HANDBOOK for JOURNAL EDITORS | 2018 Contents
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Handbook for JPPS JPPS JPPS WORKING TOWARDS I N E JPPS A Journal Editors C T I V N E W STARS ABOUT INASP ABOUT THE JOURNALS ABOUT THIS RESOURCE ONLINE PROJECT Founded in 1992, INASP is an This pack includes hand-outs used international development The Journals Online (JOL) project by INASP during workshops and organization working with a global was established by INASP in adapted for a broader audience. network of partners in Africa, Latin the late 1990s to redress the They are intended as guidelines America and Asia. In line with the challenges discussed here. The on good practice, and as ideas for vision of research and knowledge Journals Online platforms aim journals to consider. at the heart of development, INASP to provide increased visibility, works to support individuals and accessibility and quality of peer- The pack does not represent institutions to produce, share and reviewed journals published in a comprehensive information use research and knowledge, which developing countries so that the resource on journal publishing, can transform lives. research outputs that are produced but presents some of the issues in these countries can be found, that a journal publisher and editor INASP’s approaches are based shared and used more effectively. needs to consider and which may on the core pillars of capacity be helpful when developing a development, convening, The JOL project involves embedding publication. influencing and working in an online journal hosting partnership. INASP promotes platform in existing institutions in Pippa Smart equity by actively addressing developing countries or regions. It | Editor the needs of both men and then provides training in publishing Alastair Horne | Contributor women across all our work and best practices, and various addressing issues of power within other supporting services to the INASP TEAM the research and knowledge participating research journals system. INASP has projects in 28 hosted on the platforms. Sioux Cumming | INASP countries, supporting all aspects of Siân Harris | INASP research and knowledge systems, The project strengthens the from facilitating the provision capacity in the local hosting of information to researchers to organization to eventually helping parliamentarians and sustainably undertake this ongoing civil servants to use research and work themselves. In many cases, evidence in policy making. the JOL platform provides a first opportunity for the research in a journal to be made available online. The first JOL platform was African Journals Online (AJOL), established as a pilot in 1998 and formally launched in 2000. Since 2005, AJOL has been managed independently by a team in South Africa and the platform now hosts over 500 journals. JOL platforms in Vietnam and the Philippines are also now managed locally. The JOLs in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Central America and Mongolia are also in the process of moving to local management. INASP, 2018. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- INASP Share Alike Licence (CC 2/3 Cambridge Terrace, BY-SA 4.0). Users can Oxford OX1 1RR, UK reproduce material from this toolkit for their own Tel:+44(0)1865 249909 training and publications Fax:+44(0)1865 251060 under the same conditions E-mail: [email protected] as the materials are made available. This work is funded by DFID and Sida www.inasp.info as part of INASP's Strengthening twitter.com/INASPinfo Charity No. 1106349 Research and Knowledge Systems facebook.com/inasp.info Company No. 04919576 (SRKS) programme. 3 www.inasp.info HANDBOOK FOR JOURNAL EDITORS | 2018 Contents INTRODUCTION 6 QUESTIONNAIRE 8 Section A: Editorial vision and processes 9 CHAPTER 1. EDITORIAL STRATEGY AND POLICIES 10 Online resources and references 10 Resource 1A: Developing a journal strategy 11 Resource 1B: Editorial policies 13 CHAPTER 2. EDITORIAL STRUCTURES 15 Online resources and references 15 Resource 2A: Editorial responsibilities 16 Resource 2B: Working with the editorial team 17 Resource 2C: The journal editor agreement 19 Resource 2D: Editorial boards – composition 21 CHAPTER 3. EDITORIAL OFFICE 22 Online resources and references 22 Resource 3A: The operation of the editorial office 23 CHAPTER 4. PUBLISHING REGULARITY 25 Online resources and references 25 Resource 4A: Scheduling for journal production 26 Section B: Content quality 31 CHAPTER 5. PUBLISHING QUANTITY/QUALITY 32 Online resources and references 32 Resource 5A: Strategies for attracting authors 33 Resource 5B: Strategies for dealing with uneven amounts of content 35 CHAPTER 6. AUTHOR SUPPORT 36 Online resources and references 37 Resource 6A: Working with authors – good practice 38 Resource 6B: Author guidelines 40 Resource 6C: The Publisher-Author Relationship 