Benefits of a two-way editorial fellowship
Beyond the obvious benefits to Fellows in terms of career development
and networking, a two-way editorial fellowship model also holds
tremendous value for editors, journals (including publishers),
professional societies, and the global scientific community (Fig. 1).
For example, RCEF Fellows have made a number of scholarly contributions
that benefit a wide range of researchers including: examining the
demographics and career trajectories of Associate Editors
(Poulson‐Ellestad et al. 2020); creating workshops to connect
ECRs with journal editors (Deemer et al. 2020); describing ways
to be a better peer reviewer (Falkenberg & Soranno 2018); and improving
manuscript preparation through writing guides (Hotaling 2020) and
organizing workshops. From a publisher’s perspective, “opportunities to
integrate ECRs into publishing are valuable since the sustainability and
success of journals heavily relies on the big and bold ideas voiced by
the next generation of researchers” (Fiona Sarne, Wiley, pers. comm.).
From a scientific society perspective, editorial fellowships distribute
leadership beyond senior and mid-career scientists, involve ECRs in key
discussions, and foster fun and creative discussions between editors,
Fellows, and the society membership that build community (Mike Pace,
former ASLO President, pers. comm.). At the global level, resources
produced by ECRs directly benefit the scientific community but equally
important is the behind-the-scenes role that ECRs can have in driving
editorial change.
While all RCEF products have benefited multiple groups, some efforts
have captured benefits that stretch from the Fellow to the global
scientific community. For example, a practical guide to concise
scientific writing (Fig. 2a; Hotaling 2020) emerged from a Fellow’s own
early struggles with writing and manuscript preparation. This essay has
been downloaded >50,000 times since June 2020. Such strong
resonation with the scientific community, far beyond the typical reach
of articles in Limnology & Oceanography Letters , has spurred the
EIC to solicit similar articles targeting key scientific issues with
wide relevance.
Another example is an early career publishing honor (Fig. 2b) which was
conceived by RCEF Fellows during a discussion with the EIC at an annual
publishing strategy meeting. The honor was created to address two needs
for the journal identified by the EIC: increasing submissions to a still
relatively new journal, and increasing the geographic and topical
diversity of submissions. It also addressed a need that the Fellows
identified: making open access publication more accessible to
financially limited ECRs. Fellows developed a rubric to score
applications based on criteria they deemed most important: (1)
scientific novelty and interest, (2) potential to support
under-represented groups (broadly defined), (3) journal fit, and (4)
financial need. Beyond the benefits to awarded researchers, the program
provided an opportunity for Fellows to think like editors by considering
research beyond their own expertise, making difficult decisions, and
providing feedback on manuscripts ahead of submission.