Editor-in-chief

An editor-in-chief, also known as lead editor, chief editor, executive editor, or simply editor is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members and managing them. The term is often used at newspapers, magazines, yearbooks, and television news programs. The editor-in-chief is commonly the link between the publisher or proprietor and the editorial staff.

Responsibilities

Typical responsibilities of editors-in-chief include:

Ensuring that content is journalistically objective
Fact-checking, spelling, grammar, writing style, page design and photos
Rejecting writing that appears to be plagiarized, ghostwritten, published elsewhere, or of little interest to readers
Evaluating and editing content
Contributing editorial pieces
Motivating and developing editorial staff
Ensuring the final draft is complete
Handling reader complaints and taking responsibility for issues after publication
For books and journals, cross-checking citations and examining references
Working to advance the commercial success of the publication
Position may involve recruiting, hiring and firing staff
In academic journals

The term is also applied to academic journals, where the editor-in-chief gives the ultimate decision whether a submitted manuscript will be published. This decision is made by the editor-in-chief after seeking input from reviewers selected on the basis of relevant expertise. For larger journals, the decision is often upon the recommendation of one of several associate editors who each have responsibility for a fraction of the submitted manuscripts.

Editor-in-chief

Responsibilities

In academic journals