Background

The JAACAP family of journals aims to promote the well-being of children and families globally by publishing original research and papers of theoretical, scientific, and clinical relevance to the field of child and adolescent mental health.

The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is the flagship journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and is the leading journal focusing exclusively on today's psychiatric research and treatment of the child and adolescent. The journal is published twelve times per year. Peer review and overall management of the publication are performed electronically and through the JAACAP editorial office, located at AACAP headquarters in Washington, DC. The journal is currently published in collaboration with Elsevier. The journal family also includes JAACAP Open and JAACAP Connect.

The JAACAP Editor-in-Chief is responsible for stewardship of the AACAP journal publishing portfolio (currently JAACAP, JAACAP Open, and JAACAP Connect) and provides editorial leadership of JAACAP. Specific responsibilities are described below.

Qualifications

The Editor-in-Chief must be an AACAP Distinguished Fellow Member. To review additional details regarding the Editor’s appointment and policies/practices governing the role, the JAACAP Editor-in-Chief Letter of Agreement is available upon request.

Eligibility

Membership

The Editor-in-Chief must be an AACAP Distinguished Fellow Member and remain an AACAP member in good standing for the duration of their term.

Conflicts of Interest

In accordance with AACAP’s Policies on Management of Individual and Organizational Relationships with External Entities: Transparency, Disclosure, and Mitigation of Conflict of Interest, the selected Editor-in-Chief, during his/her tenure, are required to report all disclosures and are prohibited from direct or indirect financial or contractual relationships with ineligible companies. An ineligible company is any commercial entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, reselling, or distributing health care products used by or on patients. Other relationships may be mitigated as needed.

Letter of Agreement

A Letter of Agreement will formalize additional details regarding the Editor’s appointment and policies/practices governing the role.

Support for the Editor‐in‐Chief

An honorarium is paid directly to the Editor‐in‐Chief in recognition of the time and effort involved in this position. This position is supported by a knowledgeable and experienced editorial office staff. The staff provides hands-on day‐to‐day editorial support and peer review management, as well as strategic planning, project management, detailed reporting and analysis of submissions, turnaround times, usage, editor performance statistics, and other relevant publication data, meeting logistics, and other support. Travel support may be provided for approved events and meetings. Per AACAP policy, travel support is not provided for the AACAP Annual Meeting.

Responsibilities

Pertaining to the journal portfolio:

• Work hand-in-hand with AACAP leadership and other JAACAP Journal editors to develop and uphold the journal family mission, editorial quality, rigorous ethical standards, and reputation for meaningful scholarship.
• Define and update the JAACAP Family Journal’s aims and scope, in order to enhance its relevance and usage, in collaboration with AACAP leadership and other JAACAP Journal editors.
• Work with the editorial office to maintain and administer editorial policies and procedures, and to revise them or establish new policies as appropriate, subject to AACAP Council approval (when required), to reflect relevant changes and best practices in science, clinical practice, and scholarly medical publishing.
• Oversee annual masthead meetings; keep the masthead active, committed, engaged, and responsive to the needs of the journal portfolio; and report to them on the year’s activities.
• Oversee administration of the AACAP John F. McDermott Assistant Editor-in-Residence award and its related publication, JAACAP Connect, and serve as a mentor to current and former incumbents.
• Aid the editorial office in selecting/crafting content and other information to be used in special features, reports, and marketing and promotional pieces.

Pertaining to JAACAP:

• Work with the JAACAP editorial team and editorial office to develop and uphold JAACAP’s mission, editorial quality, rigorous ethical standards, and reputation for meaningful scholarship.
• Encourage and solicit the submission of relevant, original, high‐quality manuscripts for JAACAP and act as an ambassador the journal. • Oversee the peer review and publication process in collaboration with the editorial office staff and bear responsibility for the content and quality of each issue.
• Work with the editorial office to maintain and administer editorial policies and procedures, and to revise them or establish new policies as appropriate, subject to AACAP Council approval (when required), to reflect relevant changes and best practices in science, clinical practice, and scholarly medical publishing.
• Recruit, select, and appoint sub-editors as needed (including associate, deputy, assistant, and contributing editors, editors-at-large, editorial board members, and others), to represent the depth and breadth of psychiatric and allied disciplines. The editorial board should comprise members with high stature and respect in the community, and with the technical expertise sufficient to oversee the content of submitted articles.
• Monitor the peer review process to ensure that appropriate and well‐defined procedures for timely review are unbiased and faithfully executed; and maintain the integrity and confidentiality of authors’ and reviewers’ work in perpetuity.
• Review any submitted proposals and initiatives for suitability, applicability, and interest to JAACAP readership.
• Select articles suitable for the scope of JAACAP and interest level of readers and make decisions with the advice and recommendations of other editors and peer reviewers.
• Respond to correspondence from authors, fellow editors, editorial board members, reviewers, AACAP members, readers, media outlets, and others regarding peer review and/or manuscript decisions, as needed.
• Respond to and manage incidents of error and allegations of ethical misconduct according to industry standards and best practices in scholarly publishing.
• Review and make a determination regarding proposed advertising and promotional opportunities, in consultation with AACAP leadership, as appropriate.
• Aid the editorial office in selecting/crafting content and other information to be used in special features, reports, and marketing and promotional pieces.
• Participate in the selection of annual JAACAP award winners.

Generally:

• Cooperate and assist AACAP as requested in responding to public record requests, subpoenas and other legal matters relating to JAACAP.
• Report to AACAP Council at least once per year and/or upon request and be available and responsive to communications and requests from AACAP leaders and staff.
• Meet with the President and Executive Director/CEO at least once per year.
• Collaborate with the AACAP Ad Hoc Committee on Editorship and Publications, as necessary.
• Assist the editorial office and other AACAP staff to perform required administrative functions, such as performance evaluations, budgeting, and other tasks, as necessary.
• Be available and responsive to the editorial office routinely and as necessary to ensure that timely progress can be made on all projects, tasks, and initiatives.

Time Commitment

Estimated 14-16 hours per week*, including:

• 9-10 hours on manuscripts and editorial workflows
• 5-6 hours on other tasks, such as special initiatives, mentorship, author communication, etc.

*This estimate is based on the current (2025) workflow for journal submissions, wherein the editor-in-chief bears initial responsibility for all new submissions. An estimated 2-4 hours per week might be saved with alternative workflows that distribute responsibility for new submissions. Such workflows would be discussed with the selected editor-in-chief candidate as part of the transition process.