Vacancy for the EDITOR and DEPUTY EDITOR of ALT-J Editing a high…

Vacancy for the
EDITOR and DEPUTY EDITOR
of ALT-J



Editing a high profile international journal offers a chance both for personal
development and for career advancement. Each of these posts offers an outstanding
opportunity for an individual academic, or perhaps two colleagues as a job-share, to
take on a pivotal role in the field of learning technology.

1. About ALT and ALT-J: The ASSOCIATION FOR LEARNING TECHNOLOGY
JOURNAL - ISSN: 0968-7769

ALT is a professional and scholarly association and a registered charity in the UK (No.
1063519). Our aims are to:
1. represent and support our members, and provide services for them;
2. facilitate collaboration between practitioners, researchers, and policy makers;
3. spread good practice in the use of learning technology;
4. raise the profile of research in learning technology;
5. support the professionalisation of learning technologists;
6. contribute to the development of policy.

ALT-J is a key direct contributor to the third, fourth and sixth aims and an indirect contributor
to the rest.

ALT-J is the association's international, tri-annual, peer-reviewed journal devoted to
research and good practice in the use of learning technologies in tertiary education. ALT-J is
now in its fifteenth volume. Members receive ALT-J as part of their subscription, although the
format and type of access to the journal may vary according to membership type.

ALT recently completed an internal review of ALT-J, under the leadership of Professor Paul
Bacsich. Key conclusions of the review directly relevant to the aims of ALT-J were:
· ALT-J should remain a research journal, of increasing rank. ALT-N, ALT-J and other ALT
   publications should occupy discrete and complementary positions and should cross-link
   each other.
· ALT-J should work towards publishing 4 issues per year.
· The link between ALT-J and ALT-C should be strengthened. In particular, though there
   must be no automatic link of ALT-J to ALT-C, good research papers from ALT-C must be
   expected and encouraged (by the Editor in conjunction with the ALT-C Programme
   Committee) to flow into ALT-J, having been subjected to the ALT-J refereeing process. A
   suitable statement of this policy must appear in the ALT-C call for papers.

There were also other key conclusions of the review pertaining to the organisation, reporting
lines and terms of office of the Editor and Deputy Editor which have been built into the job
description for the posts, to the issue of administrative and planning support for the
editorship which have been built into the plans for ALT administration and to the Editorial
Board.

From its inception until January 2004 (Issue 11.3) ALT-J was published by the University of
Wales Press. It is now published by the Taylor & Francis Group - home page:
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/09687769.asp.

The Editor and Deputy Editor of ALT-J are members of the ALT Publications Committee,
which meets three times annually (usually via telephone conference) to plan future editions
of ALT publications. Like all committee members, the Editor and Deputy Editor are required
to be ­ or to become on appointment ­ individual members of ALT. All members of the

alt-j_editor_job_description_20070507.doc
Publications Committee are invited to attend the biennial ALT Strategy Day, which brings
together all committees to review and develop the ALT 3-year strategy (available from the
ALT home page at http://www.alt.ac.uk/).

Information about ALT committees is available at
http://www.alt.ac.uk/operational_committees.html, and our policy on the process for
recruiting committee members is available at:
http://www.alt.ac.uk/docs/Membership_of_ALT_Comm_20060405_Final_NoSR.pdf.

The Editorial Board consists of around 20 members, mostly researchers who are actively
publishing and presenting peer-reviewed work to a wide audience. Members have an
interest in and commitment to:
· supporting the Editor and Deputy Editor in meeting the aims of ALT-J;
· promoting ALT-J widely within the fields and constituencies in which members practice;
· encouraging potential authors to submit their work to ALT-J;
· supporting the Editor and Deputy Editor in improving the reviewing, editing and
    publishing processes of ALT-J.
The Board is chaired by the Chair of the Publications Committee and its meetings are
convened by ALT.

The Editorial Board is not a supervisory board for the Editor and Deputy Editor but a
"sounding board". However, it has the reserve power to make recommendations to ALT
independently of the editorship.

2. THE ROLE AND TASKS OF THE EDITOR AND DEPUTY EDITOR

2.1 General

The Editor and Deputy Editor are responsible to ALT for the overall quality and integrity of
the journal and its timely publication, and, together with the ALT Director, for ensuring
compliance with the publishing contract with Taylor & Francis.

The Editor is required to
· commission, co-ordinate and edit articles for the journal
· liaise with the Deputy Editor, the ALT Director, the referees and the publisher (Taylor and
   Francis) on a regular basis
· provide brief written and verbal reports to the Publications Committee
· report annually to the Editorial Board
· lead new initiatives related to the journal, as appropriate

The Deputy Editor is required to
· work with the Editor to commission, co-ordinate and edit articles for the journal
· liaise with the Editor, the ALT Director, the referees and the publisher (Taylor & Francis)
   on a regular basis
· co-ordinate new initiatives related to the journal, as appropriate

In addition, it is essential that both the Editor and Deputy Editor keep generally abreast of
new developments in the learning technology domain and with activities within the
Association.

