Building a community can be critical to your journal’s success. A strong community can help you achieve major goals faster. Not only external academics, but also the people involved in the publishing process form this community. As such, they should feel like valued members of the team. This will help the workflow run smoothly and increase long-term employee satisfaction.
What are your company’s values?
Before building a scholarly community, assess your company’s values. This way, you can better understand what is important to you and your team. If everyone is aligned, you will have a better chance of achieving your goals. It will also make the recruitment process easier, as you’ll know exactly what it is you’re looking for.
When seeking editors and reviewers, consider whether their skills are needed in your company. Their expertise should align with the research field of your journal. The availability of team members is also important in establishing an efficient workflow. You should be working on a similar timeline and understand each other’s needs.
Understanding the core values of your company will help you build a strong identity. It will allow you to position yourself more clearly and attract a targeted audience. This will help you to publish materials that reach the research community you’re aiming for. It can also help to attract new authors looking to publish in your journal.
Cultivating meaningful relationships
You should seek authentic relationships built on shared interests with editors, reviewers, and authors. If each person is passionate about the journal’s scope, there will be more enthusiasm towards publishing it. In turn, this will increase the effort to manage it and provide authors with more confidence.
Consistent interaction is key to maintaining these relationships. You should be checking in with your team to ensure that their needs are consistently being met. Ideas will evolve as you manage your journal, which can enhance your company’s productivity. Effective communication is essential when building a strong research community.
Editorial boards, peer reviewers, and authors aren’t paid for the work they do. Instead, it is their passion for global knowledge exchange that motivates them. By sharing this value, you position your journal as a means of achieving this goal. This forms the basis for a strong community, as you have something valuable to offer one another.
Establishing a positive reputation
You can start to build a positive reputation by nurturing relationships with your authors and editorial board members. These individuals will likely share the most impactful information about your company to their colleagues and institutions. They may also share their experiences online with the wider research community.
By ensuring that the authors and editorial board members have a positive experience with your journal, it will likely attract more researchers in the future. Furthermore, feedback from your employees will also impact your company’s reputation moving forward. Online discussions are becoming increasingly popular, and negative experiences spread quickly.
Not only is communication important within the company, but you should monitor how your team shares information online. In a digital era, it is crucial to build a positive brand perception. Consider employing a social media team to help strengthen your online presence and foster a digital community of academics.
Strengthening the author experience
JAMS strengthens the author experience by giving your journal the structure and support it needs to grow. With access to expert‑level publishing tools and dedicated editorial guidance, you can streamline every stage of the submission and review process. This will help you to create an environment where authors feel confident, valued, and informed.
By implementing rigorous peer‑review processes, maintaining consistent editorial standards, and ensuring transparent communication, you will establish a smooth and reliable editorial journey. When authors find your journal easy to work with, that positive experience becomes part of your brand identity.
Over time, this reputation for professionalism and author-focused service may naturally attract new contributors. This will likely encourage repeat submissions and attract qualified reviewers who want to be associated with a well‑run journal.
