The Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication (JLSC) is opening a call for applications for positions in three editorial tracks due to the conclusion of regular terms as well as an effort to expand the editorial team to better accommodate succession planning. All JLSC editors and editorial board members are unpaid volunteers.

• Managing Editors (2 openings) 
• Production Editor (1-2 openings) 
• Editor-in-Chief (1 opening)

The Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication is a continuously published, peer-reviewed, diamond open-access journal with no fees for authors or readers. The journal’s scope encompasses the intersection of scholarly communication and librarianship. JLSC is published on a rolling basis, with a general issue for each year and occasional special issues. In 2024 JLSC commenced the most recent special issue; Open Access: Diverse Experiences and Expectations (2024-25). Iowa State University Digital Press has published JLSC since mid-2021. Previously, JLSC was published by Pacific University from its founding in 2012 until mid-2021. 

In April 2025, the Library Publishing Coalition awarded a JLSC published article with the Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Library Publishing, and cited a second JLSC published article with an honorable mention.

 

JLSC is a shared intellectual space for scholarly communication librarians, institutional repository managers, digital archivists, digital data managers, and related professionals. The journal provides a focused forum for library practitioners to share ideas, strategies, research, and pragmatic explorations of library-related initiatives and scholarly communication. JLSC welcomes applications from those committed to contributing to and fostering a diverse open scholarly communication environment, inclusive of personal and professional cultural, language, and/or geographic backgrounds.While JLSC is based in North America and published in American English, it accepts applications from all geographic and language backgrounds and encourages individuals who may be able to provide diverse perspectives given their cultural, language, and/or geographic background. 

How to Apply

To apply for the Production Editor or Managing Editor position(s), please provide (a) applicant contact information, (b) a current resume or CV, and (c) a brief cover letter addressing the Managing Editor or Production Editor responsibilities and preferred experience outlined below to editors@jlsc-pub.org. Please specify the position for which you are applying in your letter or email.

 

Applications will be reviewed by the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editors, and Production Editor.

 

To apply for the Editor-in-Chief position, please provide (a) applicant contact information, (b) a current resume or CV, and (c) a statement addressing the Editor-in-Chief responsibilities and preferred experience listed below, to Eleanor Colla at ecolla@unimelb.edu.au.

 

Applications will be reviewed by the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editors, and Editorial Board.

 

Please submit all application materials for any position(s) by: May 27th, 2025

The preferred start date is: July 1st, 2025, although we can be flexible

 

For questions about any of the positions or application process, please contact editors@jlsc-pub.org with attention to Martha Stuit and Frances Andreu, JLSC Managing Editors.

Managing Editor

Position Description

JLSC welcomes applicants to join our collaborative Editorial Team in the role of Managing Editor. Two (2) JLSC Managing Editor positions are open because the terms of the current Managing Editors are concluding. This role is a two-year volunteer editorial position, with the potential to extend the role up to 6 months after the initial term. The Managing Editor supports the operations of the journal by ensuring manuscripts move smoothly through the submission process, maintaining contact with authors, overseeing the work of the Production Editor, and providing other support, as needed by the members of the Editorial Team, including the Editors-in-Chief (EIC). The Managing Editor also provides general journal support, coordinates with the Publisher and Editorial Board Chair, maintains the Editorial Team documentation and communication channels, and manages the journal website.

 

The time commitment for this position varies throughout the year depending on the current projects and number of submissions, but averages to 2-3 hours per week (i.e. per person in the role, such that the cumulative ME hours for two Managing Editors would be 4-6 hours). Regular commitments include: monthly articles team check-ins (30-60 mins), quarterly all-editorial team check-ins (30 mins), and Editorial Board meetings every two months (1 hour). Primary communication occurs through email and the JLSC Slack Workspace. This is an unpaid volunteer position.

