Pluto Journals and the African Book Collective are looking for a Project Manager to manage the introduction of selected African social science Journals into the global ecosystem of Open Access publishing.  

Pluto Journals is a Diamond Open Access journal publisher in the social sciences. We publish 20 Journals with a global focus, especially concerned with the Global South. 

ABC is a Collective of African Book Publishers with over 30 years’ experience selling books published by over 150 African Publishers into global markets.

About the Job

A three year pilot programme to internationalise African scholarship in humanities and social sciences (HSS) by: 

• Raising the profile and discoverability of the selected journals 
• Increasing the usage and submissions 
• Mobilising financial support from academic libraries and consortia

Person Specification 

We are looking for someone with two complementary sets of skills

1.  Experience of working in journal publishing, ideally in HSS journals in an Open Access environment
2.  Experience of working in African or other non-western scholarly journal environment.

They need to have the authority to carry out the task, handling experienced Journal editors, and various senior members of JSTOR and Science Open. They also need to have technical knowledge to handle the complications of Open Access publishing. 

Ideally the appropriate candidate would be based in the UK or in Africa with good internet connections. The post requires developing good relationships with Journal Editors based in Africa. It is an exciting new role working with a small team who all work remotely. 

Responsibilities 

Working with the Editors of the selected Journals

• Supporting Editors to produce effective metadata, titles, key words, author’s affiliation etc.
• Ensuring that a double blind or similar Peer Review system is in place
• Reviewing the Editorial Boards of each journal
• Ensuring appropriate Author Guidelines are published
• Securing Signed Publishing Contracts 
• Working with Editors to develop newsletters and mailing lists to promote their journals
• Supporting Editors to use the ScienceOpen submission system

General responsibilities 

• Collecting the signed OA Author permissions for each article published.
• Ensuring the timely delivery of digital files to JSTOR and ScienceOpen.
• Ensuring that the files are presenting the format as expected on all platforms
• Liaising with JSTOR and or ScienceOpen to secure DOIs and delivery of files to aggregators. 
• Submitting applications for inclusion in relevant indexes, DOAJ, SCOPUS etc.
• Developing profiles of each of the journals for the Pluto Journals website and for  pitches for library pledges.

Reporting responsibilities 

• Establishing KPIs for the project and reporting on them to the Management Committee.
• Establishing baseline and leading the production of impact reports for the journals.

Wages

Pluto Journals will offer the successful applicant a wage of £30k – £40k pro rata, dependent on the experience.  The job itself is for one day a week for the 1st year, which can be taken on 2 hours a day 5 days a week, or for a single day, or something in-between. To be discussed at the interview.

Time

One day a week to be reviewed monthly for the first three months to ensure that the time allocated is sufficient. We envisage that job will increase year on year as support for African HSS Journals to join the global eco system of Diamond Open Access grows.

We are committed to equality, valuing diversity and inclusion. Applications are encouraged from under-represented groups in the UK publishing sector including those from Black, minority ethnic and African backgrounds.

Send your CV and a description of your relevant experience to Rogervz@plutojournals.com

The closing date for applications is 25/11/2024.

A PDF version of the full job description is available for download here.