Benefits and responsibilities
Editorial Board Members at Genome Medicine work together with 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 and integrity of the manuscripts that you handle and in ensuring that manuscripts adhere to the highest editorial standards.
Benefits of joining the Editorial Board
- The opportunity to shape the editorial direction and priorities of a leading human genetics journal as well as the publishing landscape by acting as an advocate for the active research community.
- Serve your community 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 editors.
- Behind-the-scenes view into how editorial decisions are made at Genome Medicine and the peer review process.
- 20% discounted Article Processing Charge* (APC) when publishing with Genome Medicine 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
Our Editorial Board serves the research community by providing efficient, robust and constructive handling of papers. EBMs assess manuscripts in their areas of expertise alongside the in-house Editorial team to select for important advances of broad interest within the journal’s scope and manage the peer review process. EBMs 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
- EBMs 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 for 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
- 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.
- Decisions should be clearly communicated to the authors, explaining the editorial decision and ensuring clarity in the next steps.
Other responsibilities
- Bring on-the-ground insights into your field of research to help improve the journal’s standards in basic science and clinical research and to serve as a voice for these communities.
- Act as ambassador for the journal and reach out to colleagues within your community locally and internationally.
- Propose editorial material or other developmental projects such as collections.
- Maintain the high ethical standards of the journal.
- Make recommendations to improve the journal and the service that it offers to authors, reviewers, and readers.