Editor Succession Planning

Overview

The editor-in-chief has run the journal for fifteen years. She knows which reviewers reply, where the passwords are, why volume 12 has two issue 3s, and what was promised to the society. None of it is written down. When she goes, the journal will either stop or be rebuilt from scratch by someone who does not know what they do not know.

Editor Succession Planning makes the journal survivable. We document how the journal actually operates, design a deputy and associate editor structure that shares the work before the transition rather than after, define how the next editor is found and appointed, and set out a handover process with a timeline. The result is a journal that can change editor without losing a year.

It is for journals with a long-serving editor, journals owned by a society or institution that has just realized its exposure, and new editors who have inherited a journal and want to make sure the next handover goes better than theirs.

What’s Included

• Operations manual — the journal’s real workflow from submission to publication, recurring tasks and their timing, systems and credentials (held securely), key relationships, commitments and known problems, written from interviews with the current editor and staff.
• Succession framework — editor role description, term length and renewal, the search and appointment process, who decides, and the criteria, agreed with the journal’s owner.
• Deputy structure — a proposed structure of deputy, associate or section editors with defined responsibilities, so the editor’s load is shared and a successor can be developed from within.
• Handover plan — a timeline for overlap between outgoing and incoming editor, what is transferred when, and how in-progress manuscripts and commitments are handled.
• Continuity safeguards — ownership of domain, platform, identifiers and accounts verified as belonging to the journal or institution rather than to an individual.
• Annual refresh — optional: we update the manual and framework once a year so it stays true.

How It Works

1. We interview the editor, editorial staff and the journal’s owner, and inspect the systems and records.
2. We write the operations manual and confirm it line by line with the editor.
3. We draft the succession framework and deputy structure and agree them with the owner and board.
4. We deliver the handover plan and the continuity checklist, usually within six to eight weeks.
5. If a transition is imminent, we can support the search and the handover period as a separate engagement.

Priced per journal, with the annual refresh as a small recurring fee.

What Stays With Your Editors

Succession planning is about continuity of the editorial function, not control of it. The current editor keeps full authority over reviewer selection, editorial assessment and acceptance throughout, and the incoming editor inherits that authority intact. The appointment of the next editor is made by the journal’s owner and board under the framework they approve. NeucitePress documents, designs and runs the process.

Important Limitations

• The manual is only as complete as the interviews allow. We are thorough, but a long-serving editor will remember things after we finish, which is why the annual refresh exists.
• We can design and support the search for a successor, but we cannot guarantee a candidate accepts, and the appointment is the owner’s decision.
• Where the journal’s continuity supports an indexing status, inclusion is decided solely by each database. NeucitePress prepares, remediates and submits but cannot sell inclusion.
• A well-planned transition protects the journal; it does not by itself bring citations or ranking.

Common Questions

Our editor is not planning to leave. Is this premature?
No. The best time to document a journal is while the person who understands it is still available and unhurried. The deputy structure also reduces her load now.

What if the editor is reluctant?
That is common, and usually it is about workload rather than resistance. The manual is written from her account and confirmed by her; nothing is imposed. Most editors find the process reassuring.

Can you find the next editor?
Yes, using the same approach as the International Editorial Board Search, scoped for a single senior appointment.

Request a proposal, or begin with the Journal Health Check.