Responsibilities

Management of the submissions queue

• Performing initial desk reviews of submitted EIC-track manuscripts (i.e., research, practice, theory, and literature review articles) for scope (approximately 40-50 new submissions per year, shared between the Managing Editors)
• Prepare manuscripts for review process by ensuring anonymization and accessibility of submitted files
• Sending desk rejections or assigning new manuscripts to EIC
• Tracking progress of all EIC-track manuscripts through the review, revision, and production processes
• Occasionally, if/when there is a backlog of manuscripts in production, take on manuscripts to assign typesetting tasks and manage the production for those articles
• Prepare and schedule accepted, copyedited, and typeset articles for publication
• Providing weekly status updates to the Editorial Team, including submission status and progress of peer review, resubmissions, and other editorial decisions or actions needed
• Coordinating with Reviews Co-Editors as needed, including facilitating accessibility remediations for reviews by assigning a Production Editor to carry out that task
• Tracking journal statistics using Janeway's reporting features, including the number of submissions, rejects, and published articles

Communication

• Maintaining communication with authors throughout the publishing cycle as needed
• Staying in regular communication with the Editors-in-Chief and Production Editor(s)
• Reporting periodically to the Editorial Board on the journal’s submissions queue
• Answering queries, with support of EIC, to the general JLSC email address
• Communicating with Publisher and production contractor as needed
• Drafting and disseminating announcements via the JLSC listserv and social media, including volume updates and major journal announcements
• Posting major journal announcements to the journal website
• Liaising with Editorial Board Chair about journal updates and/or board tasks to ensure journal is running smoothly

Journal Management

• Maintaining the JLSC Editorial Drive
• Managing the JLSC Slack Workspace
• Coordinating editorial meetings and agendas
• Updating JLSC website, as needed, in conjunction with EIC, Editorial Board Chair, and Publisher
• Providing basic support to users on the JLSC submission platform, such as adding users, password resets, and access issues
• Creating and publishing annual masthead for each volume
• Closing out volumes and opening the new volume annually
• Posting editorials or other non-submission queue articles

Preferred Experience

The following list contains skills and experience that would be valuable for candidates to have as incoming Managing Editors, and having simply one or two of the following areas would support incoming Managing Editors with learning the role. We encourage applicants who may not have all of this experience but an interest in learning. Please also let us know if you have relevant transferable skills in your cover letter. Here are the areas of preferred experience: 

• Familiarity with or interest in the field of scholarly communication
• Familiarity with using a journal submission systems (e.g., Janeway, which we use), either on the editorial side or as an author
• Experience with publishing academic articles as an author
• Project management experience 
• Strong organization and communication skills

Additionally, Managing Editor candidates should demonstrate potential institutional support or individual dedication for the time necessary to provide ongoing timely support for authors and the journal as a whole if they were to be selected for the position. Examples of evidence of this could include: the candidate being provided release time for JLSC duties, the activities falling within the scope of the candidate’s professional responsibilities (e.g., employer expectations to be engaged in scholarship), recent adjustments to responsibilities (e.g., cycled off committees or other obligations that have created time for new opportunities), or willingness to perform JLSC duties outside of work hours. 

Applying for Managing Editor

The preferred start date is July 1st, 2025, although that is flexible; the current Managing Editors will onboard the new Managing Editor and will be available for consultation after the transition period as Past Managing Editors for the first year of the new Managing Editors’ terms.

 

To apply for the Managing Editor position, please provide a current resume or CV and a brief cover letter or statement addressing the outlined responsibilities and preferred experience to editors@jlsc-pub.org by May 27th, 2025. Applicants will be reviewed by members of the Editorial Team, including Editors-in-Chief, current Managing Editors, and Production Editor. 

