Journal Policies

Editorial Oversight

The Marvell Studies Advisory Board and the Andrew Marvell Society Executive Committee select the journal's Editor-in-Chief via majority vote. The Editor-in-Chief, in turn, selects any guest or special issue editors. It is the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief to ensure that any guest or special issue editors adhere to the journal’s editorial policies and procedures.

The Editor-in-Chief has primary responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the journal; the position of Editor-in-Chief also comprises a position on the Executive Committee of the Marvell Society, and is the main point of contact between the Society and the journal. The Editor-in-Chief is also responsible for ensuring that the journal fulfils the terms of agreement between the Society and its publisher, the Open Library of Humanities (OLH).

The Editor-in-Chief oversees the peer review process for the journal, reviewing peer review reports and, in cases of split decisions or conflicting recommendations for revision and resubmission, either seeks further peer review or exercises their professional judgment about the viability of revision suggestions. It is also the Editor-in-Chief's duty to deliver on the journal’s aim of providing an initial publication decision within six weeks from the date of submission. While the Editor-in-Chief may on occasion serve as a peer reviewer in cases where they possess special expertise, in general the Editor-in-Chief will seek the advice of colleagues representing a balance of approaches and perspectives. The journal welcomes all critical methodologies and seeks to embody as far as possible in its pages a spirit of equality and diversity. Final authority for all publishing decisions lies with the Editor-in-Chief.

The Editor-in-Chief is also tasked with maintaining a professional standard of copyediting in line with the journal’s house style. The Editor-in-Chief may engage members of the advisory board to assist in this process or engage a suitable copyeditor at their cost (in the past, graduate assistants have provided basic copyediting support to the Editor). Ultimately, however, it is the Editor-in-Chief’s duty to see that the research being published is of appropriate quality and consistency.

The Editor-in-Chief serves for a term of three years. Editorial positions may be renewed for multiple terms by mutual agreement of the Editor-in-Chief, the Society, and the Advisory Board.

Marvell Studies’ Advisory Board contains members from different nations, academic institutions, genders, and demographics. The editorial team keeps this diversity in mind when approaching potential authors, guest and special editors, reviewers, and Advisory Board members.

Peer Review Process

The Editor-in-Chief reviews all submissions to the journal initially to confirm their suitability for publication in a scholarly journal and their compatibility with Marvell Studies’ areas of focus. The Editor-in-Chief then passes suitable submissions to appropriate peer reviewers. The Editor-in-Chief reviews peer review reports and, in cases of split decisions or conflicting recommendations for revision and resubmission, either seeks further peer review or exercises their professional judgment about the viability of suggested revisions. Final authority for all publishing decisions lies with the Editor.

Marvell Studies employs double-anonymous peer-review for all essays and shorter articles. Anonymity for reviewers ensures honest appraisals that cannot be guaranteed when an author will ultimately know a reviewer’s identity. Anonymity for authors ensures that an author’s status, rank, or notoriety will not influence a reviewer’s evaluation of the quality of her work.

After an initial review of a submission, the Editor-in-Chief requests reviews from at least two scholars with expertise in the area under consideration in the article.

Marvell Studies does not allow for authors to recommend peer reviewers to review their article. The journal sees this as manipulation of the peer review process and will not consider any reviewer suggestions offered by the author.

The Editor-in-Chief provides an abstract of a submission upon soliciting a peer reviewer. The Editor-in-Chief will also provide an anonymized copy of the entire submission upon request.

Marvell Studies asks is reviewers to comment on 1) the scholarly significance of the submission; 2) its compatibility with the journal’s focus; 3) elements of the article that might be improved or expanded; 4) other scholarly work that should be consulted or discussed; 5) the general quality of the author’s delivery and organization.

Organization and Governance

Marvell Studies is owned and managed by the Andrew Marvell Society, a non-profit scholarly organization promoting research on the life, work, and contexts of Andrew Marvell, seventeenth-century poet and pamphleteer. The Andrew Marvell Society Executive Committee and the Marvell Studies Advisory Board select the Editor-in-Chief. This journal was formerly published, until 2016, by the Society as the Andrew Marvell Newsletter, but is now published by the Open Library of Humanities.

Business Practices

Advertising

Marvell Studies does not permit any advertising on the journal’s website and will never consider requests of any kind from other parties wishing to advertise in the journal or on its webpages.

Direct Marketing

Marvell Studies does not engage in any direct marketing practices.

The publisher, the Open Library of Humanities (OLH), employs a Marketing Officer who undertakes general marketing activities for the publisher including the promotion of its journals. The Marketing Officer does not, however, engage in direct marketing for any OLH journals and this does not affect the editorial decisions of OLH journals in any way.

Other Revenue

Marvell Studies is funded by OLH’s Library Partnership Subsidy Model and does not generate any additional streams of revenue.

Special Issues

Any prospective guest editor may propose a special issue to the Editor-in-Chief. At minimum, a special issue proposal should include a short description of the issue focus and a list of contributors. The Editor-in-Chief reviews and selects all special issue proposals and vets guest editors. The guest editor oversees initial review of article submissions for the collection. However, all special issues proceed through the journal's standard peer review process and appear in the standard publishing cycle and the Editor-in-Chief monitors and remains responsible for the integrity of the review and publishing processes.

Before a proposal is accepted, the Editor-in-Chief thoroughly vets all special issue guest editors, their proposals, and then monitors their editorial activity throughout the publishing process to safeguard against potential malpractice.