Graduate Editor-in-Chief

Time commitment: Roughly 48 hours a month, with busier periods in September, November and March.

Editors-in-Chief provide leadership, decision-making, and training to the USURJ staff. They work very closely with the Staff Advisor and the Faculty Advisor to the journal.

• Participate in spring and summer maintenance of the journal, journal assessment, and planning editor training.
• Create agendas for and chair Senior Editor meetings (1x a week) and editorial board meetings (as needed).
• Guide the Senior Editors in establishing a constructive culture within their sections. Attend the first few section meetings and attend thereafter when requested by the Senior Editor or when the section is experiencing difficulties.
• Delegate tasks to the Senior Editors and help them learn how to delegate to the Associate Editors.
• Maintain and supportively encourage open lines of communication throughout the editorial team. Regularly communicate with USURJ’s Faculty and Staff Advisors and the Undergraduate Editor-in-Chief.
• Troubleshoot problems that USURJ staff encounter, providing decisions and solutions.
• Handle author questions or concerns; when appropriate, ask the editor in charge of the author's submission to respond to the author.
• Maintain OJS* database of reviewers and submissions.
• Create and implement deadlines leading up to journal publication. In the weeks leading up to publication, you will spend a substantial amount of time completing the final edit of each paper accepted for publication, after section editors have completed their edits and author revisions are complete. This includes collaboration with the Staff and Faculty Advisors.
• Learn about and respond to issues of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and Universal Design for Learning in academic publishing and undergraduate engagement.

Undergraduate Editor-in-Chief

Time commitment: Roughly 35 hours a month, with busier periods in September, November and March.

Editors-in-Chief provide leadership, decision-making, and training to the USURJ staff. They work very closely with the Staff Advisor and the Faculty Advisor to the journal.

Frequent Core Tasks:

• Participate in spring and summer maintenance of the journal, journal assessment, and planning editor training.
• Create agendas for and chair Senior Editor meetings (1x a week) and editorial board meetings (as needed).
• Guide the Senior Editors in establishing a constructive culture within their sections. Attend the first few section meetings and attend thereafter when requested by the Senior Editor or when the section is experiencing difficulties.
• Delegate tasks to the Senior Editors and help them learn how to delegate to the Associate Editors.
• Maintain and supportively encourage open lines of communication throughout the editorial team. Regularly communicate with USURJ’s Faculty and Staff Advisors and the Graduate Editor-in-Chief.
• Troubleshoot problems that USURJ staff encounter, providing decisions and solutions.
• Handle author questions or concerns; when appropriate, ask the editor in charge of the author's submission to respond to the author.
• Learn about and respond to issues of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and Universal Design for Learning in academic publishing and undergraduate engagement.

Occasional Core Tasks:

• Learn about USURJ’s mandate, focus and scope, and existing policies and procedures. Make new policy and procedural decisions, in conjunction with the staff and faculty advisors, which adhere to the journal’s mandate, focus, and scope.
• Assist with design and delivery of training sessions.
• Assist with design and delivery of proofreading and editing sessions.
• Advise Section Editors on how to proceed when a submission poses problems or presents a unique situation. Occasionally, decide whether or not a submission should be rejected.
• Co-write one letter from the Editors-in-Chief for inclusion in each USURJ issue.
• Bring staffing issues and staff concerns to the attention of the Staff Advisor. Discuss possible outcomes and implement methods of resolution.
• Communicate with libraries, deans, and department heads, seeking opportunities to promote the journal and solicit submissions. Communicate with faculty across campus to diversify and keep the journal multidisciplinary.

Special Projects and/or One-time Tasks:

• Take an online course in Open Journal Systems Management. This course is found at http://pkpschool.sfu.ca/ojs-for-journal-managers/
• Set up OJS accounts for the new editorial team.
• Brainstorm and plan future goals and directions of USURJ, including disciplinary areas, mini issues, and special issues.
• In conjunction with the Staff Advisor and Faculty Advisor, conduct interviews to staff the journal for the following academic year. This typically occurs in April.

Senior Editors

Time commitment: Roughly five hours a week

Senior Editors each manage one academic section of the journal (Natural Sciences, Health Sciences, Humanities and Fine Arts, or Social Sciences), providing leadership, decision making, and mentorship to their Associate Editors. Associate Editors report to their section's Senior Editor, while Senior Editors report to the Editors-in-Chief and the Faculty Advisor.

