Call for editors

Once again, we’re looking to grow our editorial team at JOSS!

Since our launch in May 2016, our existing editorial team has handled nearly 3000 submissions (2182 published at the time of writing, 265 under review) and the demand from the community continues to be strong. JOSS now consistently publishes a little over one paper per day, and we see no sign of this demand dropping.

New editors at JOSS are asked to make a minimum 1-year commitment, with additional years possible by mutual consent. As some of our existing editorial team are reaching the end of their term with JOSS, the time is right to bring on another cohort of editors.

Background on JOSS

If you think you might be interested, take a look at our editorial guide, which describes the editorial workflow at JOSS, and also some of the reviews for recently accepted papers. Between these two, you should be able to get a good overview of what editing for JOSS looks like.

Further background about JOSS can be found in our PeerJ CS paper, which summarizes our first year, and our Editor-in-Chief’s original blog post, which announced the journal and describes some of our core motivations for starting the journal.

More recently we’ve also written in detail about the costs related with running JOSS, scaling our editorial processes, and talked about the collaborative peer review that JOSS promotes.

How to apply

Firstly, we especially welcome applications from prospective editors who will contribute to the diversity (e.g., ethnic, gender, disciplinary, and geographical) of our board.

✨✨✨ If you’re interested in applying please fill in this short form by 6th November 2023. ✨✨✨

Who can apply

Applicants should have significant experience in open source software and software engineering, as well as expertise in at least one subject/disciplinary area. Prior experience with peer-review and open science practices are also beneficial.

We are seeking new editors across all research disciplines. The JOSS editorial team has a diverse background and there is no requirement for JOSS editors to be working in academia.

Selection process

The JOSS editorial team will review your applications and make their recommendations. Highly-ranked candidates will then have a short (~30 minute) phone call/video conference interview with the editor(s)-in-chief. Successful candidates will then join the JOSS editorial team for a probational period of 3 months before becoming a full member of the editorial team. You will get an onboarding “buddy” from the experienced editors to help you out during that time.

Dan Foreman-Mackey, Olivia Guest, Daniel S. Katz, Kevin M. Moerman, Kyle E. Niemeyer, Arfon M. Smith, Kristen Thyng