The Electrochemical Society (ECS) is seeking candidates to serve as the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the Journal of The Electrochemical Society (JES), (the Journal).
JES is a multidisciplinary journal that provides an international platform for the publication of high-quality impactful articles, and promotes scholarly communication and interaction among scientists, engineers, and technologists in the fields of electrochemistry and intersecting topics.
Nomination timeline
Nomination submissions open: March 1, 2024
Extended deadline: April 30, 2024
The EIC’s term begins following approval by the ECS Board of Directors.
Scope of the Journal
JES publishes full-length original work, brief communication-style papers, perspectives, review articles, and other article types that align with the Batteries and Energy Storage; Corrosion Science and Technology; Electrochemical/Electroless Deposition; Electrochemical Engineering; Fuel Cells, Electrolyzers, and Energy Conversion; Organic and Bioelectrochemistry; Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry, Electrocatalysis, and Photoelectrochemistry; and Sensors Topical Interest Areas (TIAs).
Appointment and term
The selected candidate is expected to serve in the position for an initial two- to three-year term, renewable for additional terms up to a maximum of 12 years of consecutive service.
Responsibilities of the EIC
As the EIC, the candidate is initially responsible for the following:
- Propose their vision for continuing the growth and success of the Journal to the Publications Subcommittee;
- Employ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies ;
- A capacity to identify, interview, assess, and nominate qualified Editorial Board candidates to the Publications Subcommittee;
- Devise and design a high-quality, rapid peer-review process;
- Grow and maintain the Journal’s high impact and reputation by identifying prominent researchers in the wider international community and soliciting high-quality articles for Journal issues;
- Solicit ideas, guidance, and input from ECS division leadership to accomplish the two tasks outlined above regarding building editorial organization and identifying high-impact articles for Journal issues;
- Work closely with the Publications Subcommittee, ECS staff, and ECS’s publishing partner—the Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP)—to ensure that all the Journal’s processes and protocols are properly stabilized.
Routine/ongoing responsibilities
The EIC, together with the Editorial Board, ensures the Journal’s smooth operation and success.
Responsibilities include:
- Ensuring content quality, peer-review processing efficiency, and manuscript submission lag time;
- Achieving the highest possible figures of merit including impact factor;
- Setting the content’s tone and editorial direction while maintaining all ECS publication internal policies;
- Staying abreast of the latest technical developments in the Journal’s technical scope and ensuring that new and emerging areas have a home in the Journal and ECS;
- Working with ECS staff to create Editorial Board meeting agendas and reporting relevant issues to the Publications Subcommittee;
- Representing the Journal and Editorial Board as a member of the Publications Subcommittee;
- Nominating and overseeing Technical and Associate Editors;
- Supporting the principles of ethics, transparency, openness, and best practices in scholarly publishing. ECS is a signatory to the Center for Open Science’s Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) guidelines, and as such, the EIC is expected to adhere to the policies and practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Qualifications/eligibility
In addition to possessing demonstrated expertise and international recognition in one or more of the Journal’s technical areas and scope, the EIC must exhibit the qualities of leadership, fairness, creativity, motivation, and international reputation.
The EIC must be available to attend bi-weekly Journal EIC teleconferences and quarterly Publications Subcommittee meetings.
The EIC is expected to attend in person the two ECS biannual meetings (typically held in May and October).
Nominations
Self-nominations are encouraged. The nomination package must include:
- Brief biography, including a list of the candidate’s editorial experience (200-word maximum);
- Candidate’s complete CV, including editorial experience;
- A statement of interest describing the nominee’s vision for the Journal and ability to commit the requisite time to realize that vision (500-word maximum).
Submit nomination materials via the ECS Editorial Opportunities Form.
Selection process
The ECS Publications Subcommittee evaluates all nominations and determines which candidates advance to the second round of evaluation.
Candidates reaching the second round of the evaluation process are interviewed virtually by the full Publications Subcommittee.
The Publications Subcommittee selects a single candidate to advance for final approval by the ECS Technical Affairs Committee and the ECS Board of Directors, in that order.
Minimum qualifications
- A decade of active research in the areas of interest to the Journal;
- Current employment at a research institution (academic, industry or government);
- Experience with the journal editorial process (preferably served on the Editorial Board or as a Journal Guest Editor);
- Proven ability and capacity to assemble/manage teams to address complex challenges
EIC support and remuneration
The EIC receives full strategic, administrative, and promotional support from ECS leadership and staff.
The EIC works in concert with the ECS Publications Subcommittee and senior staff (Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer and Director of Publications) to set the Journal’s strategic course, oversee the overall health of the Journal, and ensure that the Journal is effectively positioned and promoted within ECS’s existing portfolio of titles and the broader competitive landscape.
As regards administrative support, the ECS Publications Department manages all aspects of the manuscript processing flow: submission, peer review, editing, and prepping for publication in the ECS Digital Library on IOP Science. In addition, the Publications team handles all the Journal’s financial transactions; provides the EIC with essential logistical support (meeting scheduling and hosting, detailed reports on usage, editor performance, time-to-publication, etc., and other tasks as needed/possible); and conducts in-depth, ongoing training with the EIC and Editorial Board on effectively using ScholarOne, ECS’s manuscript and peer-review platform.
Publications staff, in conjunction with the ECS Community Engagement team and IOPP’s Marketing Department, takes the lead in conceiving, producing, and disseminating marketing and promotional collateral for the Journal. While the EIC is part of this team, this is a staff-led effort, leaving the EIC valuable time and resources to focus on the Journal’s technical life.
The EIC is eligible to receive remuneration in the form of a stipend, which is subject to the conditions of ECS’s annual budgeting process.
