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Shaun Briley and
Chris Sturhann
A Month in the Life of an Elsevier Journal Manager
During 2005, while serving as a Library Connect marketing intern for Elsevier in San Diego, California, I spoke with Chris Sturhann. He serves as journal manager for five library and information science journals produced by Elsevier in San Diego. These journals are Government Information Quarterly; Library & Information Science Research; Library Collections, Acquisitions & Technical Services; Research Strategies; and The Journal of Academic Librarianship. Chris filled me in on what a journal manager's job is really like. Excerpts of our conversation follow.
Library Connect: Can you give us a quick overview of your duties?
Chris Sturhann: For the LIS journals, I do production, meaning the part of the process between when papers are accepted and when they are published. This entails overseeing everything from copyediting and typesetting of articles, to logging in author proof corrections and making sure they are incorporated properly. Once a set of articles is ready, I compile them into an issue, put together the cover material, and release the issue for publication online and in print.
Library Connect: Do you handle editorial aspects?
Sturhann: Though I handle the editorial process for some of my journals, I don’t do so for my LIS journals. All the LIS journals I work on have external editorial offices, meaning the editors are responsible for overseeing the peer-review portion of the process. Most of our LIS journals use the Elsevier Editorial System (EES), our online article submission system which can be managed directly by journal editors or by the editors in conjunction with Elsevier staff. EES allows journal editors to oversee the review of manuscripts from submission to acceptance. Upon acceptance, it feeds the material into our production system where I take over.
Library Connect: How does the Elsevier Editorial System work?
Sturhann: EES allows authors to submit their manuscripts online and allows editors to track manuscripts through the review process. Through EES, editors can assign reviewers and reviewers can submit comments on specific papers. The system converts each manuscript into a PDF, which can be more easily read by reviewers. EES even has functionality to handle processes like double-blind review, in which reviewers don't know the names and affiliations of authors of papers they are reviewing, and authors don't know the names of reviewers. Anyone interested in learning more about EES can visit the Elsevier corporate website [at www.elsevier.com/wps/find/onlinesubmission.editors/onlinesubmission].
Library Connect: Besides the EES, I've heard about Elsevier's Author Gateway. What does the Author Gateway do?
Sturhann: The Author Gateway provides access to the EES, and allows authors and editors to track articles from acceptance to publication. They can go in and look and say, "Oh, that article went up on ScienceDirect last Tuesday."
Library Connect: What is the difference between the EES and the Author Gateway?
Sturhann: They are different systems. EES takes articles from submission to acceptance. The Author Gateway tracks articles from acceptance to publication. In my job, I need to be knowledgeable about both systems.
Library Connect: What prepared you for your current job?
Sturhann: I was an English major, which does prepare you for dealing with printed matter. I started working on journals in the late 1980s. At that time, we were Academic Press, before we became part of Elsevier. I've had about a dozen job titles since I started here. When I started, I did pencil and paper publishing jobs: proofreader, copyeditor and developmental editor. I’ve worked on production for the last few years.
Library Connect: How do journal managers make a difference?
Sturhann: Publishing can be a complicated process. It involves copyediting, typesetters, XML files and a lot of other things authors and editors likely don't want to deal with. In most cases, the journal manager isn't the person who does all of those things, but keeps track of them. This way authors and editors can do what they do. Do the research. Write the articles. And more importantly, make sure it's something worth publishing.
Library Connect: What would you tell authors about publishing with Elsevier?
Sturhann: Sometimes authors and editors are unaware of a lot of what we can do for them. Say an author has supplementary material, such as audio or video files to publish with an article. The author comes to us, not sure how to proceed. And we say, sure, no problem. Online publishing means we’re not limited to just words and static images on a page. It can be whatever best helps authors illustrate points they are making. In addition, online publishing means articles don't have to wait for other articles in an issue. Articles can go up within a few weeks of getting author proofs back. Ultimately, that's what it's all about, getting the research out in the way that best conveys the information and doing so as quickly as possible. 
