Sage Journals Information

While the specifics may differ slightly from journal to journal, as an Editorial Board Member you will need to:

1. Engage in peer review. This is an integral part of the role as reviewing helps to ensure that the articles a journal publishes are academically sound.
2. Be an editorial content advisor. As an expert in your field, you can advise on the direction of the journal by contributing your experience and insights regarding emerging areas of research (‘hot topics’). With this responsibility comes the opportunity to develop your own research agenda.
3. Help develop the Editorial Board. Our journals are always keen to work with the latest ‘rising stars’, as well as prominent researchers in a field – your advice on potential new Editorial Board Members is very valuable and is encouraged. Browse and share 'Starting out: early career researchers and editorial board membership' on this page for more information about opportunities for early-career researchers.
4. Act as an ambassador for the journal. We encourage you to promote the journal where possible – either at conferences or through your own academic or professional networks. Explore our promote your journal and promote your article resources for more advice on how to use your platform to help spread the word about the journal.

Mentorship, networking & collaboration

Being part of an Editorial Board allows you to engage with professionals, scholars, and experts from all over the world. While serving on an Editorial Board, there are often opportunities to meet and work with professionals within your field - whether at board meetings at conferences, in online board meetings, or through collaborative working on a journal project such as a Special Collection or Special Issue. Many journals at Sage also have mentorship or editorial fellowship opportunities that allow early-career researchers to gain valuable experience. Additionally, we at Sage work with our journal editors and society partners to help develop their editorial board members, making involvement with Sage journals rewarding regardless of how advanced your academic career is.

Developing your research agenda: Shaping a Journal’s editorial focus and direction

As part of an Editorial Board, you are integral in shaping the direction of the journal. Your work involves not only ensuring the journal publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research but also advising on areas of emerging or rapidly evolving research that should form part of the journal’s focus, allowing you to shine a spotlight within the academic literature on your particular areas of interest.

• Editorial Board Members are encouraged to apply to act as Guest Editors for Special Collections and Special Issues on ‘hot topics’ – this is a great way to advance your research and portfolio. Special Collections and Special Issues aim to bring together an international, timely body of research within an important topic area, directing the conversation and bringing focus to new and essential research.
  • As Guest Editor, you’ll refine the topic and specific research areas for the Collection or issue, reach out to your networks to encourage contributions, and editorially shape the final body of work. Published collections can be a brilliant asset in teaching and classroom content. Finally, this often provides opportunities for colleagues at different stages of their careers to collaborate, bringing with it important networking and career opportunities.
  • Discover our Sage Perspectives blog post on ‘Top tips on preparing a successful Special Collection proposal’ for further insight on this process.
• Editorial Board Members are also encouraged to submit Review articles on ‘hot topics’ in the field, as well as submit their original research, in order to help curate and shape the journal’s development.

Personal and professional development

Serving on an Editorial Board can be an enriching experience that fosters your professional growth. It allows you to stay up to date with the latest research and developments in your field. Reviewing manuscripts can also enhance your own knowledge and expertise. Editorial Board membership will help you develop as an author, reviewer and educator, and allow you to maximise your value and impact within your academic sphere. At Sage, we understand the critical importance of securing grants and funding to advance your research career, and are here to help – this webinar on how to secure funding is a great place to start.

Editorial board members as gatekeepers of the scholarly record

Joining an Editorial Board allows you to be involved in editorial work such as the selection, shaping and curation of high-quality research - you, therefore, play a key role in the advancement and dissemination of knowledge within your field. Through your work on the Editorial Board, you help ensure the quality and integrity of published content, maintain the standards of the publication and contribute to the overall body of knowledge that can impact future studies and policy decisions.

The peer-review process is essential to the development of research across all subject areas, ensuring the integrity of the scientific record, and an important step towards gaining the experience required to join an Editorial Board is to become a strong peer reviewer.

As a reviewer, you help authors improve their papers and further develop their knowledge, and you also benefit from being able to read cutting-edge research prior to publication and before anyone else in the field. Most importantly, as a reviewer, you get the satisfaction of knowing you are contributing directly to the development of your chosen field.

Peer reviewing can be time-consuming. Reviewers need to carefully read and analyse the manuscript, assess the methodology, data analysis, and results, and provide detailed feedback - this process can be demanding, especially when reviewing complex or lengthy manuscripts. We recognize peer-reviewers are often juggling multiple professional and personal responsibilities, and finding the time to review manuscripts alongside other commitments can be challenging.

Reviewer resources and guidance:

• See Information for reviewers, which houses all of the instructions and resources you need to contribute to this essential process, including a detailed breakdown of how to review articles and our Reviewer Rewards.
• In addition, we recommend the Web of Science Academy as a fantastic free resource providing training and guidance on all things peer-review.

