Approaches to Forming Editorial Boards: An Analytical Report on a Survey of Academic Staff and Scientific Editors from Ukrainian and Foreign Universities

This analytical report presents the interim results of a survey of academic staff, editorial board members, and editors from Ukrainian and foreign universities, conducted as part of a project by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine. The aim of the study was to examine the actual practices of forming and operating the editorial boards of scientific journals in order to harmonize Ukrainian publishing standards with the international principles of open science. The report highlights key challenges in Ukrainian academic publishing. Among the main findings is a significant lack of formalized, transparent, and publicly available rules for establishing editorial boards in the majority of publications (over 80%). The selection of members is predominantly based on a closed model—via personal invitations from the editor-in-chief rather than through open calls. This leads to indefinite appointments (over 74%), a lack of rotation, and a low priority for gender and geographical diversity criteria. The report documents a significant gap between the subjective perceptions of editorial board members, who mostly consider the procedures transparent, and objective data indicating the dominance of informal practices. Systemic challenges were also identified: low engagement from board members, a lack of systems for monitoring their activities, and no requirements for professional development. Based on this analysis, the report provides recommendations to continue and expand the survey. The goal is to develop detailed conclusions on transparent, competitive selection procedures for editorial board members, a clear definition of their responsibilities and terms of office, and the creation of motivation and professional development systems to enhance the quality of and trust in Ukrainian scholarly publications.