Hello everybody!

Today I was sent an email about a call for paper publication. Is just perfect to publish my PhD practice based research. However, when I was looking into the publication guideline I also took a look at the editorial board I noticed that the name of someone with whom I have a personal and professional conflict was included. I suspect that the editorial board also peer reviews. That person knows my research and would recognised it even if it anonymous. I know most of the editorial board by reputation and work and that particular person is one of the closest to my topic, which is why I suspect it would be almost certainly peer reviewing it.

I am questioning whether I should contact the main editor and inform that there is a conflict of interest with a particular member of the editorial board. The only contact available is of the main editor, so no one else that I could write to. But I am a bit afraid that it could cause any discomfort and as me being unprofessional, or even immature. Has anybody faced a similar situation? What would you recommend?

I know I could just not submit anything but there aren't many publication out there in my field and that particular person is an editorial member of most of them.

Thanks everybody!

If that person is an editorial member of most relevant publications then you are going to have the same issue wherever you publish. Just write to the editor and say that that person has a potential conflict of interest (nothing else) and request that someone else is the associate editor and chooses the reviewers. This is probably a question you will be asked upon submission to the journal anyway.

Yes, and the more well known you/your become (if you are staying in academia) then the more likely it will be that someone somewhere recognizes it and can guess it is you.

Thank you very much for your answers, it was really helpful.

All the best