Pros and cons of joining the editorial board of a journal (humanities)?

[AeroProf]

Seeking the wisdom of everyone here: I have been invited to join an editorial board for a good field journal (not one of the top general journals). I welcome input from you all, whether or not you have experience as board members. The requirement is three reviews per year minimum, plus "helping the editor throughout the year" (not sure what that means). My primary reservations: 1) Several times in the past, I've been roped into commitments by others who at first told me the time commitment was modest (as I was told in this case), but then leave me doing almost all of the work because they know I'm conscientious. In order to save the projects underway, I had to prioritize this service work for others over my own research, so I'm a bit wary. 2) I am great at providing guidance to manuscript authors in reviews, but take an inordinately long time on them, because I'm mindful of the impact on scholars' careers and livelihoods. How much of a time obligation do these positions tend to be? Are there any specific benefits in terms of professional advancement?

[Hibush]

The way you describe the situation, an editorial board membership would be a trap of your own making. If you chose to pursue it, make sure that you define the limits of time and concentration that you can devote to it each year. Then hold yourself strictly to those limits.

[Ruralguy]

Would it be possible to speak with any current or former members of this board? I have the feeling that the intensity of the work varies wildly between and among fields.

[Sun_Worshiper]

My experience on the editorial board of a social science field journal has been doing about five reviews per year and occasionally (maybe twice per year) getting an email from the editor asking if I can identify potential reviewers or if I think a piece should be desk rejected. It has not been a big lift, but of course that is just my experience and only with a single journal.

[Parasaurolophus]

I think I'd want to know what 'helping the editor' entails, but I suspect it's probably mostly just drumming up the names of potential referees or helping to determine which submissions get desk-rejected.

As for benefits... I guess it could do a little to show that you're a known quantity in the subfield and have some sort of reputation. So if you need that sort of thing for promotion, I guess it's a little bit that helps.


If it were me, I'd probably do it (primarily to stroke my own ego). But I also don't "take an inordinately long time" refereeing. Given that you know this about yourself, I think you need to spend a minute thinking about the journal's turnaround times and whether you'd be able to work within that time frame (and, of course, whether you're up to write three reports a year for this journal, possibly declining invitations from others to do so).

[spork]

How much does it pay?

If you are in a tenure-track position and being on a journal editorial board counts toward tenure, then there is a potential reward. If not, there isn't.

[mleok]

I would look at the current editorial board, and see if the prestige and influence of the board elevates your stature, or diminishes it. But, what you describe as the responsibilities of a board member diverge from my own experiences. In particular, as a board member, I am responsible for soliciting referee reports, and deciding on whether to accept or reject a paper based on the reports, and I am not generally responsible for refereeing the manuscripts directly, except in the case of desk rejections.

[Morden]

I've been involved with journals in several different ways: editorial board member (a couple reviews a year and maybe 4 or 5 meetings to discuss direction of journal, etc.); associate editor (much more work on day to day stuff, including finding reviewers and communicating with authors, helping the editor); and reviewer. Find out what they want, regardless of what they call it.

[lightning]

As you advance further in your career, journal editorial board positions become less and less important.

Where are you in your career?

[mleok]

As you advance further in your career, journal editorial board positions become less and less important.

Where are you in your career?

I don't think that's necessarily true. At research universities, we do expect our senior faculty to serve on the editorial boards of prestigious journals, it might not cause one to exceed expectations, but it's certainly part of the expectations.

[lightning]

As you advance further in your career, journal editorial board positions become less and less important.

Where are you in your career?

I don't think that's necessarily true. At research universities, we do expect our senior faculty to serve on the editorial boards of prestigious journals, it might not cause one to exceed expectations, but it's certainly part of the expectations.

For pre-tenure & pre-promotion to full professor, serving on an editorial board can be a deal-maker, as icing on a strong research portfolio and teaching record.

For post-tenure, lack of serving on an editorial board is not a deal-breaker.

