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Article published In: Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes
Vol. 6:1 (2025) ► pp.113–145

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The complicated terrain of editorial peer review in Anglocentric global academic publishing

Editors’ roles and practices in the semi-periphery

ORCiD logo with link | National Chengchi UniversityTaipei
Published online: 4 December 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jerpp.25006.she
Abstract
The purpose of editorial peer review is to maintain and improve academic journal quality while its execution depends on journal status and location in the global academic publishing system. Significant research on authors’ publishing experiences has been conducted in ERPP. However, empirical research on the perspectives of multilingual editors beyond the Anglophone center of scholarly publishing is an under-researched area. Therefore, to better understand editors’ challenges and roles and investigate pedagogical activity at journals in the “semi-periphery,” five English-medium national journals in Taiwan were investigated. Data from qualitative interviews with five editors were triangulated with journal and database data. A taxonomy of editor challenges and roles along journal development stages is presented. Results show that the type and intensity of editors’ challenges shift with publication development. Oversight entities imposing Anglophone center norms have standardized peer review practices enabling journal mobility. However, collisions between those mechanisms and journal conditions can frustrate editors and limit their ability to follow the standards, let alone execute explicit pedagogical activities. This study reveals the complicated terrain for editors beyond the Anglophone center and provides insights into the intersection of journal development and editor roles cultivated through movement along the global academic continuum toward mobility.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Conceptual framework
    • 2.1A critical perspective of global academic publishing
    • 2.2Theoretical concepts: Mobility, indexical scales, and centering institutions
    • 2.3The journal continuum
  • 3.Relevant literature on peer review and editors
    • 3.1Editor roles
    • 3.2Editors as educators in the semi-periphery
  • 4.The study
    • 4.1The Taiwan context in relation to the world system
    • 4.2The Taiwan context in relation to GAP
    • 4.3The author’s context in GAP: Researcher positionality
    • 4.4Research questions
  • 5.Method
    • 5.1Participants and data collection
    • 5.2Analysis
    • 5.3Saturation
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1RQ1: What challenges do editors face at various stages of journal development?
      • 6.1.1New: Struggling along a bumpy road
      • 6.1.2Becoming: Establishing guardrails
      • 6.1.3Stable: Climbing a mountain road
      • 6.1.4Established: Toward a distant peak
    • 6.2RQ2: What roles do editors adopt in their execution of editorial peer review?
      • 6.2.1Super-supporter
      • 6.2.2Facilitator-pragmatist
      • 6.2.3Facilitator-advocate
      • 6.2.4Mentor-supporter
      • 6.2.5Standard-bearer
  • 7.Discussion
    • 7.1Taxonomy
    • 7.2Two collisions
    • 7.3Editors
  • 8.Conclusion
    • 8.1Limitations and future research
    • 8.2Recommendations
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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