Updated - Ensuring the diversity of the Topic Editor Teams

By the end of this lession, you will be able to:

Learning Objectives

Demonstrate where to look for information on the diversity of teams of Topic Editor.

Explain when to assess the diversity of teams of Topic Editors

Demonstrate where to find journal-specific criteria on diversity of teams of Topic Editors.

Explain the Frontiers standard criteria on diversity in teams of Topic Editors.

Explain why diversity is important in teams of Topic Editors

Click here for the worksheet

Before you start this reading:

• make sure you have access to the DEO (Digital Editorial Office) as you will need to use it to check information. If you're not sure if you have access or how to access it, check with your Journal Manager.

• open the Diversity of Topic Editor Teams Worksheet (below), ready to take notes and complete the exercises.

Exercise

What is Topic Editor Team Diversity?

Research Topic projects have a minimum of 2 Topic Editors on the Team (but can have 3 to 4) to balance out the editorial workload. To ensure we present high quality Research Topic proposals to our Chief Editors, we must limit potential conflicts of interest in a Team of Topic Editors. As a general Frontiers rule, there must be Topic Editors from at least 2 different institutions per Research Topic team. This diversity can help reduce any potential conflicts of interest during the review process once a Research Topic is launched and helps to increase the international reach and collaboration of the Research Topic.

When to Assess Team Diversity?

As part of your Journal Specialist responsibilities, you need to be prepared to assess the diversity of a team of Topic Editors as soon as:

• The pTE mentions potential or confirmed co-Topic Editors.
• This allows you to check that the team meets the diversity criteria for your journal and to recommend possible changes or additions to the team of Topic Editors should they not.

Depending on how your lead Topic Editor works, beware that you may receive this information in the very early stages of your correspondence or much later in the project. The earlier you receive this, the better you can support the project.

When you receive information from a potential Topic Editor about the potential team of Topic Editors, you should refer to any journal-specific criteria on diversity in teams of Topic Editors to help prepare your response. Ask your Journal Manager about any team diversity criteria that is specific to your journal(s).**check confluence for any additional support and workflow charts.

Where to look for Topic Editor Team Diversity Information

The tools used to assess for diversity in a team of Topic Editors, are the same as those used to assess Topic Editor seniority, these include:

• Institutional email address or institutional websites
• Salesforce
• An up-dated CV
• FrontonGPT
• Frontiers Loop profile (if the Topic Editor is registered on loop)
• Research Gate
• Google Scholar profile

It's important to use these to identify a Topic Editor's current institutional affiliation. An up-to-date institutional website or CV is usually best for assessing or confirming their current institution.

Hover over sections for more information

Salesforce

You can check for co-Topic Editors details in Salesforce using their name or email address. It is important to note that they may not yet have a contact page with us and if they do their details may not always be up to date.

To help you check the profiles of suggested Co-Topic Editors, other tools are available too. Below is a link to the guidelines for how to use AIRA (Smart Search) and Tableau to help with this.

Gray Areas

When it comes to diversity in teams of Topic Editors, be aware that there are gray areas and potential exceptions. It is important to familiarize yourself with your specific journal requirements and closely liaise with your Journal Manager if cases arise such as Topic Editors who have previously worked together in the same institution but have now changed institutions.

Looking for Potential co-Topic Editors

You can propose potential co-Topic Editors from sources such as:

• Authors who have cited relevant papers from your main TE
• Co-authors of your main TE
• FrontonGPT extensions: