Reasons to join editorial board of a journal (or not)

[MedSchoolRat]

Got an invite from a real journal to consider. CitImpFactr ~ 2.5.

My specific circumstances are that I will never be a lecturer and there is no career progression prospect for me (within Uni... unless I move to Admin or support role, I guess). But I have a relatively secure contract and quite like to publish (h-index since 2012 is 14). I thought maybe being on a editorial board would help me understand behind-the-scenes aspects better. But maybe not worth the bother??

I'm curious to hear general reasons for or against, that apply to all other types of Uni researchers, too, such as ECRs.

I would do it if asked., though it would be to raise my profile and as an esteem marker more than genuine interest on my part tbh. You need this kind of thing on your academic cv, tho prob not so much if you're not trying for a lectureship

Ta for reply.
Main benefits I can see:
20% off Open Access charge.
Get to see better ways to write replies from authors to referees.
Insight into how journals work, what they 'want'.

Cons:
Have to find and chase referees (eek).
I'm scared about making bad decisions about what should be published.
Have to find a tidy professional looking pic of me for the journal board website (seriously, don't have one up to date).

Con: may be time consuming, depending on the volume of papers you are expected to handle.

Given your own publication rate (implicit in your h index quoted), I would imagine you might need to handle quite some volume of papers.

In your shoes, I wouldn't do it. Being a journal editor is useful for those climbing up the latter to professorships, and for those who want to influence their research communities. You seem to have far less to gain.

They said minimum of 2 papers to handle each month. It doesn't seem like a lot, but also might ask for ad hoc contributions which made me nervous. I'm not THAT productive! We tend to aim for higher ImfFactors, to be honest. I've only got one on the boil that I could imagine aiming at this journal.

I'm going to ask my boss's advice tomorrow, he's a Prof on an editorial board.

For me personally, I would only (and have only) accepted editorships with leading journals in the field (impact factors > 8).

The issue with being an editor at the less strong journals is that you don't see many of the advantages mentioned in your second post i.e. you don't see the behind the scenes dynamics in the journals where you really want to publish yourself.

I wouldn't, given what you have said. Two papers for you to review plus all the comments per month- for a 20% discount! It's really not worth it unless it's a career move which it sounds like it is not.

This piece in today's THE focuses on editors-in-chief but might offer some useful insights
www.timeshighereducation.com/features/how-be-great-journal-editor-advice-eight-top-academic-editors