Vacancies: Co-Editor of the Political Data Yearbook (PDY)

About the Yearbook

Published in association with the ECPR’s flagship journal, the European Journal of Political Research (EJPR), the Political Data Yearbook (PDY) contains comprehensive and authoritative data and analysis of electoral results, national referenda, changes in government, and institutional reforms for a range of OECD countries, within and outside the EU.

The PDY:Interactive (PDYi), the online version, is a unique data source building on the PDY content, which is freely available to the profession. PDYi provides the data in a fully searchable and downloadable format, making it an invaluable tool to those working in this area of the profession.

The current editorial team comprises Maurits Meijers (Radboud University), Alistair Clark (Newcastle University) and Thomas Mustillo (Purdue University).

We are now seeking replacements for Alistair Clark and Maurits Meijers. One of the positions will be for the full six-year term, the other will provide temporary cover for one year; both start 1 January 2022.

About the roles

The work of the three editors is split, with two taking responsibility for the narrative and analysis, and one for the database and development of the PDY:interactive.

These two vacant positions have responsibility for the first two tasks.

The roles involve the following:

For both editors

• Co-operation between the editors to ensure integration between text and data in authors’ contributions;
• Co-operation between all three editors and the publisher’s production team, to ensure timely delivery of the PDY and production of the PDY:i
• Co-writing the editors’ introduction to each volume, highlighting common trends and important issues;
• Efforts to increase readership and use of the PDY, including maintaining a social media presence to publicise authors’ contributions

For the full-term position

Starting 1 January 2022

• Recruiting new authors when a current author for various reasons has to be replaced or when a new country is added;
• Ensuring that the text for each contribution is accurate, in clear and grammatical English, and includes all of the required elements;
• Dealing with authors’ queries and working with authors to ensure any revisions are delivered in a timely manner
• Writing the editors’ introduction to each volume, highlighting common trends and important issues;
• Other duties as may be necessary

For the one-year position

Term 1 January – 31 December 2022

• Checking the accuracy and consistency of the tables and data for each country submission;
• Working with the authors to resolve any data ambiguities or inconsistencies in the reports;
• Writing the editors’ introduction to each volume, highlighting common trends and important issues;
• Working with authors to ensure correct translation of tabular data into the database format used in the PDY:Interactive website;
• Working with authors and the publisher’s copy editors to ensure corrected proofs are delivered to the publishers in timely fashion.

About you

We are seeking energetic political scientists with strong research backgrounds in political parties and governments in the European and advanced industrial democracy context. You would ideally have some experience of the international publishing industry, either as an editor or author, and high proficiency in written English if it is not your first language.

We welcome applications from all sections of the political science community. You'll be from an ECPR Member or Associate Member, or an institution that is committed to joining the ECPR at least for the duration of the Editorship. We welcome diversity and encourage people irrespective of their race, gender, marital status, age, disability, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.

The successful applicants will receive an annual editorial fee and a fund to cover travel expenses incurred in attending meetings related to the journal. The full term role is for six years, starting 1 January 2021, with a review by the Publications Subcommittee of the ECPR at the mid-point. The one-year position will also start 1 January 2022, and run until 31 December 2022.

How to apply

Applications should be made in the form of a covering letter explaining how you would help develop the publication under your editorship, and a full CV.

All applications should be sent to the ECPR’s Publishing and Communications Coordinator, Kaez Condon, at publications@ecpr.eu by Monday 11 October 2021.