The European Journal of Soil Science is delighted to celebrate the graduation of the first cohort of its Early Career Researcher (ECR) Editorial Board and to invite applications for the second cohort.
The EJSS ECR Editorial Board was established to provide early career soil scientists with structured training from Wiley, mentoring from Deputy Editor, and practical experience in journal editorial processes. As Chair of the Editorial Board, it has been a real privilege to work with the inaugural cohort and to see this initiative develop from an idea into a meaningful pathway for early career researchers interested in scholarly publishing in soil science.
Celebrating the first cohort
The first cohort brought together four outstanding early career researchers from across the international soil science community: Dr Chelsea Janke, The University of Queensland, Australia; Dr Kaiqi Li, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China; Dr Justine Lejoly, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, The Netherlands; and Dr Yakun Zhang, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
As the inaugural cohort, they played an important role in shaping how the ECR Editorial Board could work in practice going forward. Through training, mentoring, cohort discussions, and engaging with real submissions, they have supported the journal’s ongoing commitment to broadening participation in soil science publishing.
We warmly congratulate Chelsea, Kaiqi, Justine and Yakun on completing their time on the ECR Editorial Board, and we look forward to seeing how they continue to contribute to EJSS and to the wider soil science community in the years ahead.
You can read about the first cohort here: https://bsssjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/13652389/board-bios
Applications now open for the second cohort
EJSS is now inviting applications for the second cohort of its Early Career Researcher Editorial Board.
The ECR Editorial Board provides early career soil scientists with structured training, mentoring, and experience in journal editorial processes. Members will work with the EJSS Senior Editorial Team for approximately one to three years, gaining insight into peer review, editorial decision-making, journal strategy, and the wider development of the journal. After this period, it is anticipated that ECR Editorial Board members may have the opportunity to progress to full Associate Editor status.
This open call is intended to support a fair, inclusive, and internationally accessible recruitment process. Applications are welcomed from early career researchers working in soil science, or in closely related areas relevant to the scope of EJSS. The opportunity is open to applicants from a wide range of institutional, professional, and geographical contexts.
Applicants should normally be active in soil science research or in a closely related field, be approximately four to six full-time equivalent years post-PhD, and be able to demonstrate familiarity with academic publishing through journal publication, peer-review activity, or editorial service. A peer-review track record should be evidenced by publicly available data such as Web of Science Researcher Profile, formerly Publons.
Applicants should also have a publication or review history relevant to EJSS or soil science more broadly. Previous publication or reviewing experience with EJSS is desirable, but not essential. Applicants should not currently hold an editorial position on EJSS or a senior editorial appointment on another journal.
The four-to-six-year post-PhD eligibility window will be interpreted flexibly. Applicants may provide details of circumstances that should be considered when assessing full-time equivalent research experience.
Applicants should also be able to commit approximately one to two hours per week to ECR Editorial Board activities and be willing to participate in training, mentoring, cohort activities, and occasional online meetings. Members are expected to support the principles of equality, diversity, inclusion, and constructive scholarly publishing.
The second cohort will build on the success of the inaugural group and continue EJSS’s commitment to developing a diverse, international, and engaged editorial community for the future of soil science.
Early career researchers interested in contributing to the development of EJSS and gaining first-hand experience of academic editorial work are warmly encouraged to apply.
Applications close on Friday 31 July 2026.
For further queries, please contact Dr. Dan Evans – daniel.l.evans@cranfield.ac.uk