Core Tasks (training provided):

• Organize and chair weekly meetings of your section's Associate Editors, and participate in a weekly Senior Editors’ meeting.
• Provide mentorship to the Associate Editors. Maintain and supportively encourage open lines of communication within your editorial section.
• Adhere to deadlines leading up to journal publication.
• Make decisions about what moves forward for review, and then what moves forward for publication.
• Communicate with faculty reviewers.
• Participate in orientation and training.
• Communicate with libraries, deans, and department heads, seeking opportunities to promote the journal and solicit submissions.
• Communicate regularly with authors, including updating them on their submissions, answering their questions, and guiding them through the publication process.
• Edit and proofread submissions.
• Learn about and respond to issues of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and Universal Design for Learning in academic publishing and undergraduate engagement.

Associate Editors

Time commitment: Roughly three hours a week

Associate editors each work within an academic section of the journal, reporting to their section's Senior Editor.

Core Tasks (training provided):

• Regularly communicate with your section's Senior Editor and other Associate Editors. Provide weekly updates to your section's Senior Editor on the progress of the submissions in your care. Request help and advice if needed.
• Participate in orientation and training activities.
• Communicate with faculty reviewers.
• Communicate regularly with authors, including updating them on their submissions, answering their questions, and guiding them through the publication process.
• Seek opportunities to promote the journal and solicit submissions.
• Adhere to deadlines leading up to journal publication.
• Handle student author questions or concerns via email, in a timely, tactful fashion.
• Edit and proofread submissions.

Graduate Advisors

Time commitment: Roughly three hours a week

Graduate Advisors each work within an academic section of the journal. The role of the Graduate Advisor can depend on the individual section dynamics and the needs of the section’s Senior Editor. As this is an undergraduate journal, Graduate Advisors should keep in mind that the skill level of the authors and editors are expected to be at the undergraduate level.

Core Tasks Might Include:

• Provide the section's Senior Editor with advice, guidance, and feedback.
• Help facilitate the Associate Editors' development and skills building.
• Help the section find avenues for promoting the journal and establishing connections with professors and graduate students on campus.
• Learn about and respond to issues of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and Universal Design for Learning in academic publishing and undergraduate engagement.
• If you and your Senior Editor decide, you might also edit and proofread submissions.

Senior Layout Editor

Note: There is an option of holding this position in conjunction with an Associate Editor role in one of the four disciplinary sections.

Time Commitment: Roughly two hours a week (four if held in conjunction with an Associate Editor role). Some weeks will be much quieter, while others, especially leading up to publication, will be busier.

Core Tasks (training provided):

• Attend weekly Senior Editor meetings.
• Communicate with the Senior Editorial board and Editors-in-Chief, and train and lead Associate Layout Editors.
• Sometimes works against tight deadlines.
• Uses some of the more advanced functions in Microsoft Word to complete layout within an existing template.

Associate Layout Editor

Note: There is an option of holding this position in conjunction with an Associate Editor role in one of the four disciplinary sections.

Time commitment: Roughly two hours a week (four if held in conjunction with an associate editor role). Some weeks will be much quieter, while others, especially leading up to publication, will be busier.

Core tasks (training provided):

• Work as part of a team led by the Senior Layout Editor.
• Sometimes work against tight deadlines.
• Use some of the more advanced functions in Microsoft Word to complete layout within an existing template.

Senior Communications Coordinator

Note: There is an option of holding this position in conjunction with an Associate Editor role in one of the four disciplinary sections.

Time commitment: Roughly 10 hours a month

Communications Coordinators organize events, manage the journal’s social media accounts, and communicate to the public by, among other tasks, sending out invitations and advertising calls for papers. They may also do some postering on campus. The Senior Communications Coordinator provides leadership and mentorship to the Associate Communications Coordinator.

Associate Communications Coordinator

Note: There is an option of holding this position in conjunction with an Associate Editor role in one of the four disciplinary sections.

Time commitment: Roughly 5 hours a month

Communications Coordinators organize events, manage the journal’s social media accounts, and communicate to the public by, among other tasks, sending out invitations and advertising calls for papers. They may also do some postering on campus. The Associate Communications Coordinator works under the guidance of the Senior Communications Coordinator. 

Beta Reader

Note: This position is currently being developed and will be made available by Term 2, 2022. Please contact USURJ@usask.ca to learn more.

Time Commitment: 5-10 hours a semester

Beta readers informally review and provide feedback on our policies, website, promotional, and training materials. For example, you may be invited to review our canvas training modules. Any undergraduate student at the U of S is welcome to volunteer as a Beta Reader, regardless of previous experience or grades. We recruit Beta Readers year-long, on a rolling recruitment basis. 

*OJS stands for Open Journal Systems, a commonly-used online journal management system.