Guest article from Rebekah Russell-Bennett and Steve Baron
Update: Thanks to Emerald we can offer you the top 10 most read articles for free here
Since we took over as Co-Editors of the Journal of Services Marketing (JSM) in August 2014, things are on the move. It is an exciting challenge for us as the service(s) research community is thriving, and service journals need to portray the quality research and insights relevant to a modern world. Many of you will be familiar with JSM, and possibly have published in it and we know there is a lot of affection out there for this journal.
In this article, we will update you with our new editorial structure and offer ways in which you can contribute to its continuing success. A major change has been the appointment of seventeen Associate Editors (AEs), from across the world, and with specialist expertise in the range of service(s) marketing sub-disciplines. The AEs have the responsibility of choosing reviewers for their allocated manuscripts, and of making recommendations to the Co-Editors based on the comments from the reviewers. Additionally, thirteen scholars have been added to the Editorial Advisory Board (EAB). These changes have been made to cope with the rapid increase in submissions to the journal (430 manuscripts in 2014, and already over 80 manuscripts by early February 2015) to ensure quality is maintained and enhanced, and that published manuscripts are interesting and stimulating (see http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/editorial_team.htm?id=jsm).
As part of the growth of the journal, we are seeking to increase the membership of the EAB. The requirements of being an EAB member are: at least 12 months prior experience as an ad hoc reviewer on JSM, accept to review 6-8 journal articles per year, and provide reviews that are both constructive and timely. If you are interested in being an EAB member, and feel that you have the necessary experience of publishing and reviewing service(s) research, please get in touch with us. If you are an early career researcher, wishing to obtain experience of reviewing, please let us know. All our manuscripts are sent to three reviewers, and we are keen to bring on board early career researchers as the third reviewer of a manuscript.
For scholars wishing to submit papers to JSM, the editorial criteria are spelt out at http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/journals.htm?id=jsm#news.
Keep a look-out for future issues. We will be publishing editorials setting out the JSM stance on research contribution, managerial implications, and research ethics (see Vol. 29, Issue 1 for our first editorial) . Due to the high number of quality submissions to our special issue on the topic “Fresh Thinking in Services Marketing: Contemporary, cutting-edge and creative thoughts”, we will be publishing a double issue in Vol. 29, Issues 6 and 7. This should be essential reading for all service(s) marketing researchers.
Finally, please don’t hesitate to make constructive suggestions to the Co-Editors on how to take JSM forward, by email, or face-to-face. At least one of the Co-Editors will attend the major conferences – Frontiers in Service, QUIS, AMA SERVSIG, ANZMAC and Academy of Marketing.
Co-editors of Journal of Services Marketing (JSM)
Rebekah Russell-Bennett
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Steve Baron
University of Liverpool, UK
