Editorial Structure

Datokarama English Education Journal (deejournal)

1. Editor-in-Chief (EiC)

Academic and Ethical Head of the Journal

Main Responsibilities

• Editorial Leadership & Oversight
  • Defines the journal’s vision, mission, and scholarly direction.
  • Ensures consistency of scope, editorial policies, and adherence to COPE publication ethics.
  • Establishes or approves policies related to peer review, author guidelines, conflict of interest, and misconduct.
• Manuscript Decision Authority
  • Makes the final decision on manuscript acceptance or rejection based on Section Editor reports and peer reviewer recommendations.
  • Handles appeals, retraction requests, ethical disputes, and conflict-of-interest cases.
  • Reviews and approves final versions of high-profile or complex articles before publication.
• Editorial Team Management
  • Appoints and mentors Section Editors, Managing Editors, Reviewers, and members of the Editorial and Advisory Boards.
  • Provides guidance, training, and performance oversight for the editorial team.
• Strategic Development
  • Plans thematic issues, special editions, and calls for papers.
  • Leads journal indexing and accreditation strategy (e.g., DOAJ, SINTA, Scopus).
  • Monitors key metrics (acceptance rate, citation rate, impact factor).
  • Chairs editorial board meetings and internal evaluations.
• Visibility and Outreach
  • Represents the journal in academic communities and scholarly networks.
  • Cultivates partnerships for institutional collaboration, funding, and visibility.
  • Promotes the journal to attract high-quality submissions and reputable reviewers.

Importance

2. Managing Editor

Operations and Workflow Coordinator

Main Responsibilities

• Workflow Oversight
  • Coordinates the editorial lifecycle from submission to publication.
  • Monitors manuscript progress and ensures deadlines (e.g., peer review, revisions) are respected.
  • Implements and maintains editorial checklists and tracking systems.
• Technical and Preliminary Review
  • Performs initial checks for compliance with author guidelines, formatting, and plagiarism (via iThenticate).
  • Verifies metadata, figures, tables, and submission completeness.
  • May act as gatekeeper before forwarding manuscripts to EiC or Section Editors.
• Administrative and Communication Hub
  • Serves as liaison between authors, editors, reviewers, and production staff.
  • Sends reminders, status updates, decision letters, and communications via the online submission system.
• Production Coordination
  • Oversees copyediting, proofreading, and layout scheduling.
  • Ensures DOI registration, metadata accuracy, and assignment to issues.

Importance

• Operational Backbone: Ensures journal runs efficiently and professionally.
• Quality Control: Prevents non-compliant or plagiarized submissions from entering review.
• Scalable Role: Especially essential in journals where multiple technical and communication tasks are centralized.

3. Section Editor

Content Specialist and Review Process Supervisor

Main Responsibilities

• Manuscript Screening
  • Assesses scholarly merit, coherence, methodological soundness, and relevance to journal scope.
  • May return manuscripts to authors for clarification or technical revisions prior to review.
• Reviewer Coordination
  • Identifies and invites at least two qualified peer reviewers.
  • Ensures timely responses and completion of reviews; follows up when necessary.
• Review Management and Integrity
  • Evaluates reviewer comments for depth, professionalism, and constructive tone.
  • Requests replacement reviews or additional clarification when needed.
• Academic Recommendation
  • Synthesizes reviewer feedback and makes formal recommendations (Accept, Minor/Major Revision, Reject) to the EiC.
  • Drafts editorial letters and communicates with authors when needed.

Importance

• Academic Filter: Upholds scholarly quality of published content.
• Key Intermediary: Bridges communication between reviewers, authors, and the EiC.
• Peer Review Integrity: Maintains fairness and consistency in review outcomes.

4. Copyeditor

Language, Clarity, and Style Specialist

Main Responsibilities

• Language and Style Editing
  • Revises grammar, punctuation, clarity, and coherence while maintaining author intent.
  • Applies the journal’s citation and style guidelines (e.g., APA 7th edition).
• Academic Polishing
  • Enhances readability, precision, and terminological consistency.
  • Clarifies ambiguous phrasing or structure without altering meaning.
• Author Coordination
  • Sends edited manuscripts to authors for review and correction if necessary.
  • Finalizes clean copy before forwarding to layout and production.

Importance

• Publication Readiness: Ensures the manuscript meets academic and stylistic standards.
• Professional Presentation: Contributes to journal credibility and readability.

5. Production Editor / Layout Editor

Publication Design and Digital Release Expert

Main Responsibilities

• Typesetting and Layout
  • Converts final copy into publishable PDF and/or HTML compatible with OJS platform.
  • Inserts publication metadata (DOI, volume, issue, page numbers).
• Final Proofing and Author Review
  • Sends final proofs to authors for approval and minor corrections.
  • Ensures references, figures, and hyperlinks are functional and accurately formatted.
• Digital Publication and Archiving
  • Publishes articles on the journal website and assigns DOIs via Crossref or national repositories (e.g., GARUDA).
  • Verifies metadata indexing for long-term archiving and discoverability.

Importance

• Technical Finalization: Prepares scholarly content for digital preservation and visibility.
• Quality Assurance: Maintains typographic consistency, metadata integrity, and publishing compliance.