How do I become an Associate Editor? - acm-toce/documentation GitHub Wiki

Associate Editors (AEs) are key to the journal's peer review process; they read submissions, select and recruit reviewers, and make recommendations to the Editor-in-Chief (EiC), who relies greatly on their expertise. They also help shape journal policy.

Are you interested in becoming an Associate Editor? E-mail the editor to express interest. Here's what the editor generally considers:

  • Experience with peer review. Good AEs have written a lot of research papers, reviewed a lot of research papers, and have a clear sense of what makes a good research paper. When you write the editor, share what experience you have with authoring and reviewing computing education research.
  • Need for your expertise. The journal, being broadly scoped, needs coverage of the entire field. Share what experience you think you can offer that might not already be covered by other AEs on the board.

The EiC will chat with you, perhaps have a meeting, and if it seems like a good fit, they will suggest your name to ACM, who has the ACM Journals Manager run your name through the ACM Violations database, to ensure you're eligible to serve.

If you are eligible, then the EiC will have you added to the ACME TOCE website and Manuscript Central. Once the EiC communicates that you're added:

  1. Send the EiC a short statement of your expertise. What is your core area of expertise? What are topics you can adequately review, even if it's not your core area? What are topics you can definitely not review?
  2. Optionally join our TOCE Discord server, where you can chat with other AEs and get support
  3. Read the Author Guidelines, so that you're familiar with standards and policies that submissions are subject to.
  4. Read the AE guidelines and write down any questions.
  5. Email or Discord DM the EiC with any questions you have about the guidelines, and if you like, schedule a time with them to talk through your questions.
  6. Once you feel prepared, the EiC will assign your first paper once they receive one within your expertise.