Call for Editor of the Sociology of Sport
Journal (SSJ)
The North American Society for the Sociology
of Sport (NASSS) is seeking applications for the position of Editor of the SSJ.
Deadline for Applications: September 8, 2014
The
Sociology of Sport Journal (SSJ)
SSJ is the official journal of NASSS and
thus, it is governed by the NASSS board. As the journal services a diverse
membership, it publishes articles on diverse topics, theoretical perspectives,
and methodologies related to social and cultural analysis of play, games,
sport, physical activity, and movement. Therefore, instead of establishing a
personal direction to the SSJ, the Editor’s primary responsibility is to serve
the needs of the NASSS membership. Although the authorship is not limited to
NASSS members, it is important that SSJ reflects the multiple voices of its
primary association. To do this, the Editor works closely with the SSJ
editorial board to solicit the views of the broader NASSS membership.
Qualifications and Requirements
Key qualities sought for the position of
editor are an established record of scholarship; managerial skills to oversee
the editorial cycle and meet deadlines; and the ability to attract respected
experts to his or her editorial advisory board. Applicants should have
recognized expertise in the field, possess editorial experience (with
preference given to candidates who have served on the Editorial Board for SSJ),
and be able to lead an active editorial board in working effectively with
publishing professionals. Applicants must have clear employer and institutional
support for this activity for the duration of the appointment, including
release time as necessary and general office support.
Term
The term is from November 2014 to November
2017. The first issue for which the new Editor will be responsible is Issue 1
of 2015, which is due in December 2014. The term of the current Editor, Dr. Michael
Atkinson, will be officially terminated on November 6th, 2014 but
for overlap and hence a smoother transition, he will serve on as Past Editor
until November 2015.
Major Responsibilities
Ø Taking
responsibility for leading a journal that services the vision and diverse needs
of NASSS membership and that is governed by the NASSS board;
Ø Providing
detailed annual reports to SSJ board, NASSS board, and NASSS membership at the
NASSS conference;
Ø Identifying
and appointing qualified members for the editorial team currently consisting of
2 associate editors, 1 editorial assistant and 1 book review editor;
Ø Managing
the peer review of approximately 200 manuscripts per year;
Ø Selecting
a sufficient pool of competent reviewers to reach conclusions and make
decisions on manuscripts in a timely fashion;
Ø Deciding
which manuscripts to publish;
Ø More
details on the responsibilities of the Editor and a general overview of the
characteristics of a good journal editor are provided at the end of this
Call-for-Editor.
Stipend
Human Kinetics via NASSS provides a stipend
to offset the costs associated with hiring an editorial assistant.
Search Procedure
Applicants will be reviewed by the Search
Committee immediately after the deadline submission date and the Search
Committee will make a recommendation to the NASSS Board of Directors.
Application Procedure
The application package should include:
1. A cover letter
with a statement of institutional support (see first paragraph above), an
explanation of how the applicant will service the diverse needs of NASSS and
SSJ authorship, and a description of how the applicant will complement the
vision and direction of NASSS as an organization and the field of sociology of
sport;
2. A CV;
3. Names of at least
three references;
Deadlines
Deadline for Applications: September 8, 2014
Candidate Notified: September 29, 2014
Candidate acceptance: October 1, 2014
Send your application package via email to the
NASSS Secretary, Dr. Katherine Jamieson: kmjamies@gmail.com <mailto:kmjamies@gmail.com>
Additional Information
Please find below a general overview of the
characteristics of a strong candidate for the journal editor position. This
overview also provides additional details with regards to the responsibilities
of the SSJ Editor:
·
Broad knowledge of the field: Because SSJ is
an association journal (NASSS), its remit is to publish papers from this
broadly defined field. Consequently, SSJ receives/publishes papers from a
wide-range of topics, theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and countries.
To be able to provide a fair assessment of each paper, the editor should be
knowledgeable of many facets of social theory as well as quantitative
methodology and the entire range of qualitative approaches. In addition, the
SSJ Editor needs to be able to put his/her own preferences aside to think of
serving the field.
·
Broad understanding of the contributing
scholars: As reviewer selection is crucial in a peer reviewed journal, the SSJ
Editor needs to have a good knowledge of individual scholars in our field and
their expertise to assign appropriate reviewers. In addition, to appoint an
appropriate editorial board, the Editor should be able to invite committed and
knowledgeable scholars from the field of sport sociology.
·
Time management: It is essential that the
Editor be committed to moving on the submitted papers promptly (i.e., to assign
the appropriate associate editor, assign reviewers, make the final decision).
Without this, it is not possible to fill the issues in a timely manner. Neither
is it possible to service the authors and our field in a respectful and
supportive manner. Usually senior scholars who have been tenured can afford to
take the required amount of time for editing a journal.
·
Leadership and decision-making skills: As SSJ
now operates through an editorial team, the Editor is required to provide
leadership for this team. This includes advising and supporting the associate
editors, the book review editor, and the editorial assistant. The Editor makes
the final decision on each manuscript (the associate editors and the reviewers
provide recommendations) and is responsible for filling each issue. In a
peer-reviewed journal, the review process can take a substantial amount of
time. Consequently, the Editor needs to be able to plan long term in addition
to continually making decisions regarding the individual papers. Even with the
help of reviewer recommendations and the associate editor recommendations, the
decision making is often complicated and complex. In addition, the Editor is
the contact person with the publisher and, thus, needs to be able to negotiate
this relationship.
·
Initiative and dedication: Much of the
Editor’s work is managing the day-to-day business of the journal and being an
effective manager is an important characteristic of an Editor. However, good
editors are also dedicated to work beyond managing the journal to provide new
initiatives for the journal. This might include actively working on proposals
for special issues, working with the editorial board, and thinking of ways to
improve the quality of SSJ.
·
Attention to detail and people skills: As the
Editor deals with the publisher, the editorial team, the board of editors, the
authors, and the reviewers, s/he needs to be continually attentive to a myriad
of details. Most of these involve people in one way or another and the Editor
needs good “people” and communication skills. In addition, as publishing is an
important part of the academic promotion process, dealing with the authors
often requires careful negotiation between the author’s satisfaction and the
quality of the article. As it is common to receive frustrated comments from the
authors, the Editor should be able to handle these situations in a constructive
manner. It is also important to be respectful to the reviewers whose work is
crucial for the journal, but often goes quite unnoticed. Selecting a good
editorial assistant is also important as s/he directly deals with many of the authors
and reviewers.
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