Production Editor

Position Description

On the JLSC Editorial Team, there are 1-2 Production Editor openings in order to expand our collaborative Editorial Team, stagger terms, and allow for succession planning. The role is a two-year volunteer editorial position, with the potential to extend the role after the initial term and/or the potential for advancement to Managing Editor should interest, skills, and timing align.The Production Editor supports the operations of the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication by ensuring accepted manuscripts move smoothly through the typesetting and accessibility compliance-checking processes. Trained and overseen by the Managing Editor, the Production Editor also consults with the Editors-in-Chief (EIC) and Reviews Editors in order to carry out their tasks from initiation to completion.

Time commitment for this position varies throughout the year depending on current projects and number of submissions, but averages to 2-3 hours per week. Regular commitments, as time and availability allow, include: monthly author team check-ins (30-60 mins), quarterly editorial team check-ins (30 mins), and Editorial Board meetings every other month (1 hour). Primary communication occurs through email and the JLSC Slack Workspace. This is an unpaid volunteer position.

Responsibilities

The Production Editor will work within JLSC's journal-management software in order to assign tasks to typesetters and request accessibility remediation as part of the post-acceptance phase of publishing. The Production Editor will not be responsible for performing the typesetting or accessibility remediations.

Management of the typesetting queue

• Coordinates the typesetters' tasks for accepted manuscripts assigned to the Production Editor 
• Provides weekly updates to the Managing Editor on the status and progress of each article undergoing typesetting from initial task-assignment to typesetters through author-proofreading and proof-corrections requests
• Consults the Editors when editorial decisions arise
• Notifies the Managing Editor when the full process is complete before advancing articles to accessibility compliance-checking

Management of accessibility compliance-checking

• Coordinates the accessibility compliance-checking tasks for all accepted manuscripts, including items accepted to the Brief Reviews section (approximately 30-35 articles per year)
• Reviews the compliance for all articles returned from accessibility-checking using Adobe Acrobat's accessibility checker and requests remediations if necessary
• Provides weekly updates to the Managing Editor on the status and progress of each article undergoing accessibility compliance-checking, including remediations requests
• For all articles, notifies the Managing Editor when the full process is complete so that the Managing Editor can prepare the article for publication in consultation with the assigned Editor

Communication

• Provides brief but thorough written instructions to typesetters and accessibility-compliance checkers for each round of typesetting or checking, including instructions for corrections
• Maintains communication with authors and editors throughout the typesetting and accessibility-checking processes
• Stays in regular communication with the Managing Editor and the Editor assigned to each article
• Participates in regular team and Board meetings as time and availability allow

Preferred Experience

Production Editor candidates should demonstrate institutional support or individual dedication for the time necessary to provide ongoing timely production support of the journal if they were to be selected for the position. Examples of evidence of this could include: 

• release time for JLSC duties provided by the candidate’s employer; 
• JLSC duties and activities fall within the scope of the candidate’s professional responsibilities (e.g., employer expectations to be engaged in scholarship); 
• recent adjustments to responsibilities (e.g., cycled of committees or other obligations that have created time for new opportunities); or 
• willingness to perform JLSC duties outside of work hours. 

 

Candidates should demonstrate strong organizational and communication skills and have an interest in, or experience with, the field of scholarly communication.

No prior experience with publishing or production coordination is needed for the Production Editor role, though we welcome you to mention any relevant experience in your cover letter. Although unpaid, JLSC hopes this experience will provide a launchpad for those interested in gaining journal publishing and editorial board experience. Early career professionals are encouraged to apply, especially those individuals new to the field of scholarly communication who hold marginalized or underrepresented identities.

Applying for Production Editor 

The preferred start date is July 1st, 2025, although that is flexible; the current Managing Editors and Production Editor will onboard the new Production Editor. 

 

To apply for the Production Editor position, please provide a current resume or CV and a brief cover letter addressing the outlined responsibilities and preferred experience to editors@jlsc-pub.org by May 27th, 2025. Applicants will be reviewed by members of the Editorial Team, including Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editors, and Production Editor.

