Regulation of The Editorial Board

The name of The Editorial Board shall be The Editorial Board of The Journal of Japanese Botany (hereinafter ‘The Editorial Board’).

The location of the main office of The Editorial Board shall be in Tsumura & Co. (hereinafter ‘Tsumura’), 3586, Yoshiwara, Ami-machi, Inashiki-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture (the address of Tsumura’s head office: 2-17-11 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo).

The Editorial Board aims to advance research in botany and pharmacognosy through the establishment of the publishing policy of The Journal of Japanese Botany (hereinafter “The Journal”) and the conduct of editorial activities for The Journal in accordance with that policy. To achieve this purpose, The Editorial Board shall perform the following operations.

• (1)Establishing the publishing policy of The Journal.
• (2)Editorial assessment and peer review of research papers, news, book reviews and other submissions (hereinafter ‘Articles’) submitted to The Journal.
• (3)Selection of Articles to be published in The Journal.
• (4)Editing The Journal.
• (5)Acquisition of the copyright and other rights of Articles to be published in The Journal.
• (6)Activities to publicize and spread knowledge of The Journal and research in botany and pharmacognosy.
• (7)Other operations relating to the purpose of The Editorial Board outlined above.

The Editorial Board member shall consist of the Editors specified in Article 5 and the Manager specified in Article 11.

The Editors shall have a sufficient track record in botany, pharmacognosy and related disciplines. In addition, Editors shall have had Articles published in The Journal in the past or shall objectively have the potential for their Articles to be published in it in the future. Furthermore, Editors shall have undergone the admission procedures stipulated in the next article.

An Editor who wishes a person to join as a new Editor shall, upon obtaining the consent of the candidate to be an Editor, make a recommendation to The Editorial Board and then propose a resolution at a General Meeting as stipulated in Article 16.

In the event that an Editor belongs to one or more corporations or organizations in Japan other than The Editorial Board, the Editor must submit to The Editorial Board, before joining The Editorial Board, a document issued by the relevant corporation or organization consenting to the Editor’s concurrent work.
In the event that an Editor comes to belong to a corporation or organization in Japan other than The Editorial Board after joining The Editorial Board, the Editor shall submit the above-mentioned document to The Editorial Board no later than the time of joining such corporation or organization, or promptly thereafter.

2.Editors who reside outside Japan shall, as appropriate, undertake the roles set out in items (1), (2), and (5) of the preceding paragraph to achieve the purposes and operations of The Editorial Board. Participation in General Meetings and Editorial Meetings shall be limited to when they are convened.

• 1.Editors may resign from The Editorial Board by submitting a written or electronic notice of resignation to The Editorial Board.
• 2.In the event an Editor is unable to fulfill the operations of The Editorial Board, in particular the roles stipulated in Article 8, regardless of the reason, the Editor shall resign from The Editorial Board when the resolution stipulated in Article 20, Paragraph 2, Item (1) is passed at a General Meeting as stipulated in Article 16.

In the event an Editor seriously damages the honor of The Editorial Board or the Journal or otherwise violates the purposes of The Editorial Board, the Editor shall be expelled from The Editorial Board when the resolution stipulated in Article 20, Paragraph 2, Item (2) is passed at a General Meeting as stipulated in Article 16.

The Editorial Board shall have one Editor-in-Chief, one Vice Editor-in-Chief, one Production Editor, two Second Vice Editor-in-Chiefs, and one Manager as its officers.

• 1.The Editor-in-Chief, Vice Editor-in-Chief, Production Editor and Second Vice Editor-in-Chief on The Editorial Board shall be selected from among the Editors at General Meetings as stipulated in Article 16.
• 2.In the event that an Officer, except for the Editor-in-Chief and the Manager, is unable to perform the duties, an Editor nominated by the Editor-in-Chief shall act on behalf of that Officer. In the event that the Editor-in-Chief is unable to perform the duties of the Editor-in-Chief, the Production Editor shall temporarily assume the duties of the Editor-in-Chief.

• 1.The term of office of Officers, except the Manager, shall run until the conclusion of the Ordinary General Meeting at which the accounts for the last fiscal year ending within three years after appointment as Officers are reported.
• 2.The term of office of an Officer appointed to replace an Officer who resigned before the expiration of the Officer’s term of office shall be the same as the term of office of the other Officers.

There shall be no obstacle to the reappointment of Officers to The Editorial Board.

• 1.The Editor-in-Chief shall represent The Editorial Board, execute operations and supervise the affairs of The Editorial Board.
• 2.The Vice Editor-in-Chief shall supervise operations relating to the peer review of Articles submitted to The Journal under the Editor-in-Chief. The Vice Editor-in-Chief shall also propose the content plan for each issue at the Editorial Meeting. However, the selection of Articles to be published in The Journal shall be made by a resolution of the Editorial Meeting.
• 3.The Production Editor shall, under the Editor-in-Chief, review the editing and proofreading of Articles to be published in The Journal to ensure compliance with The Journal’s style and format, compile proofreading corrections received from Editors, authors, English proofreaders, and other relevant parties, and prepare final editorial corrections. Furthermore, the Production Editor shall be responsible for confirming the appropriateness of the final data used for the printing or public release of The Journal.
• 4.The Second Vice Editor-in-Chief shall assist the Vice Editor-in-Chief by participating in the peer review process.
• 5.The Manager shall supervise the general affairs and accounting of The Editorial Board.

