Why become an Editorial Board Member: Advancing your Research and Career

Editorial Board membership brings with it a number of opportunities to advance your research, network within your field, and develop your career prospects. You can also advance your academic community's growth by selecting and publishing high-quality research, collaborating with other members of the journal's leadership team by making editorial decisions, managing the peer-review process, and guiding the journal's overall strategy. Here at Sage, we are dedicated to helping you make the most of it.

What’s involved? Responsibilities of the Editorial Board

While the specifics may differ slightly from journal to journal, as an Editorial Board Member you will need to:

1. Engage in peer review. This is an integral part of the role as reviewing helps to ensure that the articles a journal publishes are academically sound. You can find out more about peer review and how to get involved here.
2. Be an editorial content advisor. As an expert in your field, you can advise on the direction of the journal by contributing your experience and insights regarding emerging areas of research (‘hot topics’). With this responsibility comes the opportunity to develop your own research agenda – read more about this below.
3. Help develop the Editorial Board. Our journals are always keen to work with the latest ‘rising stars’, as well as prominent researchers in a field – your advice on potential new Editorial Board Members is very valuable and is encouraged. Browse and share this page for more information about opportunities for early-career researchers.
4. Act as an ambassador for the journal. We encourage you to promote the journal where possible – either at conferences or through your own academic or professional networks. Explore our promote your journal and promote your article resources for more advice on how to use your platform to help spread the word about the journal.

Benefits of Editorial Board Membership

Mentorship, Networking & Collaboration

Being part of an Editorial Board allows you to engage with professionals, scholars, and experts from all over the world. While serving on an Editorial Board, there are often opportunities to meet and work with professionals within your field - whether at board meetings at conferences, in online board meetings, or through collaborative working on a journal project such as a Special Collection or Special Issue. Many journals at Sage also have mentorship or editorial fellowship opportunities that allow early-career researchers to gain valuable experience. Additionally, we at Sage work with our journal editors and society partners to help develop their editorial board members, making involvement with Sage journals rewarding regardless of how advanced your academic career is.

Developing your research agenda: Shaping a Journal’s editorial focus and direction

As part of an Editorial Board, you are integral in shaping the direction of the journal. Your work involves not only ensuring the journal publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research but also advising on areas of emerging or rapidly evolving research that should form part of the journal’s focus, allowing you to shine a spotlight within the academic literature on your particular areas of interest.

• Editorial Board Members are encouraged to apply to act as Guest Editors for Special Collections and Special Issues on ‘hot topics’ – this is a great way to advance your research and portfolio. Special Collections and Special Issues aim to bring together an international, timely body of research within an important topic area, directing the conversation and bringing focus to new and essential research.
  • As Guest Editor, you’ll refine the topic and specific research areas for the Collection or issue, reach out to your networks to encourage contributions, and editorially shape the final body of work. Published collections can be a brilliant asset in teaching and classroom content. Finally, this often provides opportunities for colleagues at different stages of their careers to collaborate, bringing with it important networking and career opportunities.
  • Discover our Sage Perspectives blog post on ‘Top tips on preparing a successful Special Collection proposal’ for further insight on this process or visit this page to find out more.
• Editorial Board Members are also encouraged to submit Review articles on ‘hot topics’ in the field, as well as submit their original research, in order to help curate and shape the journal’s development.

Personal and Professional Development

Serving on an Editorial Board can be an enriching experience that fosters your professional growth. It allows you to stay up to date with the latest research and developments in your field. Reviewing manuscripts can also enhance your own knowledge and expertise. Editorial Board membership will help you develop as an author, reviewer and educator, and allow you to maximise your value and impact within your academic sphere. At Sage, we understand the critical importance of securing grants and funding to advance your research career, and are here to help – this webinar on how to secure funding is a great place to start.

Editorial Board Members as Gatekeepers of the Scholarly Record

Joining an Editorial Board allows you to be involved in editorial work such as the selection, shaping and curation of high-quality research - you, therefore, play a key role in the advancement and dissemination of knowledge within your field. Through your work on the Editorial Board, you help ensure the quality and integrity of published content, maintain the standards of the publication and contribute to the overall body of knowledge that can impact future studies and policy decisions