An unexpected but very exciting opportunity has crossed my path: I am the new Editor of the Open Journal of Educational Psychology (OJEP)! I am keen to stay active in research and this is an excellent way to keep a foothold in academia. I do not have any prior experience as an Editor so I’m very grateful that the previous Editor is staying on at OJEP to offer guidance. Any additional advice you have for someone who is just stepping into the role is also greatly appreciated. That being said, I want to lay out my hopes for the journal.

How I want to be an editor

There are already a number of systems in place at OJEP and I’m very happy to work within those. One such system, which I want to make explicit, is running the journal like a worker’s cooperative. What that means is although I’m technically responsible for making sure things get done, everyone on the editorial board has an equal say. Anyone can come forward with an idea for the journal, we can discuss it, and then we will vote on it. If it gets a majority of votes, then we will implement it. If it doesn’t, then we won’t. It also means the costs are spread out amongst us, as are the profits[note]Haha.[/note].

Things I want to try and implement

I have a bunch of ideas for how the journal should be run[note]Subject to the board agreeing on them.[/note], including:

• OSF page per publication – each article published in the journal has a dedicated Open Science Framework page where it can both be hosted as a back-up and serve as storage for all the associated documents¹.
• Open methods – a copy of all the methods used will be stored and freely accessible.
• Open data – a copy of the cleaned and anonymised data will be stored.
• Open peer review – all peer review comments will be made publicly available.
• Funding – exploring options for covering the running costs of the journal.

I am sure there are plenty of other things for me to learn about regarding open science, especially with regards to journal management. As such, I’m always open to new suggestions. These can then be discussed and voted on by the board and we can grow as a journal. This is a very cool opportunity and I’m excited to be a part of OJEP. Vamos!

¹ Under a CC BY 4.0 license.