Looking for a Volunteer Opportunity? CAS is Seeking a Co-Editor for Variance
The CAS is currently recruiting for the co-editor position on the journal Variance. This is a volunteer opportunity open to interested members of the CAS, particularly those active in the insurance industry.
Job summary
The co-editor assists the editor in chief with the peer review of papers submitted to Variance. The co-editor also has the responsibility for overseeing the judging for the Variance Prize. It is expected that the co-editor will commit up to 4 hours per week to these efforts, as needed.
Qualifications
Experience
Experience with research and peer review processes, either as an author or an editor, or both. Candidate should be an Associate or a Fellow of the CAS who is practicing in the property/casualty insurance field.
Skills
Good organizational ability. Experience with ScholarOne is useful but not required.
Duties
Lead Peer Review Process
The editor in chief and co-editor perform an initial review of each paper submitted. The object of this first, quick review is to assess whether the paper generally fits the mission and vision of Variance, and, if not, whether it could do so with reasonable modifications. These reviews, which should not take more than an hour per paper, make up the bulk of the co-editor’s duties. In addition, the co-editor steps in if the editor in chief is not available to assign associate editors and/or commit a final decision on a completed paper. Occasionally, the co-editor may need to personally lead a review of a paper if an associate editor is not available, including inviting and assigning reviewers. Variance typically receives 25-35 submissions per year.
Communicate with Authors
Oversee communication with authors to ensure authors receive reviews on time, and see that authors revise in response to reviewer recommendations.
Work with Editor in Chief and Assistant Editors
Appoint assistant editors who can help with peer review and workload.
Provide leadership to assistant editors throughout the review process, as needed.
Variance Prize
Manage the judging and awarding of the annual Variance Prize.
About Variance
Variance is a peer-reviewed journal published by the Casualty Actuarial Society to disseminate work of interest to casualty actuaries worldwide. The focus of Variance is original practical and theoretical research in casualty actuarial science. Significant survey or similar papers are also considered for publication.
How to Apply
Reply to Donna Royston, Managing Editor, at droyston@casact.org with letter of interest and CV or resumé.
Deadline for Applications
The deadline for applications is May 26, 2023 at 5 PM EST.
Variance Vision Statement
Variance aims to be a valuable and practical tool for new actuaries starting out as well as for more experienced actuaries looking to expand their skills.
This means that:
- Variance’s target audience is practicing P&C actuaries and papers will focus on theoretically sound, practical solutions to problems facing P&C actuaries.
- Topics will be relevant to P&C actuarial work, including P&C actuarial science, risk management, catastrophe modeling, and capital modeling.
- Variance papers must be comprehensible to a majority of practicing actuaries. Advanced math is not ruled out, but if a paper is likely to be understood by very few readers, step-by-step instructions will be necessary. Highly theoretical papers will be published occasionally, but these will be exceptions.
- Papers must exhibit a solid theoretical foundation based on adequate and current scientific literature and contain guidance on how to apply such methods in practice. In addition to papers presenting new approaches and techniques, survey and similar papers focusing on such a foundation will also be considered.
