[Lingtyp] Call for nominations and applications: Editor of Linguistic Typology

Wed Apr 26 16:00:18 UTC 2017

Dear Claire and Jeff,
I'm afraid my spontaneous reaction to your email was a bit harsh and 
less than fully explicit. As you know, there's an emotional component to 
the matter. I'm writing that not primarily as an ALT-member but as a 
friend and colleague of persons involved. I suspect that the relevant 
ALT-committees are not without responsibility for the current situation. 
I may well be wrong, of course; but if I'm wrong, that's due to a lack 
of information given to us members. I may have missed something, but it 
seems to me that up to the present day ALT-members have not been 
properly informed about what happened. We received two very brief (and 
somewhat cryptic) emails from Frans. I think it would be the president's 
job to properly inform everybody of a matter as important as that. After 
all, we elected an editor, and it looks like he no longer holds that 
office, "[d]ue to unforeseen circumstances", as Frans put it . Has he 
stepped down?

The search for a new LT-editor has been going on for at least one year 
and a half, probably much longer "behind the curtains", as Bernhard put 
it (unlike Bernhard and Susanne, I think that transparency is required 
even of honorary officers, though I'm just as grateful as anyone else 
that you're doing these jobs). The fact that no suitable candidate was 
found for a long time, and that the elected editor no longer seems to 
hold that office, may point to a shortage of experienced typologists 
with sufficient time resources (and the other skills needed for the 
job). You are right, of course, that the position is the most important 
one within ALT. I therefore think that it should be taken seriously.

The job description requires a "good" publication record, "relevant 
editorial experience" and "a history of prompt and efficient handling of 
email and other communcation". That sounds a bit desperate to my ears. I 
wonder if there are any requirements concerning matters of content. What 
kind of profile is the journal intended to have in the future? Will it 
focus on large-scale comparison, will it cover language documentation as 
well, perhaps historical research, which is increasingly merging with 
typological work? Will it have a quantitative/methodological focus? I 
think the right way to go about this would be to determine a profile for 
the journal and then find someone who fits that profile, rather than 
looking for a random, potentially self-appointed person with a "good" 
publication record and an excellent email writing "history". The last 
(current?) editor was primarily chosen because of his methodological 
expertise, if I remember correctly. The nomination was motivated by a 
certain change of perspective for the journal. Do we have a similar plan 
now?

Considering the importance of the position, I have to say that I am 
quite unhappy with the way the procedure of finding a new editor has 
been communicated to the membership. We learn that the president 
"appointed" an "Editorial Search Committee", and that Claire Bowern is 
the head of that committee. Who else is on it? Are the other members 
also "appointed" (perhaps by Claire Bowern)? What is the function of 
that committee? Will it select a suitable candidate? Will it propose a 
shortlist of candidates to the members? What selection criteria will be 
applied? Last time we had no choice, it was "take it or leave it". That 
puts the Editorial Search Committee, whoever that is, in a position to 
freely select an editor, as it is very unlikely that the members would 
not accept a "take it or leave it"-option. Note moreover that the 
Editorial Search Committtee "will also make nominations of their own", 
which sounds like bad practice. I am aware that you do not intend to 
fill that position with a candidate of your choice, and that we should 
be more than happy if we can find anybody more or less filling the gap 
that Frans will leave behind. Still, the procedure has an autocratic 
flavour that you could have easily avoided by, first, informing us 
members appropriately and, second, discussing the issue on a broader 
scale (and, of course, earlier; the problem didn't come up last week, 
after all).

There'd still be time to do that, but the last email from Claire sounds 
-- sorry -- just as autocratic as the first, so I have little hope here. 
Note that the deadline is not my primary concern; I'd primarily want to 
know what kind of journal LT is going to be before we appoint, or even 
propose, a new editor.

Best,
Volker

Am 25.04.2017 um 23:00 schrieb Good, Jeff:
> Dear all,
>
> ALT is currently soliciting nominations, including self-nominations, for the position of Editor of Linguistic Typology, beginning January 2018. The Editor is probably the most important officer in the ALT. They organize the work of the Editorial Board, oversee the work of the editorial assistant, make final decisions about acceptance or non-acceptance of papers, set journal policy (consulting with the ALT Executive Committee as necessary), and work closely with the publisher to maintain the high quality of the journal. Support for editorial work is generally made available through the journal publisher, de Gruyter Mouton.
>
> Candidates should be established scholars with good publication records, relevant editorial experience (such as service on one or more editorial boards), and/or other relevant organizational experience, and a history of prompt and efficient handling of email and other communications.
>
> Nominees and applicants can be individuals or pairs or teams of co-editors. The nomination or application should include a brief CV (about 2-3 pages), or link to a website if it provides the relevant information, and a brief cover letter mentioning the individual's qualifications (for both self-nominations and regular nominations).
>
> In view of the importance of the Editor position, the President has appointed a special Editor Search Committee led by the Chair of the Nominating Committee (Claire Bowern).
>
> The Search Committee will also make nominations of their own. In addition, all members of ALT are urged to think of qualified people and urge them to apply.
>
> Please send nominations, applications, and inquiries to the Editorial Search Committee at this email account: lt.editor2 at gmail.com. The deadline is May 10, 2017.
>
> Claire Bowern
> Chair, Editorial Search Committee and Nominating Committee
>
> Jeff Good
> President, ALT
> _______________________________________________
> Lingtyp mailing list
> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp

-- 
Prof. Volker Gast
English and American Studies
Ernst-Abbe-PLatz 8
D-07743 Jena

Fon: ++49 3641 9-44546
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