Editor-in-Chief

The Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication (JLSC) invites individuals to apply for one open Editor-in-Chief (EIC) position. This individual will join the current Team that includes three EIC, two Managing Editors, two Reviews Editors, a Production Editor (with plans to onboard an additional Production Editor), the Editorial Board, and the publisher in working collaboratively in coordinating a wide array of editorial matters, including submission assessment, reviewer management, article solicitation, and journal promotion.

 

Regular commitments include: monthly articles team check-ins (30-60 mins), quarterly all-editorial team check-ins (30 mins), and Editorial Board meetings every two months (1 hour). Primary communication occurs through email and the JLSC Slack Workspace.The initial term for EIC is four years, with possible annual reappointment thereafter, to a maximum service of seven years. This is an unpaid volunteer position.

 

The EIC have a responsibility to the readers, the public, and the research community for the creation, production, and dissemination of content rich in diverse perspectives. The EIC also oversee the editorial process, including:

• assessment of the relevance of submissions (approximately 40-50 per year, distributed evenly among the EIC) to the journal’s scope,
• assignment of peer reviewers,
• review of revisions,
• assignment of copyediting tasks, and
• guidance of accepted submissions through the final editing (copyediting and proofreading) stages.
  
  

The EIC can also be involved in various journal projects if they so choose. Examples of recent projects with EIC participation include the writing of a use of AI policy for the journal (currently under first revision), revising the journal’s scope statement (updated scope to be published in May), the 2024 Special Issue on OA and presenting at the Library Publishing Forum 2025 . 

The EIC collaborates with the editorial team using the Janeway open source scholarly publishing platform, Slack, Google Drive/Documents, and other forms of communication.

The EIC work closely with Editorial Board members in identifying and recruiting peer reviewers, performing peer review of submissions, soliciting manuscripts, guiding reviewers and authors, supporting integrity in research, publishing corrections and retractions, maintaining confidentiality and impartiality, and increasing general awareness and reach of the journal.

Preferred Experience

• Commitment to advancing scholarly communication and librarianship practices and publishing: This includes demonstrated leadership in — and/or advocacy for — the intersections of scholarly communication and librarianship, as well as knowledge in any of the specific areas related to JLSC topics of interest (e.g., publishing, data services, digital repositories, open access, impact metrics, DEIA).  
• Scholarly experience: This includes an active record of professional growth and scholarly achievement. For example, the candidate is engaged in research, has authored works in areas related to JLSC topics of interest, is active in relevant professional organizations, or is involved in advocacy or instruction related to topics of interest. Individuals with prior experience as an editor or editorial board member for a journal preferred but not essential. 
• Commitment to JLSC: The candidate must be able to dedicate the time necessary to provide ongoing timely support for authors and the journal as a whole. Examples of evidence of this could include: the candidate being provided release time for JLSC duties, the activities falling within the scope of the candidate’s professional responsibilities (e.g., employer expectations to be engaged in scholarship), or recent adjustments to responsibilities (e.g., cycled off committees or other obligations that have created time for new opportunities). 

Beyond the above primary experience, additional consideration will be given to the following criteria when reviewing applicants:

 

• Academic discipline or area of study, professional work, performance, etc., with a preference for individuals familiar with academic librarianship or publishing;
• Location of current employment (nation, region, hemisphere);
• Academic or professional position, with a preference for individuals who demonstrate evidence of expertise and substantial professional contributions to librarianship or a related academic discipline.

Applying for Editor-in-Chief

The preferred start date is July 1st, 2025, although that is flexible; the current Editors-in-Chief and Managing Editors will onboard the new Editor-in-Chief.

 

To apply for the Editor-in-Chief position, please provide (a) applicant contact information, (b) a current resume or CV, and (c) a brief cover letter addressing the Editor-in-Chief responsibilities and preferred experience listed above, to Eleanor Colla at ecolla@unimelb.edu.au by May 27th, 2025. Applicants will be reviewed by members of the Editorial Team, including the current Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editors, and Editorial Board. 

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