We invite submissions for a special collection to be published in 2022.
This special collection will bring together contributions unpacking the diverse forms of involvement of students and junior scholars to all stages of the academic publishing process: authorship, reviewing, editorship and publication management.
Quality academic publishing adopts a formally non-hierarchical perspective of authorship. The quality of the submitted research, rather than formal qualifications or the stage of the researcher’s career, determines publication. This premise may stimulate a ‘race to the top’ in gaining advanced academic writing and research skills that aid publication prospects. At the same time, it may result in a ‘race to the bottom’ in disadvantaged scholarly communities with lack of institutionalized support for developing academic authorial skills. As the worst-case scenario, junior researchers under pressure to publish might ultimately opt for platforms with low-quality peer review and editing practices in order to improve their (quantitative) publishing record. Questions arise on the avenues and possibilities for improving junior scholars’ involvement in the publishing process as both authors and reviewers in the context of a broader rise of interest in the strategies and behavior of early career researchers in scholarly publishing (e.g. Nicholas et al. 2017).
Furthermore, the non-hierarchical perspective is not reproduced in case of other roles in the publishing process, notably that of the editors. With the exception of highly ranked student-edited law journals, early career researchers are not conventionally involved in the editing process. Recently, however, initiatives envisioning a more extensive involvement of students and junior scholars in academic publishing have been developed (Cox and Kent 2018; Uigín, Higgins, and McHale 2015; Walker et al. 2021). These initiatives are pioneered by several journals with diverse publishing models and management forms, including junior journals that constitute international editorial boards composed of junior scholars and specifically encourage submissions from students and early career researchers, student journals with extensive faculty support, or senior journals with parts of or complete editorial boards composed of junior scholars but based at a specific institution and partnering with established publishers. These models are nevertheless connected by a common thread of offering more extensive editorial and reviewer engagements to early career researchers starting, at times, as early as with undergraduate students who demonstrate ambitions and motivation to embark on an academic career.
This special collection aims to take stock of these developments, remaining open to a plurality of visions on junior scholar’s interactions with academic publishing and the stakeholders in the process as authors, but also in the less conventional roles of reviewers or editors. It invites papers that add to the debate on how students or junior scholars and academic publishing appear as mutually constitutive. For students and junior scholars, academic publishing is essential for developing skills and experiences, building substantive and technical knowledge towards academic excellence, and fostering a perception of inclusion into the global community of academics. For academic publishers, students and junior scholars are an important target group not only as consumers but also as co-creators of academic research and even the publishing landscape more broadly.
We welcome:
- Original research;
- Reviews of the literature];
- Case studies;
- Opinion pieces.
The editors welcome enquiry prior to publication. Please also read our author guidelines.
Submissions should be made before the end of January 2022.
All submissions will undergo peer review, and we will endeavor to ensure that comments are always constructive and helpful, especially for inexperienced authors.
Guest editors:
- Sophie Robinson, The Institution of Engineering and Technology, Early Career Editor for Learned Publishing, (UK): sophier444@googlemail.com
- Max Steuer, O.P. Jindal Global University (India): max.steuer@uniba.sk
- Rafael Plancarte Escobar, Autonomous University of Querétaro (Mexico): rafael.plancarte@uaq.mx
