Editorial

Marking our first anniversary as Editors-in-Chief of the Journal of Industrial Relations (JIR) at Deakin University, we are pleased to report that the journal's metrics have improved, and we acknowledge the previous editorial team for their contribution to the rise in the Journal's Impact Factor (IF). We are delighted to report that the JIR's IF in the Journal Citation Report (JCR) rankings increased in 2022 from 2.079 to 3.189, while the 5-year IF increased from 2.259 to 2.829. These IF scores result in JIR being ranked at 12 out of 30 and 15 out of 30 in the Industrial Relations & Labor category.

Our new tiered collaborative editorial team includes the following members:

Deputy Editors: Professor Santina Bertone (Central Queensland University, Melbourne campus, Victoria) and Dr Amanda Coles (Deakin University Victoria).

Our updated Associate Editors currently include Associate Professor Nikola Balnave (Macquarie University, NSW), Associate Professor Larissa Bamberry (Charles Sturt University, NSW), Dr Donella Caspersz (University of Western Australia, WA), Dr Linda Colley (Queensland Government Special Commissioner, Equity and Diversity, QLD), Dr Sharlene Leroy-Dyer (University of Queensland Business School, QLD), Associate Professor Tyron Love (University of Canterbury, New Zealand), Professor Michael O’Donnell (University of NSW Canberra, ACT), Dr Mahan Poorhosseinzadeh (Australian Institute of Business, South Australia), Dr Troy Sarina (University of Technology Sydney, NSW), Professor Louise Thornthwaite (Macquarie University, NSW), Dr Karin Mathison (CEO, Keystone Tasmania) and Vicki Telfer (Commissioner for Public Employment Northern Territory).

The Editorial Team members are associated with the following editorial areas:

Industrial Relations/Employment Relations (including international employment relations, and Human Resources, conflict, negotiation and ethics).

The vision for the JIR under our leadership is to contribute to academic scholarship, policy debates, and professional practice in industrial relations in the twenty-first century. We adopt an inclusive multidisciplinary approach to work and employment issues to advance theory, knowledge, and practice in the industrial relations field, not simply in Australia but across the globe. To further this vision, we are pleased to report that we have augmented the Editorial Board, increasing members from 39 to 56 with the expectation of a 3 year renewable term and minimum of three reviews per annum. Our expanded Editorial Board now includes scholars from more countries in Asia and in Europe. We are currently seeking scholarly involvement from First Peoples from Australia and elsewhere in the world, and also industrial relations scholars from the Pacific region, as well as Africa and South America.

Our mission is to provide fora for research and discussions on a wide range of industrial relations-related issues, including employment and employer practices, work organisation, pay and conditions, labour law and state policies, representation and rights at work, and trade unionism, as well as broader social and economic issues such as job quality, the future of work and digitalisation, workplace health and safety, diversity including age, disability, gender, ethnicity and modern slavery.

To fulfil this mission, we will continue the journal's legacy of publishing high-quality papers that can advance multidisciplinary knowledge of past, present, and future issues relating to employment, work organisation, and labour regulation. In this way, the JIR will continue to promote an improved theoretical understanding of contemporary issues affecting capital and labour and the changing nature of industrial relations in Australia and internationally.

During the past year, we also developed Terms of Reference for all roles associated with the journal and established three sub-committees: Equity, Diversity Inclusion and Indigeneity (EDII); Social Media Strategy; Complaints and Appeals. The three committees have developed guidelines and a range of initiatives. The first initiative was an Early Career Editorial Traineeship and following a rigorous process we appointed four trainees in 2022. Our trainees are: Ilaria Armaroli, PhD (Research Fellow at the Association for International and Comparative Studies in the Field of Labor Law and Industrial Relations [ADAPT], Italy; Tanya Carney, PhD (member of Industrial Relations Research Group at the University of New South Wales and a policy and planning manager in the disability sector); Karen Douglas, PhD (Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Tasmania); Laurence D. Dubuc, PhD (Mitacs postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Arts, Culture and Media, University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada).

During 2022, the EDII committee also developed an Indigenous Early Career Editorial Traineeship scheme in consultation with the two First People Associate Editors. This Indigenous ECR Traineeship was launched at the 2023 AIRAANZ conference and will continue to be promoted throughout 2023.

A Social Media strategy has also been developed and the JIR has established a LinkedIn Group and Corporate page and Twitter handle. Videos by authors have been posted online to increase awareness and dissemination of articles.

A Complaints and Appeals procedure was developed and a new Guidelines document has been produced for Special Issue submissions, available on the JIR SAGE website. We are especially pleased to report that two Special Issues have been accepted for 2023 and 2024: (i) Workplace Psychosocial Hazards: Employment Relations Frameworks and Implications for Workers’ Health and Safety; and (ii) Authoritarian Innovations in Labour Governance.

We look forward to receiving submissions for Special Issues in the future and take this opportunity to thank all our reviewers and authors for their continued interest in the journal and the field of industrial relations.