[ASA] UPDATE: PASA EDITORIAL BOARD - CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

[Debra Gooley]

Please note: the appointments advertised below will start 1 January 2025.

** the email distributed on the 1st August quoted an incorrect start date. Apologies for any inconvenience.

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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 invites suitably qualified astronomers to fill vacancies on its Editorial Board at the level of Associate Editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. The appointments will be for three-year terms, starting 1 January 2025. Under normal circumstances, the Deputy Editor-in-Chief would transition to the Editor-in-Chief role for another 3-year term at the conclusion of their initial appointment.

We value and respect diversity and we welcome applications from individuals of all ages, backgrounds, citizenships, disabilities, sexes, ethnicities, family statuses, gender identities, geographical locations, political views, religions, and sexual orientations. Fluency in English (written and spoken) is however required. Position descriptions, including responsibilities and expectations relevant to each role, are below.

Applications can be made by sending a statement of motivation, expertise, and suitability (up to 2 pages, indicate whether you are applying for the associate editor or deputy position or both) and a brief CV (up to 2 pages) to Ms Debra Gooley (debra.gooley at sydney.edu.au<mailto:debra.gooley at sydney.edu.au>), by 5pm AEST (=0600 UTC) on 15 September 2024.

Informal queries should be directed to the current PASA Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Editor-in-Chief elect, Dr Minh Huynh (minh.huynh at csiro.au<mailto:minh.huynh at csiro.au>) or the current Editor-in-Chief, Dr Ivo Seitenzahl (ivoseitenzahl at gmail.com<mailto:ivoseitenzahl at gmail.com>).

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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 page charges. All papers are indexed by the NASA ADS database; the ISI impact factor for PASA is currently 6.3 (2023) 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).

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PASA EDITORIAL BOARD - Information for applicants
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The PASA Editorial Board
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PASA maintains an Editorial Board of seven members (currently chaired by Dr Ivo Seitenzahl). The current Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Dr Minh Huynh, will take over the role as EiC at the beginning of 2025 for a 3-year term. 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, to advocate for the Journal, and to contribute to improvement in editorial processes. Detailed duties are outlined below.

There are currently two vacancies on the Editorial Board, which we are seeking to fill. One new appointment will serve as Associate Editor and the other as Deputy Editor-in-Chief (details below). Appointments to the Editorial Board are for a period of three years. An honorarium is paid annually, currently at the level of AUD3750 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 area of astrophysics. However, expertise in the areas of stellar astrophysics, cosmology, gravitational waves, computational (simulations) and theoretical astrophysics, data science and machine learning applications in astronomy, space missions, would particularly complement the expertise of current Editorial Board members. We strongly encourage applications from members of traditionally under-represented demographics. Experienced editors (including current PASA Associate Editors) are particularly encouraged to apply for the Deputy position.

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Application process
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Interested candidates should send a brief CV and a statement of their motivation and suitability for the position by 1 September 2024 to Ms Debra Gooley (debra.gooley at sydney.edu.au<mailto:debra.gooley at sydney.edu.au>). In September, a selection panel will rank the applications and make a recommendation to the ASA council. A decision on the appointment will then be made by the ASA Council, around October. 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 Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor-in-Chief beforehand.

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PASA Associate Editor Responsibilities
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Members of the Editorial Board (alternatively known as Associate Editors) of PASA are appointed by the ASA Council. The ASA also appoints a Chair and Deputy 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:

  1.  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.
  2.  Selection of suitable reviewers, to be undertaken within 3 days of receipt of a manuscript.
  3.  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:

  1.  Act fairly, courteously, and without personal bias in all dealings with authors and reviewers.
  2.  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.
  3.  Be a public advocate for the Journal, including the identification of one "special issue" or topical series of articles per year.
  4.  Enhance the standards and scope of the Journal.
  5.  Ensure that refereeing guidelines are adhered to and comprehensively considered by referees.
  6.  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 for 2 hours by teleconference. The meeting times may be scheduled at inopportune times of the day for some participants given the requirement that representatives of the publisher (in the UK) and the EiC and deputy-EiC (both currently in Australia) should be present.



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