Recognition for your peer-review service:

• Web of Science Researcher Profiles: As part of our commitment to supporting the reviewer community, we are partnered with Web of Science Reviewer Recognition, a service that gets you recognition for your peer review contributions.  We encourage all of our authors and reviewers and members of editorial teams to create a profile.
  • If you need to provide evidence that you have reviewed for a Sage journal, such as for funding, promotions, jobs, or green card applications, you can download your Web of Science CV as a record of your activity. Alternatively, you can share the email sent to you confirming your review has been received.
  • Web of Science Reviewer Recognition is a free service that enables you to effortlessly record, verify, and showcase your peer review contributions. Web of Science Reviewer Recognition records the number of papers you have reviewed for a journal while maintaining reviewer anonymity in accordance with each journal’s review policy. Our partnership with Web of Science Reviewer Recognition enables you to get recognition quickly and easily for your work.
  • For more information, please see the Web of Science Reviewer Recognition page or browse the Reviewer Recognition FAQs for reviewers.
• ORCID: You can also use ORCID to gain recognition for your reviews.
• Editorial Review Boards : In order to further improve the recognition and rewards we provide to our reviewers, a number of journals have created Editorial Review Boards. These are sub-sections of the Editorial Board whose primary responsibility is to peer-review for the journal, and they allow journals to better distribute the peer-review workload among the academic community, better engage with researchers earlier on in their career, ensure consistency, quality, and timeliness in peer review, and provide better recognition and reward for peer-review service.
• Other rewards: Every time you review for a Sage journal, you receive these reviewer rewards:
• Free access to Sage Journals for 60 days. This will give you access to content from 1999-present for more than 1000 journals across the humanities, social sciences, science, technical and medical fields, including new issues published during the free 60-day period.

• Register your interest as a reviewer:
  • Use the Sage Journals site to identify the journal(s) you’d like to review for.
  • Contact the journal editor to indicate your interest and summarise your expertise.
  • Create a Web of Science Reviewer Recognition profile and register your interest in reviewing for specific journals.
  • To further increase your chances of being invited to review, see our full blog post on Steps to Strengthen Your Reviewer Profile.
  • Create an account for the journal via its submission site, using an institutional email address if possible, and provide your keywords.
  • Please visit the ‘How to Review Articles’ page.
•  Join an Editorial Review Board:
  • Information on the benefits of joining an Editorial Review Board, whether you are eligible to apply, and how you can apply, can be found here.

Whether you are a researcher currently working on an advanced degree, like a PhD or postdoc, or are only a few years out of your program, Sage offers an abundance of resources and services to support early career researchers (ECRs) throughout this initial stage as you work to establish yourself in your chosen field. If you are interested in serving on a Journal’s Editorial Board but are not sure about the steps involved, this page is a great place to start.

When considering Editorial Board Member applications, journals usually look for the following, and Sage supports you through each of these milestones:

• Researchers that are well-published and impactful in their field of research
• Researchers with strong peer-review capability
• Researchers that explore Guest Editor opportunities

Researchers that are active and engaged in their community (e.g., experience presenting at academic conferences or involvement in professional organizations)

Becoming a well-published author in your area of research is usually a pre-requisite for joining an editorial board. Sage has an abundance of information to support you as an author, see Information for authors. Here we signpost some specific resources that will help you as you embark on your journey as an author.

• If you are preparing a conference paper for submission or preparing to submit to a journal, Sage Author Services offer professional end-to-end support to help ensure your next research paper meets format, language, and style requirements. Work with qualified experts in your subject area as you prepare your manuscript for publication and promotion.
• With the help of our excellent ‘How to Get Published’ monthly webinar series, intended to address the stumbling blocks every researcher encounters at the beginning of their careers, you can learn how to “ Write a Cover Letter”, “Organize and Present Data”, and “Convert Your Thesis into a Manuscript”.
• Our How to get published resources offers a variety of resources on this topic, including a downloadable guide to getting an article published in a Sage journal as well as video tutorials: Choosing a journal and Submitting your article.
• Utilize posts on our Sage Perspectives blog, such as ‘Publishing for the first time? Frequent questions and advice from Research Hive Scholars 2022-2023’ for useful tips on publishing for the first time as a PhD candidate or ECR.
• Researchers looking for further support on getting published can take advantage of our free How to Get Published Course from Sage Campus.
• If you are looking for the best journal for your research you can use the Journal Recommender, a resource designed to help you find the perfect fit for you.

An important step towards gaining the experience required to join an Editorial Board is to become a strong peer reviewer. Advice and guidance on why you should peer-review for Sage and how you can get involved can be found on this page.

