2021-02-22 OMA Agenda - Board of Trustees (002)

In order to attract an experienced and high quality editor, the OMA will need to invest in the editorial side, particularly compensation for the editor and possibly a part-time editorial manager (admin position). I am still in the process of researching editor compensation for comparable start up journals. However, it would be helpful to understand from the Board of Trustees what level of annual investment the OMA may be willing to make to compensate the editor and other editorial expenses such as part-time admin support in the first 5-years of the journal. As the OMA investment portfolio has grown significantly and is currently at approximately $6.1M. Income from the portion of the portfolio that generates annual interest and dividends could be a source of revenue for this strategic initiative. The larger portion of the portfolio invested in stocks and alternatives would continue to grow the overall investments for OMA. Critical to JOMA’s success is appointing a strong editor with gravitas. Additionally, while the article volume may be low in the first couple of years, there is much effort required by the editor to build a strong editorial board, quality and responsive reviewers, content standards, and strategy for the journal. In addition to a Board decision on threshold for financial investment in the editorial side of the journal, I’m asking the Board to make a decision on a process for appointing an editor. In an established journal, we would normally put out a Request for Applications for the editor position and conduct a competitive interview process to select an editor. Since this is a new journal launch, it may be helpful to appoint an editor as soon as possible to help with the development side of the journal, especially since a strong candidate who is a board member has expressed interest. If the Board is interested in moving forward without a competitive search process, the appointment could be made contingent upon reaching a negotiated agreement within an established timeframe provided by the Board. In summary, there are 4 action items related to an OMA journal for board discussion and potential decision at the February 22 meeting.

1. Support or not for the major components of the Elsevier publishing proposal 2. Support in general of the draft Scope and Aims or redirect for major revision 3. Threshold for financial investment in editorial support 4. Process for editor selection