Small journals face an uphill struggle when it comes to establishing themselves within academic publishing. Not only do they have to compete with big publishers who consolidate the journal market, but they are also set back by limited resources.
When unexpected challenges arise, this can further impact on the growth and stability of a small journal. That’s why proactively building a crisis plan, as well as learning from setbacks and communicating transparently with stakeholders, helps small journals maintain control when challenges arise.
What defines a small journal?
Before we dive into the unexpected challenges they face, it will help us to define what a small journal is.
Importantly, there’s no exact definition. However, there are characteristics common to small journals that help us identify them.
For example, small journals are often defined by their specialized focus. Small journals tend to publish a limited number of articles in smaller research areas, such as particle physics or marine biology, appealing to more niche audiences and interests.
Because of this limited appeal, they are often managed by smaller publishers instead of the broader, more dominant institutions. But by narrowing their focus, small journals can build solid brand identities while setting themselves apart from competition.
Despite these advantages, there’s no denying that small journals have fewer resources to deal with unexpected challenges. Additionally, small journals (and their editors) may have been around for less time than more established ones. Consequently, they may have limited exposure to certain problematic scenarios within academic publishing.
Real challenges for small journals
Being unaware of common scenarios that cause unexpected challenges can setback small journals significantly, diverting resources and hindering growth. Therefore, familiarizing themselves with real, challenging scenarios can help small journals succeed in already difficult circumstances.
Ethics violations
Maintaining ethical standards in academic publishing is important as it ensures public trust in research. When there is a violation of these standards in an academic paper, it threatens this trust, in addition to damaging the reputation of the journal or publisher responsible for publishing the paper.
Reviewer misconduct
Reviewers of academic research are expected to follow certain guidelines and procedures, but this doesn’t always happen. Journals need to take responsibility for their publications and address any misconduct, if it arises.
Reviewer misconduct can take many forms. For example, reviewers may break anonymity by contacting authors directly or plagiarize the research being reviewed. In the case of suspected reviewer misconduct, journals should consult the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance for details on how to deal with instances.
Technical failures
The publication process is complex and involves many different stages. Technical failures, such as upload errors or application crashes, can complicate this process even further.
That’s why, as a small journal, using automated systems that help the editorial process enables you to streamline workflows efficiently and avoid easily preventable server issues.
Let JAMS automate your manuscript submission process
Building a crisis response plan
Challenges for small journals will always arise due to their limited resources. On top of that, unexpected challenges outside of the journal’s control will only emphasize these preexisting limitations.
That’s why it’s good practice to build a crisis response plan before you need one. You don’t want to be diverting more time and labor than needed to solve a challenge just because you must retroactively lay the foundations to deal with said challenge.
But what might the foundations of a crisis response plan look like? Well, proactively ensuring that clear policy guidelines are outlined and available for others to follow is a good start. But it’s not just others who need to follow guidelines. Your own journal team needs to be informed about structured procedures to follow when challenges arise.
For example, in the case of suspected reviewer misconduct, you may want to take logical steps, such as:
- Assess the evidence;
- Give those suspected of misconduct an opportunity to explain why they may have acted in such a way;
- Carry out an investigation if necessary;
- Ensure all policies and guidelines are clarified to avoid further instances in future.
This is just an example. Different journals may experience different cases of misconduct and will therefore need different guidance. Always refer to your journal’s principles and any previous experience members may have with ethical issues to outline a solid crisis procedure.
In summary, be clear on guidelines for those internally and externally contributing to the journal. If you can do so, look into creating visuals to spread on social media to raise awareness about journal policies and publishing ethics generally.
Learning from setbacks and communicating transparently with stakeholders
Challenges for small journals shouldn’t be avoided. While they are difficult to deal with in the moment, setbacks can teach businesses things that successes would not.
Think of a setback as a crash course in a particular issue. Instead of just being aware of potential issues, the business experiences their own limitations in real time, with team members needing to adapt as things develop. These situations are good to go through at least once as they highlight the weaknesses already built into the business model, and therefore what needs to be addressed.
Communicating transparently with stakeholders is also key when addressing setbacks. A stakeholder is anyone with a vested interest in a business; so, for a journal, this may be an Editorial Board Member, a previous Guest Editor, a regular reader, or an institutional library that directly hosts their articles online.
Although all these stakeholders have different priorities, there’s one thing they will all value from a journal: honesty. Journals should share information about setbacks, even if the immediate response will be negative. By being transparent about setbacks, you have a chance to earn respect and control the narrative in the long term. Journals can use this opportunity to set out a clear path for improvement.
It’s also good to open a dialogue with your stakeholders. Invite feedback, tailoring your communication channels for the needs of the people you’re engaging with. Actively integrate their concerns into your messaging and strategies going forward.