A growing number of journals at Sage are launching Editorial Review Boards, which are sub-sections of the Editorial Board specifically aimed at researchers earlier on in their careers. Joining an Editorial Review Board provides researchers with vital peer-review experience, valuable experience working closely alongside journal Editors and Editorial Boards, as well as recognition and reward for peer review. Editorial Review Board members may also be considered for advancement to the full Editorial Board when these positions become available. More information on the benefits of joining an Editorial Review Board, whether you are eligible to apply, and how you can apply, can be found here.

If you are looking to gain a better understanding of what is going on from within or outside of your academic community and are hoping to strengthen your professional network, Sage can help.

• Sage Communities allows researchers from across social and behavioral sciences to access the latest news via our community sites, newsletters and social channels.
• We also have a list of resources to help with networking that could help connect you with organizations and societies within your field.
• AuthorAID: a pioneering global network that supports over 25,000 researchers in low- and middle-income countries to build their confidence, knowledge and skills in publishing and communicating their research. Includes online mentoring, training courses, resources and toolkits in research communication skills, and a discussion group.
• The Scholarly Kitchen – what’s hot and cooking in scholarly publishing
• Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers – at the heart of scholarly publishing

If you have reached the stage in your career where teaching, lecturing and mentoring form part of your role, Sage has a suite of resources to support you here too.

Sage has Community Sites that allow you to engage with Sage community members, through a platform in which researchers and educators within different fields can share ideas related to academic work, teaching, and the latest research and best practices.

• Sage Video is designed with unparalleled publishing expertise, disciplinary knowledge, and exposure to leading experts in the field, making it an essential addition to a host of classroom contexts to engage students, on- or off-campus.
• Designed for various levels of faculty and students, Sage Talks webinars will help you learn more about our authors, textbooks, and initiatives. Closely interact with authors as they explore some of today's top trends and discussions within the worlds of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences.
• Our Methodspace blog has sections of content dedicated to both teaching methods and identifying & planning research
• It also features a series of posts on Mentoring Academic Researchers and Writers offered in conjunction with the How to Get Published Webinar on Mentorship.
• This helpful guide to mentoring early-career researchers provides a plethora of useful resources to share with any early-career researchers you are mentoring, who are looking to advance their academic career.
• AuthorAID also provides webinars on ‘How to be a Good Mentor’ and ‘How to be a Good Mentee’, as well as resources such as ‘Effective Mentorship in Research Communication Toolkit’.

We understand that as an engaged member of the research community, you have a multitude of commitments competing for your attention alongside your day-to-day work – whether it’s applying for grants, securing funding, writing and peer-reviewing academic papers, teaching, presenting at or attending conferences – the list is endless.

In recognition of this, Sage is committed to supporting your career goals, providing you with opportunities and resources to help you develop as a researcher and progress within your field, and properly recognize the vital contribution you provide when you serve on an Editorial Board. We also ensure that opportunities for progression from peer reviewer to Editorial Board Member all the way through to Editor are available to our community.

As our way of directly thanking our community, we make available to all active Editorial Board Members a carefully curated portfolio of helpful classroom, research and teaching resources designed to support teaching effectiveness and research endeavours.

These include:

• Teaching/lecturing advice/aids, Sage Video, blogs, wikis, podcasts, and web tools for classrooms
• Sage Books & Reference on teaching in Higher Education
• Content on how to secure research grants/funding
• Sage Books & Reference on writing grant proposals
• Content on how to advance your academic career/professional development
• Books and References on mentoring and working with Doctoral Researchers
• Resources for assessing the communication of Science
• Dependent upon the journal, editorial board members may receive gratis access to the journal as a benefit of serving on the journal's editorial board. Please reach out to the journal editor or your Sage contact for further assistance.

We also provide:

• A promotion, tenure or re-contracting toolkit: Acting as an Editorial Board Member provides experience that can lend itself to promotion and tenure packets, but we recognise that there is often little guidance provided for these applications. To help with this, we offer a toolkit to help mentor you on how to put together (as well as incorporate your editorial service into) your tenure/re-contracting/promotional packets.
• Templates for our Editors to use for recommendation letters, so that they can sing your praises as Editorial Board Member to provide additional weight to your tenure/re-contracting/promotion applications.

• Resources to help editors and Editorial Board Members take action on diversity
• Guidelines for editorial teams on unconscious bias, language, and working with authors with disabilities
• A page dedicated to Sage’s commitment to DEI where you can find additional resources, guidance, access to research collections and information on policies and practices

Testimonials

• ‘Joining an Early Career Researcher Editorial Board: My Experience’, a Sage Perspectives blog post from an ECR Editorial Board Member.
• ‘It takes a special type of madness: Working with a medical journal’, Sage Perspectives blog post from an Associate Editor.