Abstract
Editors of academic journals play a key part in the production of knowledge and the continuation of scholarly conversations about practical and intellectual issues of the day. While peer review, an essential part of journal processes, has received considerable attention in the scholarly and the popular press, much of it critical, the role of the chief editor remains rather shadowy and underexplored. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 11 editors of academic journals in the field of higher education probed for editors’ thoughts about their work. The editors, located in seven countries, described dual roles as gatekeepers–keeping up standards in the field–and academic developers–supporting and encouraging novice and other potential authors. They searched for balance between these often contradictory expectations amidst complexities and challenges of contemporary academia.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 104-114 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Innovations in Education and Teaching International |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 21 Nov 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Jan 2022 |
Funding
Sandra Acker would like to thank Senior College of the University of Toronto for a small research grant used for compiling bibliographic resources and Dr Pushpa Hamal for his research assistance. Mika Rekola would like to thank Teachers’ Academy at the University of Helsinki for financially supporting some of his work. The authors thank Liam Wisker for transcribing and the anonymous reviewers for their comments. We are especially grateful to the participants for their enthusiastic cooperation.
Keywords
- academic development
- Editors
- gatekeeper
- higher education
- journals
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education