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

[Good, Jeff]

Dear Volker (and others),

My apologies if the announcement of a search for a new LT Editor seemed autocratic and cryptic. Let me provide some additional background so that the situation is clearer for everyone:

1. The Association did elect a new Editor for Linguistic Typology some time ago. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, the person elected is not able to take up the position.

2. There has been a fair amount of work behind the scenes to keep the journal running in the interim. ALT was very fortunate that Frans Plank was willing to extend his service until the matter could be resolved.

3. Early this year, after consulting with the publisher and various other parties, a consensus emerged that the best way forward was to conduct a new search for an Editor. It took a while for all the pieces to come together for this, which is why the announcement was only sent out yesterday.

In terms of Search Committee composition, the names were omitted simply because I wrote the call too hastily and did not take the time to list them out. My apologies for that. The Search Committee consists of: Claire Bowern (chair), Nick Enfield, Pattie Epps, Guillaume Jacques, Masha Koptevskaya-Tamm, and Johan van der Auwera. 

Claire and Nick are current standing members of the Nominating Committee, which is tasked with proposing slates of officers for election for ALT. The ALT Statutes do not contain an explicit procedure for the formation of an Editorial Search Committee, and the 2015 search was the first since the journal's inception. We adapted the procedure from the last search (in 2015) for the current search. I was the one who invited members to serve, in consultation with Claire and Kristine Hildebrandt (ALT Secretary). So, if you have any concerns about its composition, please direct them to me.

In terms of a long-term vision for the journal, this is clearly an important topic but also a complicated one. It will necessarily be partly shaped by a new Editor, but the membership also has a role in voicing its views on the matter. Martin has laid out one possibility, and I would personally be interested in hearing other people’s thoughts on the matter, both in the context of Linguistic Typology and with respect to any other publishing possibilities that could be supported by ALT that people think would be worth pursuing. These views can also be communicated through this mailing list, to the committee (through lt.editor2 at gmail.com), or personally to any of the search committee members. 

I hope that this message at least partly addresses your concerns and helps others have a better sense of the current situation. 

Best,
Jeff


> On Apr 26, 2017, at 12:00 PM, Volker Gast <volker.gast at UNI-JENA.DE> wrote:
> 
> 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
>> _______________________________________________
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>> 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
> 
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