Working Rules and Procedures

WORKING RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE ULTRASOUND JOURNAL

Editor in Chief (EiC) 

The Editor-in-Chief (EiC) supervises all Journal activities with the goal of ensuring success within the scientific community.

The EiC is responsible for the scientific quality and development of the Journal. The EiC is expected to maintain effective communication and collaboration between the Editorial Board and the Editorial Office.

The initial term of the EiC is for 5 years.  In the fifth year of this term the WINFOCUS Executive Committee will undertake a standard review of the EiC’s record, and a determination whether to invite him/her to another term.  The second term will be for another five years.  Under normal circumstances, an EiC will be limited to a total of 10 years of service.  If for exceptional reasons.an EiC serves beyond this time, subsequent terms will also be for five years, unless otherwise specified. 

The EiC’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Decisions about the Journal's scope;
  • Maintaining an energetic and smoothly functioning Editorial Board consisting of distinguished scientists and academic leaders;
  • Providing support and guidance to Deputy Editors, Editorial Board Members, and Editorial Staff where required;
  • Annual performance review and feedback sessions (to include absolute and relative-to-peer-group performance metrics) with all members of the Editorial Board (as listed below) and feedback to all reviewers;
  • Oversight of the editorial process for individual manuscripts (mainly by making the final decision regarding whether or not a paper can be published after peer-review and revisions);
  • Suggesting topics for Special Issues;
  • Chairing the monthly Deputy and Associate Editor Meeting.
  • Chairing the annual Editorial Board Meeting. 
  • Quarterly meetings with the WINFOCUS Executive committee to exchange news about the Journal’s progress;
  • Acting as ambassador and spokesperson for the Journal;

The EIC leads by example and sets a tone appropriate to achieve TUJ aims, scope, mission, and goals. S/he determines priorities for selecting papers (criteria for evaluation, topics of special interest, etc.), and, with the Deputy Editors, oversees the entire Editorial Board and Panel of Reviewers to maintain an appropriate balance of skills, experience, knowledge, and diversity. 

Working with the Deputy and Associate editors, the EIC performs preliminary evaluations of new submissions to identify papers appropriate for full peer review and ensure rigorous and fair handling of papers selected for peer review. This group will make editorial decisions on revisions and acceptances, and oversee the handling of author queries, appeals, and post-publication concerns in coordination with TUJ Publishing staff.  The EiC will have a final say in the acceptance or rejection of all submitted papers. 

The EiC acts as an ambassador for WINFOCUS and is the official representative of TUJ in dealings with relevant professional organizations, business organizations, institutions, and other societies.  S/he shall continually solicit high-quality publications for TUJ and has ultimate responsibility for maintaining editorial ethical standards in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics in all matters, especially regarding Conflict of Interest (COI).

The EiC’s appointment will be reviewed by the WINFOCUS executive committee every five years.  Except in exceptional circumstances, the EiC shall not serve more than two 5-year terms. 

 

Deputy Editors (DEs)

DEs are integral members of the editorial leadership team and help maintain the reputation and standing of the Journal. They work closely with the EiC to determine whether a manuscript is within the journal’s scope, meets journal standards, and is suitable for peer review.  DEs assign selected manuscripts to AEs for handling and occasionally themselves act as AEs for selected manuscripts. They also work with the AEs in recommending decisions to the EIC on manuscripts after peer review. 

DEs are selected for advanced and broad expertise in their field, broad knowledge of health sciences, and access to a wide network of scientists. They are leading researchers who are recognized as authorities in their disciplines and serve as ambassadors to their respective scientific communities. They work to encourage authors to submit high-quality work on topics of interest, and in turn ensure that TUJ publishes the most impactful and influential investigations in the field of ultrasound and sonology.

Given the collaborative, inclusive, and equitable principles embodied in WINFOCUS’s Mission and Vision, in the normal course of events, the Deputy Editors shall function as peers of the Editor-in-Chief in the service of the scientific community, although the EiC always has final and absolute decision-making authority. 

