Editorial board

What an editorial board does

A journal’s editorial board is its governance body: the group responsible for setting editorial policy, upholding publication ethics and peer-review integrity, and making or ratifying final accept/reject decisions on submissions. This is distinct from performing routine external peer review of individual manuscripts, which is typically delegated to invited subject-matter reviewers selected per submission — sometimes drawn from the board, but not limited to it. In practice, an editorial board’s authority covers scope and aims, editorial policy changes (for example, adopting a new data-availability or authorship-dispute policy), oversight of the peer-review process itself, and handling of ethics cases such as suspected misconduct or authorship disputes, often guided by frameworks such as the peer-review process the board oversees rather than personally executes.

Typical composition

Editorial board structures vary by journal and publisher, but a common pattern is: an editor-in-chief (or co-editors-in-chief) with overall responsibility for the journal; one or more associate, section, or deputy editors, each typically responsible for a subject area, manuscript type, or stage of the workflow; and a wider roster of board members, often listed with institutional affiliations on the journal’s masthead. Some journals add a separate advisory board layer with a more consultative, less operational role. The exact titles and reporting lines differ across publishers, but the underlying division — a small operational leadership group plus a broader oversight roster — is common across most reputable journals.

How editorial boards relate to peer review

The editorial board sets and oversees the peer-review process — for example, deciding how many reviewers a submission requires, how conflicts of interest are managed, and how disputes between reviewers are resolved — but individual manuscripts are usually assigned to invited external reviewers rather than reviewed directly by the full board. An editor (often an associate editor or the editor-in-chief) typically makes the final decision after weighing reviewer reports, but that decision-making authority is a board governance function, separate from the reviewers’ evaluative role. This distinction matters for anyone crediting contributions to a published work: reviewing a single manuscript does not by itself make someone an editorial board member, and serving on a board does not by itself count as having reviewed a given paper — see editorial contribution for how editorial work is recognized and credited.

Editorial board composition as a quality signal

Because a functioning editorial board is core evidence of real editorial oversight, indexing and vetting bodies use board composition as a quality check. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), for instance, sets a minimum of five qualified editorial board members as part of its inclusion criteria for journal applications, and expects that board to be identifiable — named individuals with verifiable affiliations, not just a list of names with no evidence of active governance activity. The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), founded in 1997 by a group of UK medical journal editors, publishes editor-facing guidance that similarly frames editors and editorial boards as responsible for editorial policy and integrity oversight, including handling suspected research or publication misconduct. A journal with no identifiable editorial board, or with a board that cannot be verified, is treated as a red flag by directories, librarians, and researchers assessing journal legitimacy — it is one of several signals used to distinguish reputable journals from predatory or low-quality ones.

Related concepts

• Editorial contribution — how editorial work is recognized and credited, as distinct from board membership itself.
• Geographic editorial diversity — a representation lens on who sits on editorial boards.
• AI in editorial decisions — how automated tools intersect with editorial board decision-making.
• Academic journal — the publication an editorial board governs.
• DOAJ — the directory whose inclusion criteria reference editorial board composition.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an editorial board the same as a journal’s paid editorial staff?

No. An editorial board is a standing panel of subject experts who advise the journal on scope and standards and often handle peer-review oversight, distinct from the journal’s paid staff. Board members are typically unpaid volunteers drawn from academia for their subject expertise rather than journal employees.

Do editorial board members personally review every submitted manuscript?

No. The board sets and oversees the peer-review process — deciding reviewer requirements, managing conflicts of interest, and resolving disputes — but individual manuscripts are typically assigned to invited external reviewers rather than reviewed by the full board. Reviewing a single manuscript doesn’t by itself make someone a board member, and board membership doesn’t by itself mean having reviewed a given paper.

What’s the difference between an editorial board and an editorial advisory board?

An editorial board typically holds operational authority: setting editorial policy, overseeing peer review, and making or ratifying accept/reject decisions. Some journals add a separate advisory board layer that plays a more consultative role without that operational authority.

How many editorial board members does a journal need to be considered legitimate?

There’s no single universal number, but board size and verifiability are used as a legitimacy signal. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), for example, requires at least five qualified editorial board members with verifiable affiliations as part of its inclusion criteria, and a journal with no identifiable or verifiable board is treated as a red flag by directories, librarians, and researchers assessing journal quality.

Who is typically at the top of an editorial board’s structure?

Most editorial boards are led by an editor-in-chief (or co-editors-in-chief) with overall responsibility for the journal, supported by associate, section, or deputy editors who each typically own a subject area, manuscript type, or workflow stage, plus a wider roster of board members listed on the journal’s masthead.