Roles and Responsibilities of managing teams

EAST AFRICAN UNIVERSITY RWANDA - Roles and Responsibilities of managing teams

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MANAGING TEAMS

The East African University Rwanda Scientific Journal has four teams: the editorial board, the scientific and ethical committee (advisory board), the committee of reviewers, and the administrative and production team. Members of each team are appointed to perform different roles and functions, and the variety of their profiles is meant to ensure a high-quality standard of the journal and its branding for research, trustworthiness, and credibility.

ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD

The roles and responsibilities of EAURSJ are in two main categories: core roles and responsibilities, and additional functions:

  1. Core Roles and Responsibilities
  • Quality control and peer review: Members often act as reviewers or handling editors for manuscripts, ensuring they meet the journal’s standards
  • Strategic Direction:They provide input on the journal’s scope, identify “hot topics” for special issues, and assist with long-term planning.
  • Content Development:Members are expected to submit their own work, solicit high-quality submissions from their network, and act as guest editors.
  • Ambassadorial Duties:They promote the journal at conferences and within their professional networks to increase visibility.
  • Advisory Function:They provide expert advice to the editor-in-chief on editorial policy and ethical issues
  1. Additional Functions
  • Building the Team:Recommending and recruiting new board members.
  • Ethics Oversight:Maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of the publishing process
  • Support:Providing technical and editorial support to ensure smooth operations.

Composition of the Editorial Board

An effective board is diverse in terms of subject expertise, geographical location, and career stage. Their numbers vary between 20 and 50 members. This board is composed of the following:

  • Editor-in-Chief (EiC):Leads the board, sets editorial direction, and makes final decisions on manuscripts.
  • Associate Editors / Section Editors:Handle the peer-review process for specific sub-disciplines, managing the workflow from submission to recommendation.
  • Editorial Board Members (Advisors):Provide expert peer review, promote the journal, and advise on policy.
  • Early Career Researcher (ECR) Boards:Junior researchers, engaged to provide mentoring support and engaged in peer review exercise
  • Technical Review/Editorial Team:Includes specialists in statistics, methodology, or language.

Contract, terms and appointment

  • Appointment:Members are  appointed by the executive committee of EAUR in collaboration with the board of Governors, academic senate and Editor-in-Chief based on their academic expertise, publication records and academic experience
  • Terms:Members will serve for a three-year term, renewable based on mutual consent between the EAUR managing organs and the editorial board member.
  • Compensation: Board membership is voluntary and unpaid.
  • Removal:Members can be removed for inactivity (e.g., failing to review manuscripts) or breaches of ethics.
  • Benefits:In return, members receive benefits such as free access to the journal, and recognition in the event of the university, such as graduation and conference, but also a free ticket for conference participation organized by EAUR.

ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF SCIENTIFIC, AND ETHICAL COMMITTEE (ADVISORY BOARD)

The scientific and ethical committee protects research participants’ rights, welfare, and safety by evaluating the scientific merit and ethical acceptability of submissions. Their functions include approving study protocols, ensuring informed consent, monitoring ongoing studies, and addressing misconduct like plagiarism.  They will perform the following key roles and functions:

  • Ethical Review:Evaluating research proposals based on principles of autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence.
  • Scientific Evaluation:Assessing the methodology and scientific design to ensure the research is valid, not wasteful, and capable of producing meaningful knowledge.
  • Participant Protection:Safeguarding the dignity, rights, safety, and well-being of research subjects.
  • Informed Consent Verification:Ensuring that research participants are properly informed, especially vulnerable populations.
  • Monitoring Ongoing Research:Conducting annual or more frequent reviews of approved studies, particularly for clinical trials.
  • Conflict of Interest Management:Reviewing disclosures from researchers regarding funding and potential biases.
  • Addressing Misconduct:Investigating potential violations, such as plagiarism or fabrication of data.
  • Regulatory Compliance:Ensuring studies adhere to legal and ethical standards.

