• Organisation: Royal Economic Society
• Position: Publications Committee co-opted external members x 2
• Salary: Voluntary
• Location: Remote

Description

The Royal Economic Society is seeking to appoint two co-opted external members to the Society’s Publications Committee.

On behalf of the Society’s Trustee Board, the Publications Committee oversees the scholarly publishing activities of the Royal Economic Society, ensuring that the Society’s strategic and financial goals for its publications are achieved, given the Society’s overall charitable mission.

The RES strategy for 2024-2028 makes the following commitment to publishing:

“The Society’s publications have for decades facilitated knowledge exchange between thousands of economists globally, at different career stages, and from within and outside academia. We will explore new publishing possibilities to encourage a wider diversity of authors and outputs and provide more opportunities for our members to publish their work. As the business models of academic journals change, we will grow the number of articles our journals publish in order to remain financially sustainable”.

The Committee currently comprises the Chair; the Society’s President-Elect; the Editor-in-Chief of The Economic Journal and the Managing Editor of The Econometrics Journal; and two members of the RES Council. A new Chair will join from 1 October 2024.

Requirements

The RES wishes to complement the Committee’s editorial experience (provided by senior academic economists) by appointing:

• One external member who is a social sciences (not necessarily economics) or humanities academic with publications board or committee experience; and
• One external member with professional experience in scholarly publishing, either in a commercial or non-profit organisation.

Committee remit

The Publications Committee

• Reports progress to the Trustee Board on the success of the Society’s existing publications against agreed performance indicators
• Makes recommendations to the Trustee Board on policies, guidelines and strategic decisions related to the journals
• Advises on the development of possible new publishing activities
• Monitors the financial performance of the publications, ensuring sustainability and cost-effectiveness
• Monitors the performance of the journal publisher on behalf of the Trustee Board and ensures effective liaison between the Society and its publisher, including the negotiation of new (or changed) publishing contracts
• Stays abreast of developments in scholarly publishing including open access and recommends strategies for implementing relevant changes while maintaining financial sustainability
• Through its Editorial Appointments Sub-Committee, appoints the editors of the Society’s journals
• Works with the Editors-in-Chief of the publications to safeguard the editorial independence of the journals and uphold ethical standards of publication, including ensuring relevant guidelines on publishing misconduct (eg. plagiarism; author or editor misconduct) are followed
• Oversees all issues concerned with books published on behalf of the Society, including the monitoring of revenues received and payments made.

Commitment required

The Publications Committee meets at least twice per year, usually virtually. There may also be opportunities to join working groups and/or to attend ad hoc strategy meetings (virtually or hybrid, in London). Committee members are also called upon by the Chair to provide advice between meetings, as needed.

Committee members are normally appointed for terms of three years.

Although the role is voluntary and unpaid, travel expenses for in-person meetings are covered by RES, in line with the Society’s expenses policy.

How to apply

Applicants should submit a current curriculum vitae and a covering letter setting out your experience relevant to the role and your motivations for assuming the position.

Applications should be sent by email to Liza Aberkane Barranco, Governance & Advocacy Officer by 16 October 2024.

An informal discussion with the Senior Publications Manager can be arranged via the same email address.

Apply now