This is the third of three guest blogs we’re featuring from the chief editors of three newly-launched journals: Communications Biology, Communications Chemistry and Communications Physics. (Read the announcement from Nature Research here).
This blog comes from Elena Belsole, the Chief Editor of Communications Physics. Elena was previously Executive Editor for the Open Access journal New Journal of Physics. She has a passion for physics and physics-related science. Elena holds a PhD in Astrophysics and Space Sciences from Paris VI and she carried out postdoctoral research at Bristol and Cambridge Universities.
Communications Physics is a Nature Research journal, joining a portfolio well-known for providing high-quality peer review, managed by full-time, professional editors. Communications Physics – and our sister journals Communications Chemistry and Communications Biology – will maintain the same standards of excellence expected from a Nature Research journal by having a dedicated team of in-house editors.
But with these new journals we will go a step further and experiment with involving an editorial board made up of practicing academics that are recognised in their field.
Combined expertise, at your service
Professional editors at Communication Physics have a background in research and have the same passion for learning and advancing science that academics do. They provide the scientific and editorial experience and help ensure that quality standards are met across all content published in the journal.
Editorial board members will provide the in-depth expertise in their field of research and will allow us to cover the breadth and variety of physics required – something that we are committed to promote in Communications Physics. They will also bring on-the-ground insights into their field of research. Most importantly, Editorial board members will share the same passion of in-house editors to serve the community by assessing, selecting and helping to improve the papers that the journal publishes. They will also be able to engage with the community in a different way to professional editors, and act as ambassadors for the journal to an extent that internal editors can’t, including reaching out to the community in their geographical areas.
Reaching out to the community
When I started as an editor I was not expecting to learn so much more about physics beyond my domain of studies and research. This is still the most exciting aspect of my job as an editor. By involving external editors we wish not only to provide the journal with more in depth expertise for the benefit of authors and readers, but also to afford the opportunity to the academic community to be involved in editorial practices and standards. Being an editorial board member is a great opportunity to learn how a Nature Research journal works from the inside and communicate that to the community at large. It can also be a rewarding experience, particularly for early-career researchers.
In this respect I see this shared editorial model as a mutual effort to learn from each other and to provide our authors and readers with an enhanced experience. Together we will form a team of experts to achieve excellence in both physics communications advice and the editorial experience.
Get involved
We are looking for active researchers to join our editorial boards. Both an in-depth knowledge of your field a curiosity beyond it are key (see our previous blog on interdisciplinarity from the editor of Communications Biology). Also, editorial board members should have an interest in editorial involvement and be able to articulate the difference between an incremental result and a significant advance in a specific area of research.
If this sounds like you, please get in touch – you may just be our next editorial board member. We will always welcome input from the communities that our Communications journals aspire to serve.
For queries about the journal, please contact commsphys@nature.com
For news from our new Communications journals, follow us on Twitter: @commsbio, @commchem, @commsphys.
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