Last month, Assistant Professor Dr. Amber Harris-Bozer was named Associate Editor of the Journal of Social Media in Society.

According to Assistant Professor and Editor of the JSMS, Dr. Sarah Maben, the JSMS is a “blind peer-reviewed, open-access, online journal that accepts scholarly articles and book reviews.” It is devoted to the commentary of social media and how it impacts the society.

“Volume 1 was published in 2012, The journal has received almost 300 submissions since its launch. Recently, the JSMS was recognized by Katz’s Magazines for Libraries. The listing called our journal a highly recommended title. As for web traffic, thejsms.org has experienced almost 100,000 abstract views and 50,000 PDF downloads.”

“When we first started the journal, we were hoping to give scholars a place to publish research that was in areas not necessarily accepted by other journals at the time,” Maben said. “We have been pleasantly surprised by how quickly scholars have embraced the journal.”

The audience for the JSMS includes those that are interested in advancing or following the study of social media. It was created to advance the study of social media with current literature based on theory, research and practice from all methodological frameworks. JSMS is a research-based journal focused on the interest of social media in society. The journal defines “social media” as interactive online platforms (including mobile technology) where we connect to share, discuss, create and collaborate.

“We wanted a title that would encompass the scope of social media in our world, as well as encourage submissions from all fields,” Maben said.

The JSMS team is comprised of Editor Dr. Sarah Maben, Contributing Editor Dr. Credence Baker, Associate Editor Dr. Amber Harris-Bozer and over 70 editorial board and review board members.

The publisher of the JSMS is the Texas Social Media Research Institute (TSMRI), an organization devoted to providing research and training focused on communication technology and social media for K-12 education, higher education, businesses and non-profit organizations.

“I am very pleased to have been invited to be an Associate Editor for the Journal,” Harris-Bozer said. “The invitation speaks to the progress that the journal has made since Vol. 1 in 2012, and I am enthusiastic about being part of this process.”

“The journal provides a unique opportunity for researchers and industry leaders that are committed to the advancement of understanding social media.”