Outlook
Gathering the content related to the goals, context of activity, structure, and form of a journal makes the journal long-term outlook clear and the founders know precisely why the content should be published and how it should be presented.
Who is responsible for the success or failure of a scientific journal? The answer to this question may vary in different scientific journals based on the structure of the sponsoring institution or university, but there are generally three major groups involved. Expressing the roles and responsibilities of each of these three groups will prevent conflicts in responsibilities between them.
Editorial Board
The editorial board oversees the executive management of a scientific journal and focuses on its short- and long-term goals to ensure that the journal is directed based on the outlook. Editorial Staff in different scientific journals may have different roles and responsibilities starting from an advisory role in some of them, and in others, the editorial board may play an important role in the day-to-day activities of the journal, along with the editorial team. The number of editorial staff depends on the outlook and performance of the scientific journal.
Owner of the scientific journal
The owner of a scientific journal may be a professional association, business company, or university. The owner of a scientific journal may try hard for the commercial success of the journal and feels that it is in his/her interest to be financially independent by having appropriate subscribers and advertisements. It is important that the relationship between the editorial team and owner of the journal is fully transparent and they know exactly what to expect from each other. The editor-in-chief should be independent in making decisions about the scientific content of the journal. Some scientific journals mention this issue explicitly in their outlook and purpose. The editor-in-chief is generally hired by the owner of the journal for a limited time and there is a contract between editor-in-chief and owner in which several subjects should be explicitly stated, such as the editor’s independence in decision making, publication of the journal, and so on.
Publisher
The owner and publisher of the scientific journal are often the same. However, there is a notion that it is better that the owner of a journal has a contract with a publisher of scientific journals. The reason is that although the primary priority for the owner is scientific content, the publisher may have other priorities that may include scheduling journal submission for subscribers, advertising revenue, and so on. The publisher may also expect to cooperate with the scientific journal in some other domains, such as holding scientific congresses.