The Journal team is a community of volunteers that works collaboratively to create a scholarly journal issue each year. The team members take on roles that focus on different aspects of the publication process from soliciting submissions, overseeing the review process, sharing revision guidance, coaching and mentoring writers, copyediting, and web production. Some roles are more active across the entire publication cycle, while others have roles that have more active periods during a particular part of the publication cycle:
Full publication cycle: Editor
Early publication cycle (May to September): Associate Editor
Mid publication cycle (October to January): Mentoring Editors
Late publication cycle (February to March): Assistant Editor and Web Editor
Most roles have fewer than 5 active hours per month during their non-busy cycles and 6-20 hours during their busiest month(s). In addition to producing the journal, the team creates and revisits journal policies (e.g., submissions, review process, generative AI use), and represents the journal at the ECWCA annual conference and other writing center venues.
Throughout the publication cycle, the Editor may meet with specific team members based on their role. For example, the Editor and Associate Editor typically meet after the submission window has closed to discuss any concerns with assigning reviewers. Similarly, the Editor meets with Mentoring Editors a few times each fall to discuss revision guidance and publication decisions. Later, the Editor works with the Assistant Editor and Web Editor to move the journal into production.
The Journal team meets as a whole at least three times per year, typically around the following times:
May: The team meets after CFP is announced for the next issue but before many submissions are likely to be made. They discuss and update policies as needed. It is essential that all team members attend.
September: The team meets as we move out of the review cycle to get a sense of what pieces are most likely to move forward and prepare and coordinate labor throughout the fall. It is essential the Editor and Mentoring Editors attend this meeting.
Late January/early February: The team meets as revised pieces are in preparation for publication. It is essential the Editor and Web Editor attend this meeting.
Team members also convene, as possible, at the annual ECWCA Conference where they typically facilitate a journal-related presentation or workshop and represent the journal more broadly.
Members of the Journal team foster professional mentoring relationships with authors while developing in their own scholarship, research, and writing practices. The ECWCA Board supplies financial support to representatives from the Journal to attend the ECWCA Conference, which can further support professional development and networking. In addition, experienced members of the Journal team are welcome to apply for other positions with the journal, including the role of Editor, and can build skills that will support them in other academic publishing venues. This service to the field can be included in CVs and academic or professional reviews, and members of the Journal team receive letters of recognition for their labor from the Editor or ECWCA Board (depending on their role) each year.
The information about each role and its relevant term, responsibilities, qualifications, and time commitment is provided below.
Role Description: The ECWCA Journal Editor is appointed by the President of ECWCA with support of the Executive Board and approval by the full board.The Journal Editor will serve in this capacity for four years or more and is responsible for production and publication of the regional journal per the defined editorial calendar.
Term: The ECWCA Journal Editor serves four+ years in two positions as follows:
The first 3+ years of service will be as the Journal Editor
The final year of service will be as the Past Journal Editor
Responsibilities:
Recruits ECWCA Journal editorial team
Defines editorial calendar and ensures timely publication of the ECWCA Journal one or more times per year
Coordinates with the Associate Editor to support the review process
Determines initial Mentoring Editor assignments for each reviewed piece
Collaborates with Mentoring Editors to make publication decisions and provide supportive revision guidance for writers
Coordinates with the Assistant Editor to support the copyediting process
Coordinates with Web Editor to support final production of the journal
Writes “From the Editor” introduction to each issue of the journal
Leads meetings of the ECWCA Journal team
Write letters of recognition for each team member for annual review purposes
Oversees Journal distribution to the appropriate channels
Works with other ECWCA Board members as appropriate to solicit article submissions and promote journal publication
Represents the needs of the ECWCA Journal to the ECWCA Board as an ex officio member of the ECWCA Board
Communicates ECWCA Board business to the ECWCA Journal editorial team
Supports transition of editorial duties to new Journal Editor
Qualifications:
Required:
Record of scholarly publications in the field of Writing Center Studies (e.g., journal articles, book chapters)
Active engagement with the ECWCA or other IWCA regional affiliate for several years through outreach programming attendance, conference attendance, and/or board membership
Preferred:
Prior experience with scholarly publishing as an editor (e.g., journal, special issue of a journal, edited collection, etc.)
Experience on the ECWCA Board or board of another IWCA regional affiliate
Time Commitment: The Editor role requires active engagement across the entire calendar year with a monthly commitment of approximately 5-20 hours per month with the heaviest work happening in May and June and October through February.
Role Description: TheAssociate Editor oversees the incoming submissions, general journal communications, and submission reviews. The Associate Editor will be the point person for writers and reviewers.
The Associate Editor serves 2+ years in two positions as follows:
The first 1+ years of service will be as the Associate Editor
The final year of service will be as the Past Associate Editor
Responsibilities:
Receiving author submissions. This process includes:
Confirming with writers the submission has been received
Confirming the submissions are anonymized
Uploading the submissions to the drive for review
Requesting reviews and communicating with reviewers. This process includes:
Asking reviewers to review via email with anonymous submission information and timelines for reviews
Sharing anonymous manuscripts with reviewers who accept the assignment
Collecting and anonymizing the reviews and uploading them to the drive
Following-up with late reviews
Finding replacement reviewers as needed
Maintaining the reviewer spreadsheet
Monitoring the email. This process includes:
Checking the email for any writer or review questions or concerns
Responding to emails within the scope of the above tasks professionally, timely, and with care, and forward any others to the appropriate members of the editorial team
Qualifications:
Required:
Experience is a communication-heavy role
Active engagement with the ECWCA or other IWCA regional affiliate
Preferred:
Prior experience on another journal or publication
Familiarity with the current field of writing center scholarship
Time Commitment: The Associate Editor will be actively engaged throughout the publication process with a monthly commitment of approximately 2-15 hours per month with the heaviest work happening in May through September, which typically involves 1-4 hours of work per week.
