Call for Reviewers and Editorial Board members

Press Start will launch later this year. Before we issue a call for papers, we need to assemble an editorial team to help run the journal, comprised of Reviewers and an Editorial Board.

Reviewers will read over submitted work and recommend whether or not it should be published in the journal. As well as making a recommendation based on the work’s suitability for publication in Press Start, Reviewers main job is really to provide Authors with useful, constructive feedback on how their work might be improved. Even if a Reviewer recommends to the Editorial Board that a paper should be published, they may provide Authors with suggestions on how to make the work even better, perhaps in terms of writing style, grammar or presentation. You’d be working as part of a team, and at least one other person would be reviewing the same piece of work. It’s a great opportunity to gain valuable experience of working collaboratively and improve your own writing and communication skills. Depending on the volume of submissions you may be asked to review two or three submissions per year, and you can always say no if you’re really busy.

The Editorial Board will comprise around six members and, ideally, each member will sit on the Board for at least twelve months to ensure continuity. The Board is responsible for distributing submitted papers to Reviewers. They then meet (probably online) to discuss the recommendations of the Reviewers and decide whether a submission should be published or rejected, or if the Author should be asked to revise their submission based on Reviewer feedback and re-submit. It’s highly likely that Board members will also act as Reviewers themselves.

The same rules apply to Reviewers and Editorial Board members as potential Authors: students (undergraduate or postgraduate) from any discipline and any higher or further education institution are eligible for any of these roles. If you’ve graduated within the last year, you may also participate. There’s no reason why you can’t be an Author as well as acting as a Reviewer and even sitting on the Editorial Board: it’s up to the Editorial Board to ensure that there is no conflict of interest (i.e. you can’t end up reviewing your own paper!)

If you’re interested in taking part as a Reviewer or as a member of the Editorial Board, please email the Editor and/or join the journal’s Facebook group. Those interested in joining the Board will be contacted by the Editor and asked to provide a short statement outlining why they should be considered for the role. The Editorial Board will be appointed, in the first instance, by the Editor. However, this responsibility will pass to the Board itself once it’s established.