The Journal Editor's role is to manage the peer review process, assess the quality and novelty of the science presented, and identify or solicit thought-provoking papers. Editors make decisions on the submissions based on their own reading, reviews, and associate editor recommendations. Editorships are appointed by the journal's Editor-in-Chief for 4-year terms. An Editor may serve up to two terms, or 8 years total (and must take a break before serving additional terms). Editors are provided an honorarium and a budget to cover editorial office expenses. AGU does not expect institutions to assume additional costs because a faculty or staff member takes on an AGU editorship. Editorial support is provided at AGU headquarters. Editors receive free access to all AGU journals and complimentary registration to AGU annual meetings during their terms.

The main responsibilities and expectations of an AGU Journal Editor are to

• Ensure publication of high-quality science in the journal and promote best practices in scholarly publishing, in collaboration with the Editor-in-Chief and AGU staff
• Be an engaged editorial board member in support of the journal’s goals
• Commit and contribute to AGU’s efforts to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in scholarly publishing
• Serve as an advocate of the journal to the author, editor, reviewer, and scientific communities

Associate Editors support AGU's rigorous peer review by evaluating a manuscript's merit and suitability for peer review, identifying qualified reviewers, assessing the reviews, and making recommendations to the editor. For some AGU journals, Associate Editors might serve as reviewers when needed. They are invited by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief and serve a 4-year term. Associate Editor terms are renewable and not subject to term limits. Associate Editors receive free access to all AGU journals and complimentary registration to AGU annual meetings during their terms.

To support AGU's rich tradition of aggregating leading research on a wide range of Earth and space science topics, Guest Editors are typically recruited to serve as organizers or peer review advisers for special collections. Similar to the Associate Editor, Guest Editors are invited to identify qualified referees to evaluate submissions, assess those evaluations, and make timely and informed recommendations to the journal editors. Guest Editor terms are usually aligned with the launch and closure of a specific collection for which they have been recruited.

• Not all AGU journals use Guest Editors for special collections. The organizers of a special collection may be invited by the journal’s editorial board to act as Guest Editors when needed (i.e., to support a large number of submissions or to provide expertise on a specific topic), but they are not converted to Guest Editors by default.
• Guest Editors may be invited to assign reviewers and make recommendations on manuscripts which they did not author. To ensure impartial peer review, they do not make final decisions on manuscripts submitted to the special collection they organized.
• The work of the Guest Editor is overseen by the journal’s editorial board.
• Guest Editors' credentials will be checked and must be approved prior to acceptance of a special issue proposal.
• Guest Editors may contribute to the special collection, but their submissions will be overseen by an independent review process. In addition, no more than 25% of the collection's total content may be authored by the Guest Editors.