Call for Editorial Team Proposals

Overview

On 1 November 2011, Michael Howlett, Andrea Migone and M. Ramesh will complete their term as World Political Science editors. World Political Science publishes prize-winning articles nominated by political science associations around the world and translated into English.  World Political Science is published by Berkeley Electronic Press for the International Political Science Association (IPSA) and is currently in its seventh year of publication. It is an agenda-setting journal that provides a bridge to the highest quality political science being produced outside the English-speaking world. IPSA is actively seeking applications for a new WPS editorial team, to be composed of three to five political scientists, holding a position at a college or university anywhere in the world. The term of the editorial team will be three years, with a possible extension for one additional three-year term. Additional information on the journal (under its former name) is available from its website at http://www.bepress.com/wpsr/

Editorial team

The editorial team for World Political Science will need to continue the tradition of rigorous standards in publishing and of attracting top quality research of interest to all the subfields in the discipline. All proposals must identify a managing editor, responsible for ongoing journal administration, working in cooperation with bepress. Proposals should also identify additional editorial team members from a range of countries throughout the globe. The editorial team will be responsible for managing and administering the day to day operations of the journal, selecting and appointing the WPS editorial board composed of representatives of the national associations and journals which provide annual submissions to the Journal, and presenting an editorial report to IPSA Executive meetings as required.

A small subsidy for editorial assistance (currently US$1,500 pa) is paid out of royalties and would increase as circulation grows.

Criteria

The search committee will adjudicate proposals based on four key criteria:

• ·Comprehensive vision of the journal. Proposals should spell out a vision for the journal that will help the search committee understand how the editors will continue WPS’s record of excellence and contribution to political science scholarship. Proposals might include assessment of the journal’s current strengths and weaknesses, suggesting major lines of continuity and change through the next administration.
• ·Demonstrated breadth and balance in geographical representation. It is essential that the journal, and therefore the editorial team, represents breadth and balance of areas and approaches in the broad and interdisciplinary field of political science. 
• Editorial and administrative experience. Members of the editorial team should be familiar with the highest standards of scholarly assessment and publication, whether as the authors of refereed journal articles and books, as scholarly journal and book editors, or as members of university press editorial boards. The managing editor, especially, should have administrative experience that demonstrates appropriate levels of management and communication skills in working with authors, journal editors, association personnel and publishers in multinational and multilingual situations. 
• Effective organizational plans and financial/institutional support. Submissions should provide information showing how the proposed team is planning to handle and divide up the varied demands of editorial work. Submissions should indicate where the editorial office will be located and describe the facilities and support that will be available. Submissions should also include a proposed budget that specifies the contributions from the editors’ home institutions including faculty release time, staff or student assistance, editorial team office space, and other contributions to the journal’s needs. 

Additional materials

Proposals for the WPS editorial team should include a brief biographical summary and full CV for each team member. In addition, members of the editorial selection committee will require statements in writing from relevant academic administrators specifying office space, financial subsidies, faculty release time, staff or student assistance and other material support that will be provided to editorial team members, should their submission be accepted.

Selection process

IPSA has constituted a search committee chaired by Marian Sawer (Politics and International Relations, Australian National University). The other members of the search committee are Yvonne Galligan (Queen’s University Belfast) and Giliberto Capano (University of Bologna). Potential candidates should feel free to consult with the current editors about the journal and its editorship and to contact them via email at: Howlett@sfu.ca . All editorial team proposals and other inquiries should be directed to the search committee chair via email at: marian.sawer@anu.edu.au

Deadline for submissions

All editorial team proposals should reach Marian Sawer, chair of the search committee, by 15 August, 2011.