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The Oral History Review (OHR) is the scholarly journal of the Oral History Association, a publication that serves as the journal of record for the field of oral history in the US with an increasingly significant international presence and reputation. Because the Oral History Review is published biannually, the volume of editorial work varies throughout the publication cycle. The copyeditor’s role is an ongoing commitment that requires sustained engagement with the journal throughout the year.
The copyeditor of the OHR is responsible for ensuring that all of the content of the journal meets the highest editorial standards in matters of technical style (punctuation, capitalization, references and quotations, formatting, etc.), spelling and grammar, clarity, and readability. These standards must be upheld consistently, which requires thorough knowledge of the journal’s designated style guides and references: the Chicago Manual of Style (latest edition), the
Merriam-Webster Collegiate and Unabridged dictionaries, and the internal OHR style guide; standard word-processing and data management software; and the tools of scholarly research. The copyeditor reads and corrects all works published in the journal to ensure that authors’ and reviewers’ intentions are conveyed clearly through appropriate word and format choices and that citations and other references are correct. The copyeditor corresponds directly with authors with clarity and tact to affect necessary corrections and works within stringent deadlines, carefully managing document workflow and version control. The copyeditor works actively with other members of the editorial team to shepherd all content through the editing process, to establish—and revise as necessary—editorial policy, to update the OHR internal style guide, and to coordinate editorial processes with the publisher.
Duties of the Copyeditor:
- Edit all articles, reviews, editors’ introductions, and other content to be published in the journal, adhering to established style guides.
- Attend monthly staff meetings.
- Act as the liaison with the publisher’s production staff as necessary.
- Attend the OHA annual meeting in the fall (October/November); participate in OHR-related sessions and outreach as necessary.
- Resolve complex or contested style matters in conjunction with the editors, authors, and the publisher as necessary and appropriate.
- Use the publisher’s manuscript management platforms (currently, ScholarOne and the Central Article Tracking System [CATS]) to move article submissions through the production phase; collaborates with other members of the team as necessary to ensure articles move through the process promptly.
- Support a collaborative, respectful, and professionally effective editorial culture.
- Stay informed on current trends and challenges in copyediting and in academic journal publishing at large.
Qualifications & Skills:
- Excellent editorial skills, with meticulous attention to clarity, accuracy, consistency, and detail
- Familiarity with writing for academic or peer-reviewed publications
- Experience editing work by authors whose first language is not English
- Knowledge of and demonstrated passion for the field of oral history
- Outstanding interpersonal and organizational skills, with the ability to manage deadlines and constituencies of a scholarly journal
- Ability to build productive working relationships with editors, authors, reviewers, the publisher, and members of the broader oral history community