CSE's White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications

2.0 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES IN PUBLISHING

2.1 Editor Roles and Responsibilities (Appendix and Footnotes)

APPENDIX

Sample Job Description for an Editor

 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Reports to journal's Publications Committee and owner's Board of Directors. Makes recommendations pertaining to improved dissemination of scientific material. Oversees publications department staff in regard to the journal.

  1. DUTIES
    1. Possess a general scientific knowledge of the fields covered in the journal and be skilled in the arts of writing, editing, critical assessment, negotiation, and diplomacy.
    2. Publish original, important, well-documented, peer-reviewed articles on a diverse range of scientific topics of interest to the readership.
    3. Establish policies for
      • Submission of manuscripts and criteria for authorship/contributorship
      • Processes for peer review, evaluation of decisions regarding publication, and methods for reconsideration of rejected manuscripts
      • Identification and selection of theme issues and supplements
      • Conflict of interest and disclosure
      • Handling allegations and findings of scientific misbehavior and misconduct
    4. Communicate publication guidelines and policies (e.g., Instructions for Authors, Instructions for Reviewers, ethical guidelines, editorial board reports, Editorials).
    5. Provide the journal owner, publications oversight committee, and/or editorial board with reports, as requested, on the journal's activities.
    6. Preside at annual meetings of the editorial board and the executive committees.
    7. Receive, review, and act on complaints from those involved in the publication process.
    8. Review and approve the journal's yearly budget, as proposed by the managing editor, for approval by the journal's management committee.
    9. Represent the editorial board in negotiations with the journal's publisher.

     

  2. EDITORIAL FREEDOM

    The editor-in-chief will have complete authority for determining the editorial content within the defined scope of the journal and participate in the development of the advertising policy.

  3. TERM OF APPOINTMENT
    1. The individual elected as editor-in-chief is expected to serve in that position for [a defined number of] years.
    2. If a person serving as editor-in-chief is unable to complete the current term, [number] months' notice should be provided. The editor-in-chief may recommend potential successors to the Society

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  1. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. Animals in research and education. Available at: http://www.faseb.org/Policy-and-Government-Affairs/Science-Policy-Issues/Animals-in-Research-and-Education.aspx (Accessed January 31, 2011).
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  4. JAMA Instructions for authors. Available at: http://jama.ama-assn.org/site/misc/ifora.xhtml (Accessed January 31, 2011).
  5. A sample disclosure form can be found at: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/data/295/1/103/DC1/1 (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  6. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Information for authors. Available at: http://www.pnas.org/misc/iforc.shtml (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  7. An example of information commonly required for permission to reuse copyrighted material can be found at: http://www.nutrition.org/publications/guidelines-and-policies/permissions/ (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  8. A sample copyright transfer agreement is available at: http://circres.ahajournals.org/misc/AHA-CTA08-2008.pdf (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  9. A sample licensing agreement is available at: http://www.nature.com/nbt/pdf/nbt_license.pdf (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  10. Some guidelines for registering clinical trials can be found at: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/292/11/1363 (Accessed January 20, 2011).
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  13. STARD flow diagram. Available at: http://www.clinchem.org/cgi/content/full/49/1/1 (Accessed January 20, 2011).
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  15. STROBE statement. Available at: http://www.strobe-statement.org/ (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  16. QUORUM guidelines. Available at: http://www.consort-statement.org/mod_product/uploads/QUOROM%20Statement%201999.pdf (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  17. MIAME standards. Available at: http://www.mged.org/Workgroups/MIAME/miame_1.1.html (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  18. The EQUATOR network. Available at: http://www.equator-network.org/ (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  19. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). What to do if a reviewer suspects undisclosed conflict of interest (CoI) in a submitted manuscript (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).
  20. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). What to do if a reader suspects undisclosed conflict of interest (CoI) in a published article (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).
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  22. National Security Decision Directives. National policy on the transfer of scientific, technical, and engineering information. Available at: http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/nsdd/nsdd-189.htm (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  23. USA PATRIOT Act. Available at: http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/patriot/ (Accessed January 31, 2011).
  24. Journal Editors and Authors Group. Statement on Scientific Publication and Security. Science 2003;299(5610):1149. Available at: www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/data/security/statement.pdf (Accessed January 31, 2011).
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  30. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. II.D. Conflicts of interest. Available at: http://www.icmje.org/index.html#conflicts (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  31. Annals of Internal Medicine conflict of interest information is available at: http://www.annals.org/site/shared/author_conflict.xhtml (Accessed January 31, 2011).
  32. Blood conflict of interest form. Available at: http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/forms/copyright_transfer.dtl (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  33. Neurology disclosure agreement. Available at: http://www.neurology.org/misc/DisclosureFormDummyForRef.pdf (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  34. An example of an editorial audit is available at: http://www.conbio.org/Publications/Newsletter/Archives/2008-8-August/newsl013.cfm (Accessed January 20, 2011).
  35. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Changes in authorship – Corresponding author requests addition of extra author before publication (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).
  36. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Changes in authorship – Corresponding author requests removal of author before publication (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).
  37. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Changes in authorship – Request for addition of extra author after publication (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).
  38. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Changes in authorship – Request for removal of author after publication (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).
  39. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). What to do if you suspect redundant (duplicate) publication – Suspected redundant publication in a submitted manuscript (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).
  40. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). What to do if you suspect redundant (duplicate) publication – Suspected redundant publication in a published article (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).
  41. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). What to do if you suspect an ethical problem with a submitted manuscript (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).
  42. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). What to do if you suspect plagiarism – Suspected plagiarism in a submitted manuscript (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).
  43. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). What to do if you suspect plagiarism – Suspected plagiarism in a published article (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).
  44. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). What to do if you suspect fabricated data – Suspected fabricated data in a submitted manuscript (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).
  45. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). What to do if you suspect fabricated data – Suspected fabricated data in a published article (flowchart). Available at: http://publicationethics.org/flowcharts (Accessed September 27, 2010).

     

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