorial experience is desirable but not strictly essential.
Further information and how to apply
Area is one of four academic journals of the Society; the others are Geo: Geography and Environment, The Geographical Journal, and Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. The Society also publishes a book series, and WIREs Climate Change is published in association with the Royal Meteorological Society.
Area is published by Wiley, and administration of the submission and peer review processes are managed online using ScholarOne Manuscripts.
To apply, please provide a (maximum) two-page letter of interest, outlining your experience and suitability for the role, as well as your vision for how you would edit Area, along with a curriculum vitae and names of two referees who could provide letters of support. These should be submitted by 5.00pm on 10 October to Dr Anna Lawrence, the Managing Editor of the Society’s publications (journals@rgs.org). All applications will be treated in confidence.
Interviews will be held in late October 2023. Full training will be provided, and a modest honorarium is awarded. The term will be for five years in the first instance, effective 1 January 2024.
For further details of the role, please contact Dr Anna Lawrence (journals@rgs.org) or Dr Catherine Souch (c.souch@rgs.org).