2.2 Specific

The Editor and Deputy Editor should:

(1) provide academic and intellectual leadership in relation to running the journal;



alt-j_editor_job_description_20070507.doc
(2) endeavour to promote the journal and enhance its standing as a world-class publication;

(3) continually seek to refine ­ and if needed, redefine ­ the scope and aims of the journal in
    keeping with the needs and requirements of the learning research community that it is
    intended to serve;

(4) seek to encourage the active participation of reviewers (both new ones and established
    ones) and members of the Editorial Board;

(5) solicit papers from relevant experts, scholars, researchers and research groups in fields
    that are relevant to the journal's scope and interests;

(6) as and when necessary, steer the development of `special issues' of the journal relating
    to particular theme areas of current importance;

(7) provide feedback and guidance to authors in relation to their paper submissions and why
    they may not have been accepted for publication by the journal;

(8) ensure that the publication standards of the journal are maintained both in relation to the
    quality of content and the quality of expression; and

(9) be responsible for preparing (either in conjunction with or independently of the editorial
    team) the editorial entry for each edition of the journal.


3. EXPECTATIONS

The Publications Committee wishes to appoint both the Editor and the Deputy Editor to
serve for three years in the first instance. Both posts are renewable by agreement with ALT,
with a maximum term of six years.

The Editor and Deputy Editor require:
· a sound knowledge of academic refereeing and publishing processes
· excellent organisational and communication skills
· editorial and proofreading skills
· experience of using online systems (training will be given in the use of Manuscript
   Central, which is the system that Taylor & Francis currently use)
· the ability to meet deadlines and effectively chase contributors
· the ability to co-ordinate work across a dispersed group

The Editor is supported by the Deputy Editor and by the ALT staff (usually the Director). The
majority of the work is conducted via e-mail or telephone, although occasional face-to-face
meetings may be held with the Deputy Editor and/or ALT staff.

It is difficult to say exactly how much time the Editor and Deputy Editor will need to devote to
the role. It is anticipated that the Editor and Deputy Editor will negotiate a division of tasks
between them that is both equitable and workable. Generally speaking, both the Editor and
Deputy Editor may expect to receive ALT-J related communications (mostly e-mail) most
weeks and between them for each volume spend the following indicative amounts of time
     55 hours soliciting and negotiating the content of articles
     15 hours communicating with referees
     18 hours editing and submitting articles and the editorial for type-setting and printing
     10 hours planning future volumes and special issues
     15 hours liaising with ALT, ALT-J Editorial Board, and Taylor and Francis




alt-j_editor_job_description_20070507.doc
4. REWARDS

The Editor and Deputy Editor positions are honorary and therefore unpaid, but are
nonetheless pivotal roles in the Association and the wider community of researchers in
learning technology. The Editor and Deputy Editor are well positioned to influence future
developments in learning technology research and to shape a resource widely used by the
learning technology community. ALT will cover the costs of travelling to attend essential
meetings, and other expenses necessarily incurred.

5. APPLICATIONS

Please complete and post or email the expression of interest form below to:
Rhonda Riachi
Director
Association for Learning Technology
Gipsy Lane
Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
rriachi@brookes.ac.uk

The closing date for applications is 1 June 2007.
NB: We aim to interview short-listed candidates in Birmingham on 22 June. Please let us
know your availability when you apply.

For informal queries, please contact the current Editor, Jane Seale: J.K.Seale@soton.ac.uk
or telephone the Director of ALT, Rhonda Riachi, on 01865 484143.




alt-j_editor_job_description_20070507.doc
ALT-J Editor/Deputy Editor: Expression of interest form

Name:

Job title (if employed):

Organisation (if employed):

Email:

Postal address, including post-code:

Position applying for (Editor or Deputy Editor):

1. My reasons for wanting to be the Editor/Deputy Editor of the ALT Journal (max 300
words):


2. Academic refereeing and publishing experience (max 100 words):



3. Editorial and proofreading experience (max 100 words):



4. Knowledge/experience of learning technology (max 300 words):



5. Experience of meeting deadlines / chasing contributors (max 100 words):



6. Capacity to co-ordinate work across a dispersed group (max 150 words):


7. I confirm that

a) My employer (if employed) does not object to my undertaking this role:

b) I am able to commit the time necessary to undertake this role, including participation in
   committee meetings:


8. I am available/not available for interview on 22 June 2007
(please supply alternate dates if not):




alt-j_editor_job_description_20070507.doc