Editors, referees, and committees : distributing editorial work at the Royal Society journals in the late 19th and 20th centuries
Abstract
Ever since the Royal Society replaced the editor of the Philosophical Transactions with an editorial committee in 1752, it created an increasingly complex system which distributed editorial work and responsibility among many individuals. A 1902 suggestion that the Society ought to appoint an editor offers an opportunity to explore what the role of “editor” was believed to be: why might such a role now benefit the Society and its journals? What role might an “editor” play amidst the existing editorial structures? Examining the Royal Society's long‐standing commitment to distributed editorial practices offers a counterpoint to histories of academic editorship that focus on the rise of the sole editor. It allows us to investigate the acknowledged challenges of working with distributed editorial practices and to consider the shifting perception of the academic journal editor within the wider editorial system.
Citation
Fyfe , A 2020 , ' Editors, referees, and committees : distributing editorial work at the Royal Society journals in the late 19th and 20th centuries ' , Centaurus , vol. 62 , no. 1 , pp. 125-140 . https://doi.org/10.1111/1600-0498.12266
Publication
Centaurus
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0008-8994Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2020 The Author. Centaurus © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1111/1600-0498.12266
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