Organizational roles and responsibilities
22 Feb 2024: The Unjournal is scaling up, and looking to build our team. Please consider the roles below and express your interest here or contact us at contact@unjournal.org.
Management committee members
Activities of those on the management committee may involve a combination of the following (although you can choose your focus):
Contributing to the decision-making process regarding research focus, reviewer assignment, and prize distribution.
Collaborating with other committee members on the establishment of rules and guidelines, such as determining the metrics for research evaluation and defining the mode of assessment publication.
Helping plan The Unjournal’s future path.
Helping monitor and prioritize research for The Unjournal to evaluate (i.e., acting as a field specialist; see further discussion below). Acting as an evaluation manager for research in your area.
Time commitment: A minimum of 15–20 hours per year.
Compensation: We have funding for a $57.50 per hour honorarium for the first 20 hours, with possible compensation . Evaluation management work will be further compensated (at roughly $300–$450 per paper).
Who we are looking for: All applicants are welcome. We are especially interested in those involved in global priorities research (and related fields), policy research and practice, open science and meta-science, bibliometrics and scholarly publishing, and any other academic research. We want individuals with a solid interest in The Unjournal project and its goals, and the ability to meet the minimal time commitment. Applying is extremely quick, and those not chosen will be considered for other roles and work going forward.
Advisory board (AB) members
Beyond direct roles within The Unjournal, we're building a larger, more passive advisory board to be part of our network, to offer occasional feedback and guidance, and to act as an evaluation manager when needed (see our evaluation workflow).
There is essentially no minimum time commitment for advisory board members—only opportunities to engage. We sketch some of the expectations in the fold below.
Field specialists (FS)
FSs will focus on a particular area of research, policy, or impactful outcome. They will keep track of new or under-considered research with potential for impact and explain and assess the extent to which The Unjournal can add value by commissioning its evaluation. They will "curate" this research and may also serve as evaluation managers for this work.
Some advisory board members will also be FSs, although some may not (e.g., because they don't have a relevant research focus).
Time commitment: There is no specific time obligation—only opportunities to engage. We may also consult you occasionally on your areas of expertise. Perhaps 1–4 hours a month is a reasonable starting expectation for people already involved in doing or using research, plus potential additional paid assignments.
Our Incentives and norms document also provide some guidance on the nature of work and the time involved.
Compensation: We have put together a preliminary/trial compensation formula (incentives and norms); we aim to fairly compensate people for time spent on work done to support The Unjournal, and to provide incentives for suggesting and helping to prioritize research for evaluation. In addition, evaluation management work will be compensated at roughly $300–$450 per project.
Who we are looking for: For the FS roles, we are seeking active researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders with a strong publication record and/or involvement in the research and/or research-linked policy and prioritization processes. For the AB, also people with connections to academic, governmental, or relevant non-profit institutions, and/or involvement in open science, publication, and research evaluation processes. People who can offer relevant advice, experience, guidance, or help communicate our goals, processes, and progress.
Interested? Please fill out this form (about 3–5 min, using the same form for all roles).
See: Unjournal Field Specialists: Incentives and norms (trial)
Contact us
We invite you to fill in this form (the same as that linked above) to leave your contact information and outline which parts of the project interest you.
Note: These descriptions are under continual refinement; see our policies for more details.
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