What is needed to create an impactful editorial fellowship?
While there are likely many ways to support ECRs through editorial training, we consider the collaborative, two-way model of the RCEF to be the most crucial key to its success (Fig. 1). By providing a supportive framework for ECRs to pursue the aspects of the editorial process they find most compelling, the program and its beneficiaries can best capitalize on the strengths of each Fellow. However, this framework cannot succeed without initiative from the Fellows and a willingness to commit time to the program from both the Fellows and EIC. Beyond the Fellows, it is also crucial that the EIC, journal, publishing partner, and scientific society (if applicable) actively support diverse ECR perspectives. For the RCEF, this higher-level support is shown by inviting Fellows to strategy meetings, the EIC seeking Fellow opinions on editorial and journal policy decisions, and by listening when a Fellow gives feedback or makes a suggestion. In addition to the two-way model, we consider the creation and maintenance of an inclusive environment with a goal of broadening participation at every turn to be fundamental to the success of any fellowship program. By prioritizing diversity and inclusion, an editorial fellowship can help journals keep pace with the increasingly global, connected state of academic research while also giving an important platform to historically excluded voices.
Institutional support at the society and/or publisher level is also important to any fellowship (Fig. 1). For the RCEF, the society (ASLO) supports the program financially (e.g., through stipends, conference fee waivers), publicly via formal acknowledgements (e.g. society-wide correspondences), and professionally (e.g., including Fellows in strategy meetings). The publishing partner, Wiley, supports the program by providing Fellows with key resources for project coordination (e.g., relevant data or technical assistance for workshop development). This support from the society and the publisher show the Fellows that their efforts are valued. This, in turn, raises the caliber of future applicants who see the commitment being made to Fellows and encourages the Fellows to aim high with their fellowship goals.