• 1.General Meeting shall consist of the members of The Editorial Board stipulated in Article 4, excluding Editors who reside outside Japan.
• 2.The Meetings of The Editorial Board shall be Ordinary General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings. Ordinary General Meetings shall, in principle, be held once each fiscal year in March. Extraordinary General Meetings shall be held in the following cases.
  • (1)When the Editor-in-Chief deems it necessary.
  • (2)When a written request to the Editor-in-Chief stating the purpose of holding the meeting is submitted by half or more of the Editors or the Manager.
• 3.Editors who reside outside Japan may be convened when the Editor-in-Chief or half of the Editors deem the presence of such Editors necessary.

• 1.General Meetings shall be convened by the Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief shall notify the member stipulated in Article 16, Paragraph 1, in writing or electronic means of the date, time, place, and purpose of the meeting at least one week before the date of the meeting. However, in the event of an emergency, a meeting may be convened by an appropriate method that omits the above notification.
• 2.If neither the Editor-in-Chief nor the Production Editor acting pursuant to Article 12, Paragraph 2 is unable to convene a General Meetings, the Manager stipulated in Article 11 may convene the meeting.

• 1.The Editor-in-Chief shall serve as the Chair of General Meetings. In the event the Editor-in-Chief (or the Production Editor acting pursuant to Article 12, Paragraph 2) is unable to serve as the Chair due to an accident or other reason, an Editor nominated by the Editor-in-Chief shall serve as the Chair. In the event there is no nomination from the Editor-in-Chief, the Chair shall be elected from among the Editors present.
• 2.The provision of the preceding paragraph shall apply to the Chair of Editorial Meetings.

Each convened Editor shall have one vote.

1. Resolutions presented at General Meetings shall be passed by a majority of the total votes cast (including proxy votes as stipulated in Article 21) when at least half of the Editors who have voting rights are present. In the event there are an equal number of ayes and nays, the Chair shall cast the deciding vote.

• 1.In the event an Editor is unable to attend a General Meeting, the Editor may exercise voting rights by appointing another Editor as proxy.
• 2.The authority of representation in the preceding paragraph must be granted for each General Meeting.

• 1.The Editorial Meeting shall consist of the member of The Editorial Board stipulated in Article 4, excluding Editors who reside outside Japan.
• 2.The Editorial Board shall hold Editorial Meetings in January, March, May, July, September and November every year in principle. The Editors shall discuss and determine matters relating to the editing of the Journal and other operations of The Editorial Board as stipulated in Article 3 at these meetings. However, this shall exclude matters determined by General Meeting resolutions in these regulations.
• 3.Resolutions at Editorial Meetings shall be passed by a majority of the Editors present when at least two Officers, excluding the Manager, and at least two Editors other than Officers are present. In the event there are an equal number of ayes and nays, the Chair shall cast the deciding vote.
• 4.Editors who reside outside Japan may be convened when the Editor-in-Chief or half of the Editors deem the presence of such Editors necessary.

• 1.The Editorial Board may appoint a limited number of Advisors.
• 2.An Advisor is an honorary title bestowed upon Editors and is appointed by a resolution of the General Meeting to those who have served as the Editor-in-Chief for a considerable period of time.
• 3.An Advisor shall not concurrently serve as an Officer as stipulated in Article 11.
• 4.An Advisor shall, upon the request of the Editor-in-Chief, provide advice on matters such as the selection of reviewers.
• 5.The term of office of an Advisor shall not be specified. However, an Advisor may resign by submitting a notice of resignation.

The assets of The Editorial Board shall consist of the copyright of Articles published in the Journal and the following sources of income:

• (1)Donations
• (2)Other sources of income

The Manager shall manage the assets of The Editorial Board.

The expenses of The Editorial Board shall be covered by income derived from the assets stipulated in Article 24 and by costs borne by sponsors.

The fiscal year of The Editorial Board shall be from January 1 to December 31 each year.

The Editorial Board shall be dissolved for the following reasons:

• (1)A special resolution at a General Meeting
• (2)When there is only one Editor residing in Japan
• (3)A merger (limited to cases where The Editorial Board is dissolved as a result of the merger)
• (4)Decision to start bankruptcy proceedings
• (5)Judicial decision ordering dissolution

• 1.In the event the reason for dissolution stipulated in Article 28, Item (1) arises, The Editorial Board may continue by means of a special resolution at a General Meeting until the liquidation proceedings are completed.
• 2.In the event the reason for dissolution stipulated in Article 28, Item (2) arises, The Editorial Board may continue by admitting new Editors residing in Japan.

The merger of The Editorial Board with another association shall be made by a special resolution at a General Meeting.

In the event The Editorial Board is dissolved, the Manager shall serve as the liquidator unless otherwise determined at a General Meeting together with a resolution for dissolution.

The residual assets of The Editorial Board shall, by a special resolution at a General Meeting concerning its dissolution, be transferred to an organization with objectives similar to those of The Editorial Board or to any other person or entity deemed appropriate.

Changes to these regulations shall be made by a special resolution at a General Meeting.