DEs will routinely be appointed for 5-year terms, but they always serve at the invitation of the EiC and WINFOCUS, They may be asked to relinquish their position in less than 5 years if they are unable to perform their appropriate share of the Journal’s editorial workload in a timely and professional manner.  They identify Associate Editors and qualified reviewers for manuscripts that have been assigned to them and ensure the peer-review process is rigorous, fair, timely, and complete. They may act as peer reviewers for manuscripts. They submit recommendations to the EiC about decisions on manuscripts after peer review. 

The DEs will receive annual feedback from the EiC in which they will be provided with their editing statistics, with median and highest-performance comparison metrics of their peers.  They will be asked to provide personal feedback to the EiC as well as anonymized evaluations of their AEs and the EiC. DEs will receive their 5-year reviews on a rotating schedule so that approximately 1/5 of them receive their feedback each year.  Reappointment of a DE at the end of a 5-year term will be at the discretion of the EiC.  In the event of a change in the EiC, all DEs will be subject to reappointment by the incoming EiC.

 

Associate Editors

AEs help maintain the integrity and quality of the research published. They work closely with the DEs to determine whether manuscripts meet TUJ Publishing standards and significantly advance the state of the science.  They identify qualified reviewers for selected manuscripts and ensure the peer-review process is rigorous, fair, timely, and complete. They may act as peer reviewers for manuscripts. They submit recommendations to DEs to inform decisions on manuscripts after peer review. 

Like DEs, AEs are selected for their expertise in their field, broad knowledge of the environmental health science landscape, and access to a diverse network of scientists whom they can invite as peer reviewers. They act as ambassadors for TUJ and encourage manuscript submissions on topics of interest. 

AEs will serve 5-year terms, but they always serve at the invitation of the EiC and WINFOCUS, They may be asked to relinquish their position in less than 5 years if they are unable to perform their appropriate share of the Journal’s editorial workload in a timely and professional manner. They will receive annual feedback from the EiC in which they will be provided with their editing statistics, with median and highest-performance comparison metrics of their peers.  They will be asked to provide personal feedback to the EiC as well as anonymized evaluations of their DEs and the EiC.  AEs will receive their 5-year reviews on a rotating schedule so that approximately 1/5 of them receive their feedback each year.  Reappointment of an AE at the end of a 5-year term will be at the discretion of the EiC.  In the event of a change in the EiC, all AEs will be subject to reappointment by the incoming EiC.

 

Senior Associate Editors (SAEs)

SAEs are AEs who act as mentors to Junior Associate Editors. 

 

Junior Associate Editors (JAEs)

JAEs act as AEs to develop and maintain editorial calendars and publication schedules. They will usually be restricted to managing one project at a time. They are supervised by Senior AEs. They may participate on request in editorial meetings to suggest content planning and strategy. Deputy Editors and the EiC may serve as supervisors of Junior Associate Editors.

 

International Editorial Review Panel (IERP)

The Editorial Review Panel provides our Associate Editors with a pool of highly qualified reviewers to assess new manuscripts. Composed of both senior- and junior-level investigators, the IERP members are distinguished as experts, leaders, and pioneers in some facet of Ultrasound.  Their backgrounds may be in clinical practice, basic science, physics, or in the design, engineering, manufacture, and marketing of ultrasound equipment. 

 

The Associate Editor for each submission selects reviewers who are most familiar with the subject matter, methods, or other key aspects of the paper. They also consider a reviewer’s proven ability to conduct thorough, timely assessments and provide constructive feedback. 

Our Editorial Review Panel is a key asset for ensuring that TUJ publish high-quality, high-impact articles. Not everyone who reviews for us serves on the Editorial Review Panel, but people who perform more than 2 reviews will be given the opportunity to be listed on TUJ website as members of the IERP.  We are grateful to all our reviewers for their invaluable contributions.