42 Resource 6D: How to publish your research work 46 CHAPTER 7. PEER REVIEW POLICIES 51 Online resources and references 52 Resource 7A: Different peer review methods 53 Resource 7B: Working with reviewers – good practice 55 CHAPTER 8. ADDING QUALITY TO ACCEPTED ARTICLES 57 Online resources and references 57 Resource 8A: Style and copyediting – adding value 58 Resource 8B: Copyediting – skills required and workflow 60 Resource 8C: Links and DOIs 62 CHAPTER 9. ETHICAL POLICIES 64 Online resources and references 65 Resource 9A: Ethical issues – what they are, how to deal with them 66 CHAPTER 10. COPYRIGHT POLICIES 69 Online resources and references 69 Resource 10A: JISC Copyright resource 70 Resource 10B: INASP Resource: Copyright Assignment Form 72 Resource 10C: Licence for publication instead of copyright assignment 74 4 www.inasp.info HANDBOOK FOR JOURNAL EDITORS | 2018 Section C: Presentation quality 75 CHAPTER 11. WEBSITE REQUIREMENTS 76 Online resources and references 77 Resource 11A: Planning online migration: Planning checklist 78 Resource 11B: Online publishing – different hosting opportunities 80 Resource 11C: Journal websites – essential elements 88 Resource 11D: Open-access journals – it’s not all about free 90 CHAPTER 12. PRINT JOURNAL REQUIREMENTS 95 Online resources and references 96 Resource 12A: Text type design: resource guide 97 Resource 12B: Journal design – guidelines 103 Section D: Journal sustainability 107 CHAPTER 13. SUSTAINABILITY AND PUBLISHING POLICIES 108 Online resources and references 108 Resource 13A: Journal finances and business management 109 Resource 13B: Evaluating your journal (key questions and indicators) 113 Resource 13C: Journal development – ideas 116 Resource 13D: Models for full-text journal online publishing 118 Section E: Journal promotion 123 CHAPTER 14. PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES 124 Online resources and references 124 Resource 14A: Increasing visibility: promotional tactics 125 Resource 14B: General guidance for writing and presenting promotional copy 128 Resource 14C: Email marketing 130 Resource 14D: Social media promotion 132 Resource 14E: Indexing services 135 Resource 14F: Blogs 139 Resource 14G: Measurement 141 Resource 14H: Press Releases 144 Resource 14H: Scholarly research networks 146 5 www.inasp.info HANDBOOK FOR JOURNAL EDITORS | 2018 Introduction To maximize the outreach and impact of research it is important for journals to ensure that they provide suitable platforms for the dissemination of research information. For journals to publish to a poor standard not only harms the reputation of the authors, but it also performs a disservice to the area of research – and potentially to the region in which the journals publish. Journal editors and publishers therefore have a responsibility to ensure that they are providing a quality platform for the publication of research. The purpose of this handbook is to pose the questions that will help journals to judge their level of efficiency, sustainability and quality against internationally accepted criteria. Journal Publishing Practices and Standards One star – has New title - has been met the basic publishing for less than requirements for at two years, but meets JPPS N least two years E W basic requirements Two stars – Inactive - has not compliant with added new content I additional publishing N E to the JOL platform in JPPS A V practice quality criteria C T I over one year Three stars – No stars – not WORKIN consistently excellent TOWARDS currently meeting in all the technical and JPPS the basic criteria for JPPS STARS editorial publishing best inclusion on a JOL practices set out in the platform assessment criteria of the Journal Publishing Practices & Standards (JPPS) framework This handbook complements the Journal Publishing Practices and Standards (JPPS), which was announced by African Journals Online and INASP in 2017. Concerns are often raised about the perceived quality and transparency of publication processes for Southern journals. This, in turn, limits the perceived credibility of the research published within those journals. In response to these concerns, the Journal Publishing Practices and Standards (JPPS) framework provides detailed assessment criteria for the quality of publishing practices of Southern journals and is initially being used to assess the journals hosted on JOL platforms. Journals assessed against the JPPS criteria are given one of six levels: inactive title; new title; no stars; one star; two stars; and three stars. The assigned JPPS levels serve a dual purpose. For readers, they provide assurance that the journals meet an internationally recognized set of criteria at a particular level. For journal editors, the detailed feedback from the JPPS assessment helps them identify ways to improve their publishing practices and standards