An update on pyOpenSci’s review process

Hey there! I just wanted to update everyone about where pyOpenSci is with its peer review process. We are currently hard at work updating our peer review guides to streamline the peer review process. For the next 2 months (October & November 2022) we will prioritize setting up an editorial board to support new reviews as they come in.

With that below you will find a few updates.

A Warm welcome to our first Editor in Chief, David Nicholson!

David Nicholson, who has been working with pyOpenSci for the past few years as an editor will take on the Editor in Chief role! You can learn more about that role here in our peer review guide. This position will rotate once we have our editorial board setup.

As Editor in Chief, David will:

  • Be the first person to reach out to anyone submitting a new review or a pre-submission.
  • Perform initial software checks to ensure your package is ready for
  • Facilitate kicking off the peer review process by finding an editor for your package

David has a background in behavioral / neuro / cognitive science and is a machine learning guru. Of course, he’s a Pythonista through and through. We are lucky to have David as a part of our pyOpenSci team.

Stay tuned for a blog post from David introducing himself.

We are creating an editorial board!

To support our open peer review, we want to bring on a few people (like yourself?!) to serve as guest editors / editors. Here’s how this works:

If you are new to our organization, we start you as a guest editor. What this means is that you will review one package and we will support you in that process to ensure you learn the ropes. Then if you are happy and work well with our editorial team we will bring you on officially as an editor.

Editors at pyOpenSci make a minimum of a 1-year commitment with a possibility of longer given mutual consent. You will be responsible for handling 3-4 package reviews during that year. We may also bring on guest editors in other instances, e.g., because of their familiarity with a specific domain.

You can read more about the roles and responsibilities of an editor here.

We currently have a package in the queue that is spatial / remote sensing related that we’d love to have an editor onboard to review. But we are in need of editors from other domain backgrounds too.

What background do I need to be an editor for pyOpenSci?

We welcome applications from potential editors with significant experience in one or more of the following areas:

  • open source software,
  • open science
  • software engineering
  • peer-review

Members of the pyOpenSci editorial team have diverse backgrounds. We welcome editors from academia, government, and industry. We especially welcome applications from prospective editors who will contribute to the diversity (ethnic, gender, disciplinary, and geographical) of our board. We also value having a range of junior and senior editors.

How do I apply?

To sign up to be considered as an editor for pyOpenSci, please fill out the form below:

Click here to apply to be an editor

Questions?

If you have any questions, please reach out to me at leah at pyopensci.org or on twitter at @LeahAWasser.

Categories: blog-post , highlight , peer-review , updates

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