Succession by Design: Using Mentorship to Strengthen Both Reviewer Capacity and Board Engagement

By Emily Mueller, Senior Publications Program Manager, ACSESS
linkedin.com/in/emily-mueller-41734117
sciencesocieties.org

Take Home Points

• Reviewer and editor fatigue is a systemic problem. Difficulty securing reviewers and inconsistent onboarding for Associate Editors compound each other, creating a cycle of burnout and disengagement. 

• Untapped talent already exists within your community. Rather than looking outward, identifying the right group within your organization can reward you with a ready and enthusiastic cohort. 

• Framing matters. Positioning the program as succession planning rather than a training obligation helped reduce resistance from already-stretched editorial board members. 

• Reduce your mentor burden as best you can. By having publications staff handle matching, orientation, and troubleshooting, the mentors can focus on teaching, thus making participation more sustainable and appealing. 

Reviewer fatigue is not a new concept – references to the term go back at least a decade in the industry, and with the rise of new journals along with the ever-growing publication numbers: the issue shows no sign of stopping. For our journals at ACSESS, the number one complaint from our editors is the inability to secure quality reviewers. Several editors have noted that it’s not uncommon to send 15+ requests just to secure the first reviewer for a manuscript. Our peer-review metrics tell the same story: finding at least two reviewers for our annually increasing submission counts has placed a clear and growing strain on our editorial boards.

A second, equally significant challenge is Associate Editor fatigue. Our titles have a 3-tier editorial board, with Associate Editors working closely with reviewers to handle the majority of the reviewing process before sending a recommendation to the next editorial tier. Many of our Associate Editors burn out quickly, not only because of the effort required to find reviewers, but also because new editor onboarding tends to be inconsistent, with some higher-tier editors investing more time in guiding their Associate Editors than others. Caught between reviewer shortages and a lack of structured training, our Associate Editors face an undue level of stress. This, in turn, makes recruiting the next generation of Associate Editors increasingly difficult and leaves our board engagement noticeably lacking.

In short: we weren’t just facing a reviewer shortage, we were dealing with an editorial community that has grown progressively disillusioned.

The Strategic Decision: Why Mentorship?

Faced with these considerable challenges, we knew that we had to make some systemic changes to improve not only our reviewer base, but our board succession planning. We wanted to focus on improving reviewer quality within our own community, and began looking toward untapped demographics within our societies.

Our publications department and committees collaborated to explore possible strategies. A group of book editors had spent significant time training a group of early-career researchers in the fundamentals of peer review, so they could apply their knowledge and sharpen their skills by reviewing book chapters under the guidance of editorial mentors. What we found at the end of their training period was a large group of enthusiastic, expertly trained reviewers eager for additional opportunities. From this, we developed the foundation for a new initiative: the Associate Editor Mentorship Program.

What We Built

Our program design is intentionally straightforward, so that we can adapt and refine as needed in the coming years. Our goal is to provide hands-on editorial experience to early career individuals while also supporting our editorial boards not only with experienced reviewers, but also establishing engaged and diverse group of people to serve as future Associate Editors.

The basic structure creates a new role within the editorial board, under the title “Associate Editor Mentorship Program”. Our target cohort is early-career individuals, with a term of 2 years. These individuals will be paired with an experienced Associate Editor who oversees their reviews for the first year; in the second year, mentees shadow their mentor’s broader editorial work. Our mentors hold regular (at minimum, quarterly) meetings with their mentees, to not only further their training but also to foster a sense of belonging in the editorial community. Mentees may opt to serve a second term if necessary. The ultimate goal is for each mentee to end their appointment with the tools and experience to step into a formal Associate Editor role.

Recognizing our mentees is a central part of the program. Beyond the knowledge they gain, participants receive meaningful professional recognition as Associate Editor Mentorship Program members. This includes listing on our masthead and editorial board committee page, a digital badge for use on society platforms, a certificate of completion, and an acknowledgment letter suitable for career advancement purposes. As of this writing, we are also working to include publication discounts or waivers for graduates of the program.

In addition to a program structure, we developed resources for both our Associate Editor mentors and our current cohort of mentees. The first cohort will participate in an initial orientation session provided by publications staff. Staff will also handle mentor matching, logistics, and troubleshooting; overseeing the program from start to finish. This structure is designed to keep the burden on our Associate Editor mentors at a minimum, allowing them to focus on what matters most: education and training.

Early Observations

As of this writing, we are still in the early stages of implementation. Our first cohort includes the book review graduates, who are currently being matched with mentors. We have seen a notably high interest from our early career members to join the program as mentees, which is encouraging and tells us that we are on the right path.

Response to our emailed open call for volunteer mentors has been modest, though given the current workload our Associate Editors are managing, we view this as a reasonable start. We have also found our senior editorial members to be quite enthusiastic, offering support wherever they can.

At this early stage, we have found securing mentors to be the biggest hurdle, however this was to be expected. Any new initiative comes with the risk of being perceived as a time-consuming obligation to our board members. To combat this, in all communication we’ve made a point to frame the program as succession planning rather than a training program. We have also been clear on expectations, emphasizing that we will provide detailed process documentation, resource materials, and staff support.

We plan to have the program fully operational by summer of 2026. We are confident that, regardless of the uptake, this will lead to improved review metrics, long-term board sustainability, and that it will provide intentional succession planning. If our research and planning taught us anything, it’s that reviewer shortages should not simply be accepted as an inevitable symptom of reviewer fatigue, but instead it may be seen as an opportunity for positive change in the editorial board progression ladder.

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