Composition of the scientific and ethical committee

The committee consist of 10 members to ensure a balance of expertise and diverse perspectives. Members’ profiles are diversified to include scientific reviewers, subject experts, ethics or social scientists, laypersons to represent community interests, and legal experts for clinical trials in case conflicts of copyright arise. The following are members of the committee:

  • Chairperson: From outside the institution to ensure independence.
  • Secretary: From EAUR to manage business.
  • Legal Expert: A lawyer from outside or EAUR to address issues related to court cases involving unethical practices.
  • Social Scientist/NGO Representative: To offer community perspectives.
  • Lay Person: A member from the general community
  • Multidisciplinary experts: 10 Members with diverse expertise and domains, from EAUR and outside

A Minimum of 5 members should be present as quorum to take the legal decision

Contract, terms and appointment

  • Appointment:Members are appointed by the executive committee of EAUR in collaboration with the board of Governors, academic senate and Editor-in-chief based on their academic expertise, publication records and academic experience
  • Terms:Members will serve for a three years term renewable based on mutual consent between EAUR managing organs and editorial board member.
  • Compensation: Board membership is voluntary and unpaid.
  • Removal:Members can be removed for inactivity (e.g., failing to review manuscripts) or breaches of ethics.
  • Benefits:In return, members receive benefits such as free access to the journal, and recognition in the event of the university such as graduation and conference, but also free ticket for conference participation organized by EAUR.

ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF REVIEWER TEAM

The reviewers’ team consist experts in the relevant field. They acts as a critical gatekeeper for scholarly publishing by ensuring the integrity, quality, and originality of submissions. Their primary function is to provide an objective, expert assessment of a manuscript’s scientific merit, which guides editors in deciding whether to publish, request revisions, or reject a paper. The responsibilities of the reviewer team are in two main categories namely key roles and functions, and core responsibilities.

  1. Key roles and functions
  • Quality Control & Assessment:Reviewers evaluate the validity of research methodology, the reliability of data, and the appropriateness of conclusions
  • Constructive Feedback:They provide detailed, actionable, and courteous feedback to help authors improve the clarity and quality of their work, even if it is not suitable for publication.
  • Ethical Vigilance:Reviewers identify potential misconduct, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, or failure to follow ethical guidelines for human/animal studies.
  • Advising the Editor:They provide confidential, expert opinions to help editors make informed decisions about the suitability of a manuscript for the journal’s scope.
  • Significance Assessment:They determine if the work provides a new or significant contribution to the literature.
  • Timeliness:Reviewers are responsible for completing evaluations within the agreed timeframe to facilitate a fast publication process.
  1. Core Responsibilities
  • Confidentiality:Treating manuscripts as privileged documents and not sharing or using the information for personal advantage.
  • Objectivity & Conflict of Interest:Providing unbiased, professional, and courteous evaluations while disclosing any personal, financial, or academic conflicts.
  • Subject Expertise:Ensuring the review falls within their area of competence, or declining the invitation and suggesting alternatives.
  • Consistency Check:Verifying that the article cites all relevant work and that references are accurate

Composition of the Reviewers Committee

The review of the paper requires at least two independent expert referees. However, in case of controversial feedback, the third expert will be consulted if the initial reports diverge significantly. The number of reviewers is not well defined, as their pool may be large enough review papers from different fields. However, the permanent members are the following:

  • Editor-in-Chief: From outside, who appoints the reviewers with respect to their expertise and the paper’s field
  • Secretary: He/she is from EAUR and takes minute regarding number of publications, issue, areas of publication and all records related to publications.
  • Members: They are from both EAUR and outside and they have primary responsibilities of reviewing papers submitted and give their view point

Contract, terms and appointment

  • Appointment:Members are  appointed by the executive committee of EAUR in collaboration with the board of Governors, academic senate and Editor-in-chief based on their academic expertise, publication records and academic experience
  • Terms:Members will serve for a three years term renewable based on mutual consent between EAUR managing organs and editorial board member.
  • Compensation: Board membership is voluntary and unpaid.
  • Removal:Members can be removed for inactivity (e.g., failing to review manuscripts) or breaches of ethics.

