An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing editor, or executive editor, but where these titles are held while someone else is editor-in-chief, the editor-in-chief outranks the others.
Description
The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members and managing them. The term is often used at
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
s,
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
s,
yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...
s, and
television news
News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or tel ...
programs. The editor-in-chief is commonly the link between the publisher or proprietor and the editorial staff.
The term is also applied to
academic journals, where the editor-in-chief gives the ultimate decision whether a submitted manuscript will be published. This decision is made by the editor-in-chief after seeking input from
reviewers selected on the basis of relevant expertise. For larger journals, the decision is often upon the recommendation of one of several associate editors who each have responsibility for a fraction of the submitted manuscripts.
Typical responsibilities of editors-in-chief include:
* Ensuring that content is
journalistically objective
*
Fact-checking
Fact-checking is the process of verifying factual information, in order to promote the veracity and correctness of reporting.
Fact-checking can be conducted before (''ante hoc'') or after (''post hoc'') the text is published or otherwise dissem ...
, spelling, grammar, writing style, page design and photos
* Rejecting writing that appears to be plagiarized,
ghostwritten
''Ghostwritten'' is the first novel published by English author David Mitchell. Published in 1999, it won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and was widely acclaimed. The story takes place mainly around East Asia, but also moves through Russia, B ...
, published elsewhere, or of little interest to readers
* Evaluating and editing content
* Contributing editorial pieces
* Motivating and developing editorial staff
* Ensuring the final draft is complete
* Handling reader complaints and taking responsibility for issues after publication
* For books and journals, cross-checking citations and examining references
* Working to advance the commercial success of the publication
* Position may involve recruiting, hiring and firing staff.
References
Further reading
*
*
* ''The New Fowler's Modern English Usage'' (3rd edn 1996, edited by
R. W. Burchfield);
Bryan A. Garner
Bryan Andrew Garner (born 1958) is an American lawyer, lexicographer, and teacher who has written more than two dozen books about English usage and style such as ''Garner's Modern English Usage'' for a general audience, and others for legal profe ...
, ''Garner's Modern American Usage'' (2009).
External links
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{{Authority control
Types of editors
Leaders of organizations