What Is It Like to be the Editor of Gifted Child Quarterly? Consider Applying Today!
Some of you are regular readers of Gifted Child Quarterly, NAGC’s scholarly research journal. Those of you who aren’t regular readers may not know that GCQ is the premiere research journal in our field. While there is a growing number of journals in gifted education, GCQ is the one many researchers aspire to have their work published in. We have a respectable impact factor (4.0 in 2024), meaning that the articles published in GCQ are being read and cited by many authors. The journal is now in its 70th volume, meaning it is 70 years old, and it is as strong as it has ever been. It is published by Sage Publications, a venerable publishing house with hundreds of journals under its umbrella.
I have enjoyed being the Editor of GCQ since 2022. Every day, I see something new happening in the world of gifted education research and I learn something new about those who play a role in shaping our field. Just in my short time as editor, the journal has seen a substantial increase in manuscript submissions and improved its impact factor. It is being read by a global audience and many of our manuscript submissions are from international authors. This blog post gives me an opportunity to share what I have learned in addition to hopefully motivating others to contribute or to consider applying to be the next editor of GCQ.
The most important lesson I have learned as editor of GCQ is that the volunteer spirit is strong among those who care about gifted education research. There are so many people who give freely of their time and expertise to ensure what gets published in GCQ is thoughtful, rigorous, and meaningful to our readers. Authors, reviewers, and advisors are some of the most gracious people I have encountered. They are all trying hard to work with us toward the goal of expanding our knowledge base about gifted individuals, their development, and their education through credible empirical evidence.
Thank goodness people step up, because it takes a lot of collaboration to keep the journal running. There are many people who commit to making the journal the best it can be. You can see many of the people who work on GCQ here: https://journals.sagepub.com/editorial-board/GCQ. When I started, I imagined myself doing this job on my own. I had, after all, been assistant or managing editor of four other gifted education journals before this, including GCQ. The sheer volume of submissions, however, made that practically impossible. There is a very real need for associate editors with quantitative and qualitative expertise, who can size up a study, call on the right peer reviewers to give feedback on a manuscript, and synthesize it all in their recommendation to me. At any given time, the associate editors, Andrea (Dawn) Frazier, Angie Miller, and Jonathan Wai, each have from five to fifteen manuscripts they are overseeing. There is a constant workflow that must be managed, from initial manuscript submission to the final production of an accepted article. My trusted managing editor, Anyesha Mishra, stays on top of this workflow, keeping things moving through the system. The Sage system pushes things through with automatic deadlines, but we have to maintain awareness of our publishing deadlines, just to be sure we stay on track. A manuscript gets read many times in this process, and we try to ensure that errors won’t get by us. A proofreader, Sharice Adkins, has proven to be incredibly important to maintaining the quality of the end product.
Another lesson I have learned is that journal editing is different from other parts of the publication process. Writing articles and reviewing manuscripts are useful for understanding the process, but being an editor requires a different set of skills. It really helps to have the ear of others who have had this experience. While I retain full editorial independence, when I have questions or need advice, my first stop is the NAGC Association Editor. Initially, this was Susan Assouline, a seasoned researcher who has been active in the association’s publications for many years. The current association editor is Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, a previous editor of GCQ and one of the most prolific authors in the field. Both have given me excellent advice and confidence during my term. The GCQ Editorial Advisory Board was created a few years before I became editor, and I have also relied on them several times during my term. These former editors from a variety of backgrounds, not just gifted education, have been invaluable. They have been a great sounding board for questions about practice at other journals or the implementation of new policies (e.g., IRB or AI during my term). The journal’s membership in the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) has also been extremely helpful.
The Editorial Review Board is a special group of experts who agree to reviewing at least four manuscripts per year. With the increased volume of submissions, being able to rely on these members is very helpful. When we made the move to a new process for selecting the GCQ Paper of the Year, this is the pool of experts who answer Associate Editor Angie Miller’s call to rate the papers that come out in every issue. I am always amazed at how kind and generous these individuals are.
NAGC has also been very supportive, offering resources and helping find expertise when I needed it for special topic reviewers, for example. Although GCQ is an NAGC publication, it operates independently, a critical aspect in the ethical publishing of scholarly research. It is a lot of responsibility, but as you can see from this description of my work, I am not alone in this.
If you are interested in throwing your hat in the ring to be considered for the next editor of GCQ, you can get more information from the position advertisement here: https://www.nagc.org/gcq-editor-search
The deadline for applications is October 15, 2025, so don’t delay!
