Have you considered journal editorial boards as team players, disrupters, quality managers, and mentors? That’s how WHU Professor Dr. Lutz Kaufmann describes them based on his experience as the European Editor of the Journal of Supply Chain Management. The journal is included in the SCM Journal List, an annual ranking of universities’ supply chain management research output based on leading journals in the area. Earlier this year, WHU was ranked at number five out of 434 institutions, the highest ranked university outside of the US.
"I’ve served as the European editor of the Journal of Supply Chain Management (JCSM) since 2008. Back then, and even still today, the entire area of operations and supply chain management (OSCM) was not well represented in prominent journals. Many of the leading journals in the area publish analytical research, meaning OSCM scholars conducting empirical research do not have many top-level outlets for their work.
For the last eight years, JSCM has ranked either first or second in terms of impact factor for all OSCM journals. Its 2017 impact factor is 6.105, placing JSCM seventh among 209 management journals and first in OSCM journals. The recent CiteScore metrics place JSCM in the top 1% of all business and management journals, demonstrating the impact of research published in the journal. Articles in JSCM are downloaded and read at a 20-50% higher rate than other OSCM journals also published by Wiley.
Editing a top-level journal is a real team effort. By working hand-in-hand with the review teams, the procedure is a quality management process that improves scholarly output. Editorial teams are committed to making scholarship as strong as possible. To achieve this, they continuously develop and guide junior colleagues around the world. The review process provides the opportunity for career advancement and for scholars to learn about their research focus. The editorial team also acts as an entrepreneurial unit. By issuing calls for papers on certain topics, they shape and often disrupt a research community’s agenda.
It can of course be a time-consuming job, but it is also incredibly rewarding and enjoyable."