This editor profile is the twentieth in a series which will introduce you to a selection of our editors.
This week we have an interview with Brian Paltridge, Co-Editor of English for Specific Purposes.

What aspect of being an editor do you find most rewarding?
Helping people succeed in getting published. It’s not a straightforward process, so it’s great when you can help someone get published.

Can you describe how it feels when you come across a groundbreaking paper?
It’s a terrific feeling really, particularly when you get a really positive review from a key person in the field.

What advice would you give to a new editor?
If you’re taking over a journal from someone else, the most important thing you can do is make sure you have a really detailed handover meeting and stay in contact with that person. Don’t expect to know everything in the beginning, there are things you just cannot know until you have had to deal with them. Another piece of advice I would give is not to handle submissions from people with whom you have a personal connection. I never handle submissions by colleagues, friends and students. In cases like that I forward the submission on to another editor and ask them to look at it to avoid conflicts of interest.

How do you envision the role of the editor being different in year 2020?
Electronic submission has changed things dramatically and for the better. The role of the editor will always require you to seek out peer evaluation and use your judgment but the technology will continue to develop and change the way we do things.

How do you balance your role as editor with your other roles?
You know what they say – always give something you want done to a busy person. Basically I just make sure I don’t let tasks pile up. I deal with things as quickly as I can; especially the most straight forward tasks. That way, I have more time to devote to the things which require more thought and consideration.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
You never know where life is going to take you, but I have always been interested in languages, from a very early age. Once you realize it’s also something that you are good at you end up making choices that lead you down that path. I started off as an English language teacher and then I became an academic in that area and that’s how I moved along.

What’s new in the field of language?  How will this work impact our daily lives?
We are getting more and more submissions from non-English speaking countries and that is shaping the field of study. An interesting topic at the moment is teaching academic and business English in China. The economic development of countries like China is having a huge impact on the field. People are also taking more of a critical perspective on what they do. They are going beyond ‘what is’ to ‘what could be’.

What gets you up in the morning?
I just enjoy my work. I am lucky to work in a university with good resources and very good students, and I really enjoy editing the journal.

What keeps you awake at night?
In the morning I get up early and get things done. If I am uncertain about a decision I will get in touch with the co-editor for a second opinion, so I don’t let things like that trouble me or keep me up at night.

What is your biggest achievement?
Something I am proud of is the fact that a paper that I published in 2002 in the journal that I now edit is still today in the top 10 cited articles for the journal. It’s exciting to think that something you published six years ago, from an idea you had 7 or 8 years ago, is still a top cited article. Something else that gives me a nice feeling of achievement is the fact that I am now the editor of the journal which published my very first international peer-reviewed article, in 1992.

What is your favorite quote?
It’s more a piece of advice to authors than a quote - when you get a review that you’re unhappy with and are tempted to send a flame email just sleep on it! Always think of how you frame your response to get the most positive outcome. Write your response, then look at it the next day, and maybe reframe it.

What are you currently reading?  Would you recommend it?  If so, why?
There’s a good book called Writing for Scholarly Publication. It has some really good advice from some really esteemed people in the field.

Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
In my field there are some really key people I find very inspiring, like the original editors of the Journal of English for Specific Purposes. They are people who are very senior in their field but who are nevertheless generous with their time. It’s a quality I really admire. I’ve benefited enormously from my relationship with them.

What would you like your legacy to be?
I would like to think that I have encouraged broader participation in academic publishing from people from non-English speaking communities.

What do you like to do for fun?
I like relaxing on the sofa, going to the movies, watching police dramas, and thrillers.