Benefits: In return, members receive benefits such as free access to the journal, and recognition in the event of the university such as graduation and conference, but also free ticket for conference participation organized by EAUR.

Roles and Functions of Administrative, and production team

The administrative and production teams of a research journal are the backbone of the publication process, ensuring that scientific research is managed efficiently, peer-reviewed, and published in a high-quality, timely manner. While editorial teams focus on the scientific merit, the administrative and production teams manage the operational, legal, and technical aspects of publishing.  The team manage the “business “side of the journal, including correspondence, scheduling, and compliance. The roles and functions the administrative and production team are in two main categories namely administrative and production roles and functions:

  1. Administrative Team: Roles and Functions
  • Manuscript Management & Workflow:Acting as the primary contact point for authors, handling submissions, logging manuscripts in the system, and ensuring all required documents (conflict of interest, author’s agreement) are submitted.
  • Peer Review Support: While they do not review the science, they facilitate the process by assigning reviewers, tracking deadlines, and communicating decisions (accepted/rejected) to authors on behalf of the editor.
  • Database and Record Maintenance:They maintain accurate databases of reviewers, editors, and authors.
  • Correspondence & Support:They handle email inquiries from authors, reviewers, and readers, providing support and ensuring smooth communication.
  • Legal & Ethical Compliance:Ensuring that all published research adheres to ethical standards, such as IRB approvals for human/animal studies, and managing copyright transfers.
  • Meeting Coordination:Organizing editorial board meetings and taking minutes.
  1. Production roles and functions

The production team shall be entrusted with taking the accepted manuscript and preparing it for publication, transforming it into a formal, published article. In doing so, they perform the following functions:

  • Copy-editing & proofreading: Checking for grammatical accuracy, adherence to the journal’s house style, and formatting consistency
  • Typesetting & formatting: They convert the manuscript into the final publishing format (PDF)
  • Art & figure preparation: Ensuring that all figures, graphs, and images meet the required resolution, format and standards
  • Quality control & final review: Conducting final checks on proofs to ensure no errors were introduced during typesetting
  • Digital & print management: Managing the online publication ( metadata tagging, DOI assignment) and overseeing the physical printing process if the need be
  • Schedule management: They are responsible for meeting the strict publication deadline for each issue.

Composition of the administrative and production team

The team consists of a mixture of full-time, part-time, and freelance staff

The team usually consists of a mixture of full-time, part-time, and freelance staff, and the team is made up of the following seven members:

  • Managing editor (ME): He is from EAUR and keeps the journal workflow operating smoothly, coordinates between editors, authors, and production, and manages daily operations.
  • Production editor/Coordinator: He is from EAUR and manages the technical production process after a manuscript is accepted, including typesetting, proofreading, and online publications.
  • Administrative assistant/officers: He is from EAUR and handles daily operational tasks, manages schedules, and provides support.
  • Copyeditors and proofreaders: He is from outside and ensures the manuscripts meets the journal style guide and are free of errors
  • Typesetters/Layout designers: He is from the EAUR full-time or part-time staff, or from the freelance team, and he is responsible for formatting articles for electronic and print publication.
  • Subscription/ Marketing manager: He is from EAUR and handles subscriber database management, marketing for publications, applicants or access requests.
  • Financial Manager:He is from EAUR and manages the budget, invoicing, and payment of page charges or subscriptions

Contract, terms and appointment

  • Appointment:Members are  appointed by the executive committee of EAUR in collaboration with the board of Governors, academic senate and Editor-in-Chief based on their academic expertise, publication records and academic experience
  • Terms:Members will serve for a three-year term, renewable based on mutual consent between the EAUR managing organs and the editorial board member.
  • Compensation: Board membership is voluntary and unpaid.
  • Removal:Members can be removed for inactivity (e.g., failing to review manuscripts) or breaches of ethics.

NOTE

Benefits: In return, members receive benefits such as free access to the journal and recognition in the event of the university, such as graduation and conference, but also a free ticket for conference participation organized by EAUR.

A person can be a member of different teams or hold multiple roles, provided that conflicts of interest are managed properly.