The role of a recommender is very similar to that of a journal associate editor. The main difference is that a journal editor handles manuscripts that are submitted to the journal, whereas a recommender handles preprints or prepublicaitons that have already been published on a website. Other than that, their roles are very similar: Handling submissions, finding reviewers, collecting reviews (n > 2 is recommended), and making editorial decisions based on the reviews. Recommenders may recommend up to 5 articles per year. They are expected to comply with the Code of Conduct, are eligible for a 3-year, renewable board membership. See the Recommender Guidelines for more information on key roles and responsibilities.

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Interested in becoming a recommender for PCI Health & Movement Sciences? 

New recommenders may be nominated by a member of the PCI Health & Movement Sciences Managing Board. Once nominated, the applicant must be approved by consensus of the other members of the Managing Board based on the need for additional recommenders at the time of the application, the applicant’s fit with the missing expertise in the existing group of recommenders, and the accuracy of the information provided by the applicant. If you are interested in becoming a recommender, please contact a member of the Managing Board or send a CV and a cover letter outlining how your profile fits the prerequisites to contact@healthmovsci.peercommunityin.org.

To ensure that the new recommenders have sufficient experience with the editorial process, we require that applicants have a PhD, have conducted independent research (at least Assistant Professor, Senior Lecturer, post-doctoral researcher, or equivalent) for at least 2 years, have sufficient experience with the publishing system (i.e., at least 5 studies as first author and 1 study as senior author, or equivalent contributions), have preprinted some of their work, and have significant experience as a reviewer. The use of pre-registrations, registered reports, open data, and open code is particularly valued when the application is reviewed by the Managing Board.

Having submitted a preprint to a PCI is not required, but is strongly encouraged. If the application is accepted, the new recommender is expected to commit to submitting a preprint to a PCI within one year.

If a recommender fails to comply with the Code of Conduct, the Managing Board has the right to expel the recommender from the PCI.

PCI has signed the Joint Statement of Principles of the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communication, which we at PCI Health & Movement Sciences fully support. We strive for strong representation across research fields, geographic regions, gender, and other areas in which some groups of people have traditionally been underrepresented in academia.