Roles in the publishing system

Understanding where you sit as a reviewer is easier once you understand the full chain of people a manuscript or book passes through before it reaches a reader. Each role checks something different, and no single role is expected to catch everything.

Screener

The screener carries out the first, primary check on a new submission. This is a gatekeeping role rather than a content review. The screener checks the manuscript against basic submission criteria: word count, accepted file types, whether the topic fits the journal or book series at all, and whether formatting follows the required style. A submission that fails at this stage is returned to the author before it reaches an editor, so that editorial time is spent only on submissions that meet the basic entry requirements.

Editor

The editor carries out a second, more substantial screening. Where the screener asks whether a submission is in the right shape, the editor asks whether it belongs in this journal or book at all. This includes checking suitability to the journal’s stated aims and direction, or to the themes of the book, an initial read of the content itself, whether African sources are adequately referenced, and the general standard of the language used. The editor’s decision at this stage determines whether a submission proceeds to peer review.

Reviewer

The reviewer assesses a submission that has already passed screening and editorial checks. The reviewer’s focus is different again: relevance to the discipline, and whether the methods, discussion and conclusions meet the standards expected in that field. This is why the peer reviewer code in Lesson 2 tells you not to spend your review on grammar or formatting. That work belongs to earlier and later stages of the process, not to the reviewer.

Copy editor

The copy editor works after a manuscript has been accepted, not before. Their focus is language, grammar, punctuation, spelling, consistency of style, and adherence to the journal or publisher’s house style. This is the stage where the concerns a reviewer is asked to set aside are properly addressed. The copy editor does not judge the quality of the argument or the research, that judgement has already been made by the editor and reviewers.

Other roles in the system

• Editorial assistant or journal administrator: supports the editor with correspondence, tracking submissions, and coordinating reviewer invitations and deadlines
• Typesetter or layout designer: prepares the copy edited manuscript for its final published format, print or digital
• Proofreader: checks the typeset version for errors introduced during layout, a final check after copy editing and typesetting are complete
• Editor in chief: holds overall responsibility for the journal or book series, its standards, its editorial board, and final decisions on contested or difficult submissions
• Publisher: holds responsibility for the journal or book series as an institution, including its strategic direction, resourcing and long term sustainability, and sits above the editorial structure

The publishing process for books and journals

Journal articles follow the six step process set out in Lesson 1: editorial check, editorial review, peer review, editorial decision, author revision, and copy editing. Books follow a similar shape but at greater length, typically beginning with a proposal, which is itself reviewed before a full manuscript is commissioned, then chapter or full manuscript peer review, editorial decision, author revision, copy editing and typesetting, with a longer overall timeline given the size of the work.

Editorial careers

Progression through these roles typically follows a recognised path. It begins with reviewing, since consistent, reliable review work is how an editor comes to trust your judgement. From there, a reviewer may be invited to become an assistant editor, supporting an editor with specific tasks. Further experience can lead to associate editor, then editor, with responsibility for a full section or the whole journal or book series. From editor, the path continues to editor in chief, and beyond that to publisher, the most senior role in the system.