Role Description:The Mentoring Editor position was created to honor the values of the ECWCA Journal in supporting students and early-career scholars as they begin or continue sharing their research with the field. The ECWCA Journal has three to five Mentoring Editors who work collaboratively with the Editor to engage with and support authors throughout the outreach, review, and publishing process.
Term: Each Mentoring Editor serves a 2+-year term and will provide mentorship for the incoming mentoring editors as needed for the year following term.
Responsibilities:
Meet regularly with each other as a mentoring cohort (perhaps every two weeks during the primary reviewing period)
Decide collaboratively which Mentoring Editors will serve as lead and secondary mentors on specific submissions. During an editing cycle, a Mentoring Editor will likely serve as both lead mentor and secondary mentor on different submissions.
Lead mentor role:
Read assigned submissions and reviewer feedback.
Revise/synthesize reviewer feedback before sharing it with authors. This may include:
Anonymizing marginal comments on docs.
Ensuring that the summative and marginal comments are constructive and align with the journal’s values.
Draft summative emails to assigned authors.
Respond thoughtfully to follow-up questions from the authors as needed.
Offer to meet virtually with the authors for synchronous mentoring.
Review revised submissions.
Meet with the Editor and other Mentoring Editors to determine whether revisions have met the criteria specified in the reviewer feedback.
Continue to work with authors if additional revisions are needed.
Secondary mentor role:
Read assigned submissions and reviewer feedback.
Dialogue with the lead mentor regarding reviewer feedback and how that feedback will be shared with writers.
Review revised submissions.
Meet with the Editor and other Mentoring Editors to determine whether revisions have met the criteria specified in the reviewer feedback.
Required Qualifications:
Familiarity with scholarship and/or publishing in writing center studies or related fields
Experience as a peer reviewer (journals, publishers, conference, writing centers, etc.)
Active engagement with the ECWCA or other IWCA regional affiliate
Time Commitment:
The Mentoring Editor role requires active engagement across the entire calendar year with a monthly commitment of approximately 5-20 hours per month with the heaviest work happening in October through December. It’s likely that Mentoring Editors may spend 5+ hours/week supporting the Journal for a two-to-three week period as revisions are received and continued guidance is provided to authors.
Role Description: The Assistant Editor primarily serves as a copyeditor of accepted articles as the issue is moved into production. The role is flexible and can be shaped to support additional aspects of the Journal.
Term: The Assistant Editor serves in a 1+ year term that includes at least one full publication cycle.
Responsibilities:
Copy editing the articles acceptance by Mentoring Editors and Editor
Ensuring formatting, in-text citations, and references are consistent with APA 7 style guidelines and any journal-specific ones.
Copywriting the Center Spotlight piece for the current journal issue.
Adapting the current conference’s CFP into the following journal issue’s CFP.
Qualifications:
Required:
Strong familiarity with APA style.
Active engagement with the ECWCA or other IWCA regional affiliate.
Preferred:
Prior experience on another journal or publication.
Prior experience performing copy editing/proofreading.
Time Commitment: The Assistant Editor will have the highest level of engagement at the end of the publishing cycle from mid January through early March. Estimated commitment during peak time 10-20 hours.
Role Description: The ECWCA Journal has a Web Editor who oversees typesetting of the journal and publication of the journal on our website.
Term: The Web Editor serves in a 1+ year term that includes at least one full publication cycle.
Responsibilities: The web editor works closely with the Editor, Associate Editor, and Assistant Editor as necessary throughout the year, but especially at the end of the publication cycle. The web editor will also:Update/modify the template for aesthetic preferences, visual tweaks based on journal theme, or other modifications as necessary.
Ensure the finished product has passed document accessibility checks.
Maintain or consider additional methods for open-access, online journal publication.
Maintain and update sustainability documents for ongoing publication cycles.
Support editors in copy editing or formatting concerns during the typesetting process.
Correspond with stakeholders to solicit media (e.g., conference logos, writing center site images) for each issue.
Qualifications:
Required:
Experience with industry-standard document design programs.
Experience with web design/designing a template-based website.
Experience with APA style and detail-oriented copy editing work.
Active engagement with the ECWCA or other IWCA regional affiliate.
Preferred:
Prior experience using InDesign.
Prior experience with/introductory understanding of HTML coding.
Prior experience applying accessible design/accessibility principles to documents.
Time Commitment: The Web Editor will have a high level of engagement towards the end of the publication cycle after author revisions are finalized. Estimated commitment during peak time 10-20 hours.
We acknowledge roles on the ECWCA Board and the ECWCA Journal team are volunteer service positions and want to promote more just labor practices across the field in whatever small or large ways we can. With this in mind, we’re sharing several ways members of the board and the journal team gain meaningful experiences and personal professional development:
Members of theboard and/or journal team will work with a community of scholars and foster professional mentoring relationships.They will also develop in their own scholarship, research, and writing center practices.
This service to the field can be included in CVs and academic or professional review and promotion materials. We’re happy to provide letters of support.
These positions may also be for internship credit or internship experience, and we can discuss what might be possible within your institutional context.
Members of theboard and/or journal team are welcome to apply for other positions within the board and/or journal that may support them in other academic publishing venues and professional organizations.
The ECWCA Board supplies some financial support for board members and journal team members attending the ECWCA Conference, which can further support professional development and networking.