[ASA] PASA Editorial Board: call for applications

Tue Dec 15 16:25:11 AEDT 2020

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PASA EDITORIAL BOARD - CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

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Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia (PASA) is an ISI-listed, fully-refereed journal for new and significant research in astronomy and astrophysics. PASA seeks two suitably qualified astronomers to join its Editorial Board for three-year terms, beginning February 2021. Applications can be made by sending a statement of strengths and suitability and a brief CV to the Chair of the PASA Editorial Board, Dr Stas Shabala (Stanislav.Shabala at utas.edu.au<mailto:Stanislav.Shabala at utas.edu.au>) by 5pm AEDT (=0600 UTC) on 29 January 2021.

About the Journal

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PASA publishes research papers, review papers and special series on topical issues, making use of expert international reviewers and an experienced Editorial Board. As an electronic-only journal, PASA publishes paper by paper, ensuring a rapid publication rate. There are no pages charges. PASA's Editorial Board approve a certain number of papers per year to be made available without a paywall or subscription to the journal. All papers are indexed by the NASA ADS database; the ISI impact factor for PASA is currently 5.07 which places the journal in the top quartile of international astronomical journals. PASA is published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA).

The PASA Editorial Board

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PASA maintains an Editorial Board of seven members (currently chaired by Dr Stas Shabala). The main duties of the Editorial Board are to select referees for submitted papers, to make final decisions based on those reports, to solicit papers for submission, and to be an advocate for the Journal. Detailed duties are outlined below.

There are currently two vacancies on the Editorial Board, which we are seeking to fill. Appointment to the Editorial Board is for a period of three years. An honorarium is paid annually, currently at the level of AU$3750 per year (pro rata). Members of the Editorial Board are selected on the basis of their standing in the community, the breadth of their knowledge, and their specific areas of expertise. Applications are sought from candidates with expertise in any areas of astrophysics. Expertise in areas including cosmology, gravitational waves, data science and machine learning applications in astronomy, space missions, and radio astronomy would complement the expertise of current Editorial Board members. We particularly encourage applications from members of traditionally under-represented demographics.

Interested candidates should send a brief CV and a statement of their suitability for the position by 29 Jan 2021 to Stas Shabala(stanislav.shabala at utas.edu.au<mailto:stanislav.shabala at utas.edu.au>). A decision on the appointment will be made by the ASA Council shortly following this closing date. Note that ASA Council members may apply, but if selected are not eligible to receive an honorarium. We encourage prospective candidates to discuss their application with the Chair of the Editorial Board beforehand.

PASA Editorial Board Responsibilities

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Members of the Editorial Board of PASA are appointed by the ASA Council. The ASA also appoints a Chair from among the seven Editorial Board members. The Editorial Board is responsible for the overall scientific success of the journal in the international astronomical community. Measures of success include number and quality of submissions, rejection rate, citations and impact factor, and timeliness of peer review. Individual Editorial Board members contribute to this by:

1. Attracting submissions of quality research papers to the journal.

2. Organising peer review of submitted manuscripts in a timely fashion, using Cambridge University Press' electronic submission and peer review system. Key components of this process are:

(a) Assessing a manuscript's suitability for review, including identification of possible cases of plagiarism using the results of automated plagiarism-checking software provided by the publisher.

(b) Selection of suitable reviewers, to be undertaken within 3 days of receipt of a manuscript.

(c) Delivery of a recommendation for publication/revision/rejection based on reviews, to be completed within 3 days of receipt of a review.

3. Other duties and responsibilities of Editorial Board members are to:

(a) Act fairly, courteously, and without personal bias in all dealings with authors and reviewers.

(b) Immediately declare to the Chair of the Editorial Board any personal involvement or potential conflict of interest that may arise for any manuscript or in any component of the review process.

(c) Be a public advocate for the Journal, including the identification of at least one Collection or topical series of articles per year.

(d) Enhance the standards and scope of the Journal.

(e) Ensure that refereeing guidelines are adhered to and comprehensively considered by referees.

(f) Provide strategic advice to the ASA, to the Chair of the Editorial Board, and to the publisher on current directions in relevant research disciplines that can be used to the benefit of the Journal, its subscribers and its readers. To this end, the Editorial Board meets quarterly by teleconference.

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Nine things you may not know about PASA

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As a reward for reading this far, here are nine things you may or may not know about PASA.

1. PASA’s most recent ISI Impact Factor of 5.07 puts it in the same bracket as the astronomy “majors” MNRAS, A&A, ApJ and AJ, all with Impact Factors in the range 5-6.

2. PASA returns a financial benefit to its parent society, the ASA.

3. The PASA Datastore is a unique feature which allows authors to permanently archive datasets (of any type) associated with papers published in PASA. Each dataset gets a unique doi.

4. We offer a double-blind review option. In other words, authors can opt to remain anonymous to their reviewer.

5. In 2020, the median turnaround time from submission to first decision for PASA articles was 24 days.

6. PASA publishes Collections of topical articles (https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/Dg-CCWLVXkUExDpYC6ZJd5?domain=cambridge.org). These can be grouped by science area, or by instrument. Newly published articles are tagged into a relevant Collection on acceptance, increasing the visibility of related research. Anyone can suggest a new Collection to the Editorial Board - just get in touch with stanislav.shabala at utas.edu.au<mailto:stanislav.shabala at utas.edu.au> if you have an idea.

7. At the discretion of the Editorial Board, several high-profile articles are made freely available each year, meaning they are accessible by everyone without the need for a subscription to PASA.

8. PASA encourages supplement-style articles that describe code, catalogs or datasets that are outside the standard fare for “traditional” astronomy journals.

9. PASA publishes white papers, recognising that these can be important scientific contributions with substantial long-term impact.

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Dr Stas Shabala
Editor-in-Chief, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Discipline of Physics | School of Natural Sciences
University of Tasmania
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