The Changing Times Journal

All members of our editorial board must have a background in research with relevant qualifications, and demonstrated experience taking grassroots action or promoting social change, or relevant lived experience. Members of the editorial board span across disciplines, but share a passion for creating knowledge in a collaborative spirit, and openly sharing innovative research for real-world impact. These commitments guide us in defining our editorial policy and processes, which aim to be fair and constructive to authors, effective and efficient.

The Editorial Board is not financially incentivised to accept articles— this ensures an independence between the publisher’s (Humanitarian Changemakers Network) responsibility to grow and promote the journal and the responsibility of the editors to shape the direction of research.

Editorial roles:

All submissions pass through a three-stage review process, to ensure it meets the journal’s standards for real-world impact and storytelling potential, whilst ensuring the research rigour and merit of a traditional peer-review process is maintained. 

Associate Editors

Associate Editors are high-impact researchers with a recognised affiliation, and recognised leaders in their field. Associate Editors make an initial assessment to ensure a submitted manuscript fits within the scope of the journal and is academically robust. They invite suitable Specialty/Field Editors and Review Editors to engage with authors during the collaborative review process. Based on the recommendations these reviewers provide, and ensuring all quality, validity and ethical standards have been met, Associate Editors make the final decision on acceptance and work alongside the author to explore options and create transmedia content to disseminate and communicate the research to the wider community.

Specialty Editors

Specialty Editors are active experts in their field, with a proven track record of research experience. Their role is to determine whether manuscripts (submitted by community members or non-academic researchers) will provide useful insights that are relevant to researchers or the broader academic community.

Field Editors

Field Editors have an established career with a broad understanding of their whole field and an extensive network of fellow experts or people with lived experience. Their role is to determine whether manuscripts (submitted by researchers) have the potential for real-world impact.

Review Editors

Review Editors should hold a PhD and have post-doctoral experience, or an equivalent degree with several additional years of academic work, or the equivalent number of years to a recognised qualification in the relevant field of research. Review Editors should also have a recognised affiliation and a proven publication record in the specialty area. Review Editors receive regular invitations to provide an expert review of submitted manuscripts in a collaborative, transparent, and efficient manner during the peer review process. They provide an independent review report after which they interact with the authors directly to help improve a manuscript.

In order for the journal to join the Directory of Open Access Journals, at least two members of the editorial board must hold a PhD or equivalent qualification.