This is an exciting opportunity for Editorial Board Members to contribute to the launch of this new selective BMC journal. You will work closely with our in-house, professional Editors in evaluating and selecting manuscripts as well as managing the peer review process and developing papers that the journal publishes. As an Editorial Board Member you will be responsible for the scientific quality of the manuscripts that you handle and for the integrity of the peer review process, ensuring that manuscripts adhere to the highest editorial standards.
Benefits of joining the Editorial Board
- Opportunity to contribute to the launch of this new journal and its editorial mission and to position it as a high impact venue for research in global and public health.
- Act as an advocate for the research community and serve your field by providing efficient, robust and constructive handling of papers, and promoting progressive publishing ideas.
- Increase your knowledge of your field by exposure to research, and the expertise of your peers.
- Raise your profile and advance your career by being an active participant in your field, through your work on the journal and interactions with authors, reviewers and fellow Editorial Board Members.
- Behind-the-scenes view into editorial decisions and the peer review process at BMC Global and Public Health.
- 20% discounted Article Processing Charge* (APC) when publishing with BMC Global and Public Health or any other journal within the BMC Series (for a complete list, please see this page).
*Applicable when the EBM is the corresponding author or a lead author on the submitted paper.
Primary responsibilities
Editorial Board Members assess manuscripts in their areas of expertise alongside the in-house Editorial team to select for important advances within the journal's scope that are of broad interest to all professional communities involved in global and public health research, policy-making, implementation and delivery worldwide. You have responsibilities toward the authors, the reviewers as well as the community as a whole in ensuring the quality of the content that is published. You will adhere to the ethos, editorial standards, policies and scope of the journal and ensure that manuscripts are handled efficiently and appropriately.
Preliminary assessment
- Editorial Board Members should be willing to handle a minimum of 2-3 manuscripts per month.
- Assess manuscripts in your area of expertise, and occasionally in areas close to your field of research and decide whether a paper is in principle suitable for publication in the journal.
- Return a recommendation to the in-house Editor within 5 days of manuscript assignment.
- If the recommendation is to reject the paper, formulate a letter to be sent to the authors explaining the editorial decision.
- For papers that are selected for peer review, suitable experts should be identified and invited to review the work, ensuring that no known conflicts of interest exist. Reviewers should be chosen so that, collectively, they can evaluate all necessary technical aspects of the manuscript.
- Communicate with authors and reviewers during the review process as needed.
Post-review decisions
- Once review reports are received, editorial decisions should be made with reasonable speed and communicated in a clear and constructive manner to the internal Editor. Recommendations for decisions post-review should be circulated to the relevant in-house Editor within 5 days of all reports being returned.
- Editorial decisions should be clearly communicated to the authors, explaining the decision and ensuring clarity in the next steps, i.e. whether authors are invited to submit a revised version, detailing the required revisions, or whether the manuscript does not meet the expectations of the journal due to issues raised in the review process.
Other responsibilities
- Provide expertise and insights into your field of research to help position the journal as a high impact venue for research in global and public health.
- Serve as a voice for the communities that you represent in your work.
- Act as an ambassador for the journal and reach out to colleagues within your community.
- Propose outreach activities and editorial material or other content and projects such as collections.
- Become familiar with and maintain the high ethical standards of the journal.
- Make recommendations to advance the journal and the service that it offers to authors, reviewers, and readers.