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Norms for journal advisory board members

In our new "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

I would like to understand the role of an advisory board member for a journal.

I was invited to join the advisory board of a lesser-known journal, and they clarified that my involvement would require no responsibilities. This seems unusual to me.

I expect that advisory board members should provide guidance to the editors or help ensure that the journal maintains its integrity and fairness through their reputation. Could someone clarify this for me?

I don't know much about the inner workings of journals, but this seems weird to me too.

Do any readers have any helpful insights?

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5 responses to “Norms for journal advisory board members”

  1. Andrew

    How lesser-known is the journal? If you were invited by email, by someone you don’t know, or if it’s a journal you hadn’t heard of before, it’s a common scam and you’ll be asked to pay a processing fee at some point. Board invitations are a bit less common, but not much, than the random emails asking you to submit your article to the “Journal of Clinical and Basic Psychosomatics” or the “Japan Journal of Research” (just pulling two titles from invitations in my junk folder).
    If do you know the journal or the person inviting you, then I don’t know what to say. I agree with both of you that it’s odd that there would be no associated responsibilities.

    Reply
  2. scamy scam scam

    I think some scam and scam-adjacent journals invite people to join their board to increase the appearance that their journal is legitimate. For the same reason, these types of journals often waive publication costs for some (possibly better known) scholars to show that “real” scholars do actually publish at those journals.

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  3. hare

    Without further context, I’d assume this is a scam. A predatory journal may want to list the name of known scholars on their website in order to appear legitimate. I guess it’s nice that they asked first. I’ve seen a case where someone’s name used for a predatory journal’s emails without the person’s permission.

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  4. On the editorial boards of three journals

    Often the only responsibility is to review papers for the journal when asked to do so. Editorial boards are pool of reliable reviewers with no official responsibilities. Unofficially the editors can expect you to promote the journal in various ways, such as submit your work there, or encourage promising junior scholars to do so.
    Of course, if you do not know the journal do not accept the invitation for the reasons mentioned above by Andrew.

    Reply
  5. beware

    Check who the publisher is: MDPI is a predatory … and widely thought of as one. There are others as well. OMICS is as well.

    Reply

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