If you follow DOAJ closely, you already know that our editorial work—reviewing applications, updating journal records, helping publishers prepare their journals, and investigations into questionable practices—is at the heart of everything we do. The Editorial Team comprises a group of fantastic volunteers and our Managing Editors, led by the Head of Editorial.
Judith Barnsby, our Head of Editorial, will retire at the start of February. After many years in the publishing industry, Judith joined DOAJ in 2015, at a time when the entire DOAJ Team consisted of only seven people! Judith set to work immediately helping us through the now infamous reapplication project and, working with our then Editor-in-Chief, Tom Ojlihoek, she laid the foundations for what was to become our Editorial Team (which has expanded to thirteen people today with three more on the way).
During her time with DOAJ, Judith has been responsible for some of our largest publisher accounts, developed DOAJ’s editorial policy to ensure it evolves to meet changes in publishing practice, and represented DOAJ in various initiatives: the S2O Community of Practice, the Library Publishing Coalition, the Irish Open Access Publishers group, and the Keepers Registry’s Technical Advisory Committee are only a few examples where Judith has contributed her expertise to influence discussions around open access and publishing best practice. It goes without saying that Judith is a key member of the DOAJ family, and we are going to miss her!
However, with every end comes a new beginning, and we are excited to have Matt Hodgkinson join DOAJ as our new Head of Editorial. Matt comes to us with many years of professional experience in journal publishing and research integrity, as well as his contributions to EASE and COPE. He was also a member of our Editorial Policy Advisory Group, founded last year. Matt started with us last week and is busy getting to know DOAJ and its team. Matt will work closely with our two Deputy Heads of Editorial, Leena Shah and Cenyu Shen, to understand everything our Editorial Team does. We’re really looking forward to this new chapter!