For pre-tenure folks, look at your tenure requirements and see how much the investment of time in serving on an editorial board will help your cause. I would say in most cases that it's worth serving, as long as your research/teaching is excellent. If research/teaching is not up to where it should be, then don't let professional service take away time from the more important research/teaching, especially in the humanities.

For associates pursuing full professor, you can be choosy, because your livelihood doesn't depend on it. If you want to be full professor, yes, you should probably serve on an editorial board, as expressed in melok's comment. But it's nice to know that you can walk away, if it starts to s**k.

For the already senior professors, you do it because you want to, not because you have to. For some, there may be friends / acquaintances where you simply want to have an excuse to work together. For others, it's a relatively easy way to look like you are still one of the hip cool kids. If it's not a pleasurable experience for the senior profs, they simply won't do it. 

[Wahoo Redux]

Congrats on being asked.  That means you have made an impact somewhere.

[mleok]

As you advance further in your career, journal editorial board positions become less and less important.

Where are you in your career?

I don't think that's necessarily true. At research universities, we do expect our senior faculty to serve on the editorial boards of prestigious journals, it might not cause one to exceed expectations, but it's certainly part of the expectations.

For pre-tenure & pre-promotion to full professor, serving on an editorial board can be a deal-maker, as icing on a strong research portfolio and teaching record.

For post-tenure, lack of serving on an editorial board is not a deal-breaker.

For pre-tenure folks, look at your tenure requirements and see how much the investment of time in serving on an editorial board will help your cause. I would say in most cases that it's worth serving, as long as your research/teaching is excellent. If research/teaching is not up to where it should be, then don't let professional service take away time from the more important research/teaching, especially in the humanities.

For associates pursuing full professor, you can be choosy, because your livelihood doesn't depend on it. If you want to be full professor, yes, you should probably serve on an editorial board, as expressed in melok's comment. But it's nice to know that you can walk away, if it starts to s**k.

For the already senior professors, you do it because you want to, not because you have to. For some, there may be friends / acquaintances where you simply want to have an excuse to work together. For others, it's a relatively easy way to look like you are still one of the hip cool kids. If it's not a pleasurable experience for the senior profs, they simply won't do it.

For my university, our merit increases are tied to rank and step, so not pursing promotion to full professor has severe implications on salary that go well beyond just the promotion bump, as an entire segment of the salary scale is inaccessible unless you get promoted to full professor. The top of the full professor scale is about $70K/year more than the top of the associate professor scale, so almost nobody willingly chooses to stay an associate professor.

[Vkw10]

How much of a time obligation do these positions tend to be? Are there any specific benefits in terms of professional advancement?

I served on editorial board of a social sciences journal with similar expectations, do 3-4 reviews and assist editor during year. Several times a year, the editor would send board an abstract and ask us to recommend reviewers. A couple of times, editor asked for volunteers to help with projects. We were asked to watch for particularly good conference sessions, esp. poster sessions, and mention to presenters that their research seemed well-suited to Journal X. Once, I was asked to help an author from a developing nation through the submission and revision process, mentoring him.


Professional advancement? That depends on tenure & promotion standards. A multi-year editorial board appointment is a good option for demonstrating "progress toward a national reputation," but you have to get your own research done, too. My usual question is whether I'm willing to make this activity my  main service outside university for several years.

[Hibush]

Lightning provides some good guidance on normal motivations at various career stages.

I'd expand on the senior people. Leaders in the field are on the editorial board to reinforce the importance of the journal. An editorial board with a strong representation of the big names is signaling that it is so important that it is worth their while to serve. More important is that they work to keep the standards high. Both the standards for manuscript quality, but also that authors are treated well. Senior people are less motivated by a low workload than by the sense that the time they spend has value in advancing their field.

For OP AeroProf, does this membership provide you influence to advance your field in ways that you see as important? Image, hopefully, that you have been asked to serve because the journal leadership like your strategic thinking about the field or your sense of scholarly quality, and they want you to help move the journal accordingly. In that case, it is definitely a great opportunity.

That said, the initial description does not fit that scenario at all, hence my initial discouraging answer.