Creating a more inclusive journal: the Journal of the Medical Library Association's evolving process for selecting editorial board members

The Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) selects new editorial board members every year. In the spring of 2021, JMLA used a new process for reviewing and selecting applicants for the limited number of open editorial board positions. This reevaluation of the selection process was spurred by a desire to create a more diverse and representative board. Changes to the procedures for selecting new editorial board members included having an open call for editorial board members, creating an application form, creating a selection committee to screen applicants, creating a form for the selection committee to extract data from applications, and creating a two-step process for screening and then selecting board members. As part of construction of this new process, areas for continued improvement were also identified, such as refining the application form to allow more specific answers to areas of interest to the selection committee. The newly created selection process for editorial board members constitutes a significant change in JMLA processes; however, more can be done to build on this work by further refining the selection process and ensuring that new members are selected in a transparent and streamlined manner.     

Questioning the no-touch discourse in physical education from a children's rights perspective

In this paper we question the rationality of ‘no-touch policies’ and offer an alternative approach to the matter of physical contact between teachers and students in the context of physical education (PE) in schools. Earlier research has drawn attention to how a discourse of child protection is starting to affect how physical contact is viewed in PE practice. The avoidance of intergenerational touch is increasingly justified by referring to the children's rights agenda. Here, arguments for ‘no-touching’ are linked to children's right to be protected from harm. In the paper we explore a children's rights-based viewpoint that supports the use of and need for physical contact in PE teaching by developing theoretical and practice-based arguments. An alternative children's rights perspective, based on rights theorising, is used to formulate the theoretical argument. Interviews with 16 PE teachers about their experiences of physical contact in their pedagogical work form the practice-based arguments. The two arguments provide a way of looking at intergenerational touch in education from the vantage point of children's human right to develop to their full potential, which can support a need for physical touch in pedagogical situations.