Editorial Board

Editorial Committee
Rajib Acharya
Angela Baschieri
Victoria Boydell (Editor)
Rachel Friedman
Nathalie Kapp
Mahesh Karra (Editor)
Kazuyo Machiyama
Joyce Mumah
Francis Obare (Editor)
Saumya RamaRao
Gilda Sedgh
Elizabeth Sully

 

Editorial Staff
Rachel Friedman, Associate Director/ Managing Editor (e-mail: [email protected])
James DeGroat, Production Manager

The Editorial Committee reviews submissions to the journal. Committee members assess whether or not new submissions should be sent out for peer review, evaluate peer-reviewed papers, and make recommendations regarding the acceptance/rejection of revised papers. The Committee also weighs in on broader journals’ issues, including: scope and balance of content, various journals’ policies, topics for potential special issues, new Committee members, and more. They serve as representatives of the journal to colleagues and peers.  

The journal is committed to cultivating a Committee with a diverse range of relevant expertise. Committee members play a vital role in ensuring high-quality, rigorously reviewed research is published in the journal.   

Membership term length: 3 years (renewable one time by Editor(s) invitation). 

Decisions to send out a paper for peer review or accept it for publication are based solely on scientific content and fit within the scope of the journal. Decisions will not be made based on bias for or against papers from particular countries, geography, institutions, affiliations, the perceived reputational status of authors, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, race, nationality, ethnicity or national origins, religion or similar philosophical belief, spent criminal conviction, age or disability, or personal/professional relationships

Editors and Editorial Committee Members Conflict of Interest / Competing Interests Policies
A conflict of interest (COI) occurs when a manuscript is submitted by a current or recent research collaborator, current or recent doctoral student, current or recent colleague,  current or recent postdoctoral mentee, former advisor of the Editor/Editorial Committee member, or when an author and the Editor/Editorial Committee member have a close personal relationship. This COI must be disclosed by the Editor/Editorial Committee member (even if you feel able to reveiw the content with integrity) so an alternate EC member can be appointed to review the paper.

Concerns about COIs identified by a Committee Member not reviewing a submission regarding the Member who is reviewing it should be disclosed to the Editor and/or Managing Editor of the journal.

Current Editors/Editorial Committee members will recuse themselves from all conversations and decision-making processes regarding their papers.

The submitting Editor/Editorial Committee member has no access to confidential information related to his/her/their submission. This includes the names of external peer reviewers. 

Current Editors/Editorial Committee members may submit no more than two manuscripts per year to the journal for potential publication. Decisions made by the Committee on these papers are final and cannot be appealed.

 

Editors/Editorial Committee members recuse themselves from all conversations and decision-making processes for papers authored by colleagues at their same institution or who have been at their same institution within the past three years. 

Editors/Editorial Committee Members cannot share additional information (either verbally or via email) regarding decisions on papers outside of what is formally shared by the Committee. 

Editors/Editorial Committee members recuse themselves from conversations and decisions on papers with authors with whom they have worked/co-authored papers within the last three years.

Discussions that take place in Editorial Committee meetings are confidential. In addition, Editors/Editorial Committee Members cannot share additional information (verbal or written) regarding decisions on papers outside of what is formally shared by the Committee.

Editorial Committee Members sign a declaration of the above each year of their terms.