Meet the editor behind Warwick's interdisciplinary research journal

Did you know that Warwick has its own interdisciplinary research journal and accompanying podcast? Exchanges is a free-to-read, online-only journal, dedicated to the publication of high-quality work by researchers in all disciplines. We spoke with Dr Gareth J Johnson, Managing Editor-in-Chief of Exchanges, to find out more...

What is Exchanges, and how does it work?

Gareth: "Exchanges is run by and for early career academics. While we mostly publish papers from Warwick authors, we’re open to anyone globally with something interesting and original to share. If it’s quality, credible and professionally written, chances are we’ll be able to publish it.

My role as Chief Editor is to deliver on every operational and strategic aspect of our work. Whether it's editorial training, policy or procedural development, outreach and technical troubleshooting – that’s me. It’s an incredibly varied, enjoyable job that's allowed me to engage with fascinating people worldwide."

What's one thing you wish every staff member knew about research at Warwick?

Gareth: "The sheer variety of research going on at Warwick is, if you’ll pardon the phrase, flabbergasting! I’m lucky enough to speak with not just my contributing authors, but the various fellows associated with the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS). Hearing about the activities and wider projects they work on here and around the globe is eye-opening.

As a journal editor and ethnographer, I’m interested in learning about their lived experiences as researchers: how and why they are working in their disciplinary fields is to me as captivating as their various research project outcomes. If I had one wish that could be granted, it would be that more of them would choose to publish articles about these experiences with us, as I know there’s a ready audience for such insightful and authentic guidance."

When did the Exchanges Discourse podcast start? What prompted you to set it up?

Gareth: "The Exchanges Discourse podcast was born, like many things, during the lockdown period of 2020. I’ve always loved hearing about people’s publishing experiences, but while we were all working at a distance realised it was an aspect of my professional life I really missed.

I'd podcasted for years outside of work, so creating a new podcast was a technically achievable solution.

I started by inviting past Exchanges authors to be guests and share tales of their lives, work and publishing experiences: good, bad and indifferent! Having people talk conversationally about their work certainly lets listeners understand it from a different perspective to the written word alone. I love hearing about my guests’ work in their own voices."

Research culture is a hot topic within higher education. How does Exchanges tackle this?

Gareth: "We’ve been delighted to collaborate with Warwick’s National Centre for Research Culture, helping raise the prominence of some great writers, projects and thinking within research culture to a wider audience. It’s a partnership which also resonates wonderfully with Exchanges’ core ethos of enabling an authentic public good."

How can colleagues get involved in Exchanges?

Gareth: "We’re always looking for scholars to get involved as peer-reviewers, and it’s easy to register online to participate. Similarly, we welcome author manuscripts in any of our varied article formats from anyone at Warwick, especially those demonstrating aspects of interdisciplinarity.

Then there’s the potential longer-term commitment of collaborating on a special issue too, especially where staff are working with institutional partners or across disciplines. This is where we also have opportunities to get involved behind the scenes as associate editors and learn more about publishing practices.

I’m also interested in potential podcast guests who are working on something interesting, challenging or novel within research communication or dissemination. Finally, I’m always delighted to visit and share our publishing experiences, advice and collected wisdom around academic authoring, reviewing or publication topics."