An edited volume or edited collection is a collection of

scholarly The scholarly method or scholarship is the body of principles and practices used by scholars and academics to make their claims about the subject as valid and trustworthy as possible, and to make them known to the scholarly public. It is the me ...

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence f ...

chapters written by different authors. The chapters in an edited volume are original works (not republished works). Alternative terms for edited volume are ''contributed volume'', ''edited collection'' and ''multiauthor volume''. All these terms emphasize that the book is a collection of chapters contributed by different authors and harmonized by an editor. Edited volumes are of interest in

academic publishing Academic publishing is the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is published in academic journal articles, books or theses. The part of academic written output that is not formally publ ...

because they present different viewpoints and experiences on a common theme. An edited volume is unlike an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...

, which is a collection of republished short literary works by different authors. It is also not a collected edition, which brings together already-published works by a single author and is edited by a

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

. It is different from a reader, which contains collected texts for learning purposes. Finally, it is different from

proceedings In academia and librarianship, conference proceedings is a collection of academic papers published in the context of an academic conference or workshop. Conference proceedings typically contain the contributions made by researchers at the conferen ...

, which contain articles written by different authors who present them at a scientific conference.

Role of the editor

The

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, org ...

(or editors, often there are several) of an edited volume is the key figure in conceiving and producing the book. He or she is responsible for determining the book's purpose, structure and style (as laid out in a book proposal); for signing a book contract with an interested publisher; and for selecting the individual contributors who will write the chapters (and possibly the

foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the ...

). Selecting the contributions may involve an open call for papers or may be conducted privately. The editor is also responsible for keeping the writing process on schedule and serves as the liaison between the publisher and the contributors. However, the task of "chasing contributions" can be substantial. The editor may also be a contributor to the volume, by writing some chapters (often with other authors) and especially by preparing a

preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often closes ...

, an introduction or an

afterword An afterword is a literary device that is often found at the end of a piece of literature. It generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or of how the idea for the book was developed. An afterword may be written by someone other ...

summarizing the main points. The editor also carries out the linguistic and substantive editing of the chapters before submitting the book manuscript to the publisher, and coordinates authors' review and correction of the proofs (preprints).

Contributors' responsibilities

Authors of individual chapters (contributors) sign ''contributor agreements'' that outline the topic and length of the chapter they are to write, the deadline for delivery, the copyright policy and the compensation (e.g. copies of the printed book). By accepting to contribute to the volume, they agree to prepare their chapters according to the book's style regarding, for example, the use of headings, illustrations, formatting and other text features.

References

{{Authority control Books by type Academic publishing Publishing Edited volumes

Role of the editor

Contributors' responsibilities

See also

References