Reviewing your editorial office: Meghan McDevitt of ISMTE & Origin Editorial chairs a panel w/ Juanita Goosens-Roach of CUP & ISMTE & Stephanie Kinnan of ASGE & COPE council.
Where to start? Juanita says to break down the tasks and be clear who should do them & if bulk, repetitive tasks can be (semi) automated.
Can editorial admin tasks like inviting reviewers be done directly by handling editors? Can reports be run automatically instead of manually?
Question your editorial process: who will see the result of a task and is it needed any longer?
Check boxes at submission and acceptance might be unnecessary, deadlines for reviewers or authors may be too long, automated email reminders may help get tasks taken - but some email notifications of actions, especially internally, may be pointless.
Juanita has been quite "brutal" with cutting editorial steps.
Stephanie Kinnan says onboarding a new journal team is a good time to reassess processes, but you need to manage expectations.
There may be limits to staff time and resources and so changes need to be prioritised. New article types are relatively easy, a revamped website much less so - is it worth it, what are you going to drop to free up those resources?
A transition is an opportunity to stop running unread reports or make processes more efficient.
"Don't overuse virtual" says Stephanie Kinnan, fully aware of the irony of saying this on Zoom across the globe at a conference!
Meetings are disruptive to people's day and should only be held when needed. Email, online chat, or a phone call can be more effective.
EASE