Jason Roberts, PhD Managing Editor, Headache President, International Society of Managing and Technical Editors

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Brendan Gregory
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1 + Editorial Offices: improving your return on investment Jason Roberts, PhD Managing Editor, Headache President, International Society of Managing and Technical Editors

2 + Editorial Offices: improving your return on investment Editorial offices: an under-utilized resource? Additional responsibilities, training and skill acquisition Employing efficient workflows Cost cutting strategies

3 + Situating Editorial Offices in the Publication Process Publisher Authors Sales Editorial Office Society Readers Reporting

4 + Editorial Office Activities Standard Activities Oversee peer review process Issue compilation Editing Reporting Handle queries/administrative duties

5 + Editorial Office Activities Enhanced service Active engagement in content direction and commissioning Developing resources/providing training for authors and reviewers Handling ethical issues Coordinating/producing ancillary content Special project management Business creation efforts

6 + Editorial Offices are you capitalizing on their potential? Editorial staff may have the skills and capacity to handle more than the processing of manuscripts: Supplement and assist the publisher Manage more complex editorial projects Research and reporting Revenue generation

7 + Generating income from within an Editorial Office Identify articles with reprint potential Secure support for supplements Supplement conception Campaign to secure supplements for your publication Develop ancillary content with sales or sponsorship potential Compare subscriber base with author base data could power marketing campaigns Undertake competitor analysis

8 + Invest in Professionalism Consider training options for editorial office staff Provide a grounding in journal publishing Contextualizing the role of the editorial office in the publication process. Understanding budget implications of actions Costs associated with publication delays Expenses associated with excessive corrections at proofingstage Hire professionals when editorial office positions open up With the ability to work remotely, professional class has emerged

9 + Invest in Professionalism Professional Editorial Office staff: Perform roles and responsibilities with greater efficiency Deliver more in less time (with attendant cost savings) Time for more customer-focused activities Able to liaise authoritatively with all parties involved in publication Typically invest time to gain sufficient understanding of the field to help shape publishing strategies

10 + Invest in Professionalism Financial incentives for hiring professionals: Independent contractors remove certain overheads Charge solely for work completed removing operating cost burden Often professionals work from home office removes office space and equipment costs Professionals may assume costs for on-going training and development Professionals offer continuity long-range cost savings: No repeated orientation training Recruitment costs eliminated No office relocation

11 + Audit Editorial Office Workflows Consider an audit of editorial office procedures Determine allocation of time to certain activities and its appropriateness Is the effort expended delivering a commensurate reward for the journal Can some tasks be automated? How efficient is the workflow? Is the workflow appropriate for the volume of material or objectives of the journal? Move to 100% electronic workflows

12 + Editorial Office Financial Audits Criteria for assessing value for money: Impossible to compare roles between journals and how much individuals should be paid. Depends on services provided How well service is delivered Past payment levels Regional variances Hiring a professional is perhaps a chance to reset pay scales Volume of manuscripts processed is just one, not the, indicator of volume of work

13 + Examples of Workflow Efficiencies Reducing the administrative burden for editorial office staff Smart selection of reviewers can save time: Better use of reviewer data to inform selections Assign revised manuscripts back to original reviewers rather than dispatching invitations Make authors work harder before posting a decision Force authors to comply with style Pass grammar and syntax corrections back to authors? Publishers: consider options to allow for the transfer of copyright as part of the submission process

14 + Cost saving strategies Improved dialogue between production staff and editorial office can create savings: Page budget management avoid overage charges Production staff should routinely supply page expenditure information Editorial office staff should learn to better estimate article length once typeset Editorial offices can reduce production costs by supplying cleaner manuscripts to the publisher Editorial offices work with authors to supply better quality image files to avoid costly resupply (and delays) at proof stage.

15 + Cost Saving Strategies Can your editorial office be run remotely/run from home? Switch to receipt of faxes as s. Remove need for fax line Use free phone services such as Skype For conference calls use free services such as freeconference.com

16 + Conclusions Assess editorial office practices to increase productivity and reduce inefficiency Look to maximize your investment in editorial offices by expanding their support role Consider assigning revenue-generating responsibilities Invest in training and professional development Rededicate staff time to activities that return proportionate rewards/enhance the competitiveness of your journal Move beyond traditional assumptions of: what an editorial office is; what it does; typical staff profile

The Journals Production Process at the American Meteorological Society. Michael Friedman, Ph.D. Journals Production Manager mfriedman@ametsoc.

The Journals Production Process at the American Meteorological Society Michael Friedman, Ph.D. Journals Production Manager mfriedman@ametsoc.org Overview Stages of production Monitoring the workflow Looking