Warn editors assigning a peer reviewer if that reviewer is also a section editor/editor

[severett89]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. Editors/Section Editors can accidentally assign other Editors/Section Editors to peer review an article – this may happen if the SE has become absent for a prolonged period and the editor forgets they are associated with the journal, or an incoming editor does not know of the reviewer's preexisting connection to the journal.

Describe the solution you'd like Primarily, a warning for editors assigning peer reviewers that are also assigned as section editors/editors with the journal. The warning might also give details on which collections/issues the reviewer is assigned to as an editor/section editor for information, so the editor can decide whether to go ahead with the task assignment.

Additionally, an optional hard block might be considered to prevent section editors/editors from doing this as a matter of safeguarding against malpractice. This would need to be configurable in the journal's settings.

Describe alternatives you've considered Nothing like this currently exists, so it relies on editors catching this potential malpractice without Janeway's assistance.

Additional context This is a peer review malpractice issue, as in many cases editors with a vested interest in a journal should not peer review work submitted to it.

[StephDriver]

As nothing exists yet, I suggest we implement this as a warning and log when it is overridden.

This would

• be relatively straightforward,
• guard against malpractice,
• not contribute to the 'endless configurations with settings for everything' concern
• and not require additional training as to how to configure this.

I suggest:

1. list of reviewers should indicate which are also assigned as editors
2. These editors may be sorted to the bottom of the list (or otherwise separated)
3. If one of these editors is selected, then there should be a warning that states the possible malpractice (or links to guidance), that if over-ridden this action will be logged. There should be more than one action to proceed - i.e. not just a button to click, but a tick box or something else that means the warning cannot be dismissed by spotting the big continue box and not reading the rest.

[ajrbyers]

Note: Ugent have asked that there also be an option to allow editors to assign themselves.

Consider: Adding an option field so that you can set this to be:

1. Allow any assignment
2. Warn when assigning an editor/section editor
3. Do no allow any editors to be assigned as a reviewer