An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing editor, or executive editor, but where these titles are held while someone else is editor-in-chief, the editor-in-chief outranks the others.
Description
The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members and managing them. The term is often used at
newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...
s,
magazines,
yearbooks, and
television news programs. The editor-in-chief is commonly the link between the publisher or proprietor and the editorial staff.
The term is also applied to
academic journals
An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...
, where the editor-in-chief gives the ultimate decision whether a submitted manuscript will be published. This decision is made by the editor-in-chief after seeking input from
reviewers selected on the basis of relevant expertise. For larger journals, the decision is often upon the recommendation of one of several associate editors who each have responsibility for a fraction of the submitted manuscripts.
Typical responsibilities of editors-in-chief include:
* Ensuring that content is
journalistically objective
*
Fact-checking, spelling, grammar, writing style, page design and photos
* Rejecting writing that appears to be plagiarized,
ghostwritten, published elsewhere, or of little interest to readers
* Evaluating and editing content
* Contributing editorial pieces
* Motivating and developing editorial staff
* Ensuring the final draft is complete
* Handling reader complaints and taking responsibility for issues after publication
* For books and journals, cross-checking citations and examining references
* Working to advance the commercial success of the publication
* Position may involve recruiting, hiring and firing staff.
References
Further reading
*
*
* ''The New Fowler's Modern English Usage'' (3rd edn 1996, edited by
R. W. Burchfield
Robert William Burchfield CNZM, CBE (27 January 1923 – 5 July 2004) was a lexicographer, scholar, and writer, who edited the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' for thirty years to 1986, and was chief editor from 1971.
Education and career
Born in W ...
);
Bryan A. Garner, ''Garner's Modern American Usage'' (2009).
External links
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{{Authority control
Types of editors
Leaders of organizations