Every once in a while person working as a managing editor will meet with someone who, upon learning about their profession, will ask the question: what does managing editor do? The natural response “manages day-to-day business of a magazine or a journal” may be just right for some but most people who have never set a foot inside of an editorial office would crave for more substance. So, how to respond to the question in title?

Personally, I usually go with something along those lines: a managing editor is like a hub for a journal or a magazine. Just like a hub is the central part of a wheel where the spokes come together, the managing editor is a person that connects people contributing to the publication of a journal and the one that makes sure the publication is out on time.

We know where the paper or an article is, when the next issue should be out, which author would most likely ask us to see the page proofs twice, where the proof reader is going for vacation next month, what is the name of a copy editor’s cat, how many words fit on one page of a journal, why the editorial is not ready yet – well, to a certain degree, Editor-in-Chiefs can be very creative with excuses! Bottom line: we know everything about the publication. Sound a little arrogant? Maybe just a little. According to Wikipedia, in the US, managing editor’s position is considered the second highest in rank in a publication. Not bad!