In the summer of 2025, we conducted a survey to gauge feedback around The Digital Orientalists‘s name and branding. From the responses it was clear that our organizational structure has not been transparent to the public. This page is designed to help communicate how we function as an organization.
Current members of The DO team can be found here. For previous members, see our Hall of Fame.
A diagram of The DO’s organizational structure with an overview of the 2025 team.
The long-term management of The DO is conducted by our Managerial Board. The board can have up to seven members including the Owner who is responsible for funding The DO, confirming the board’s decisions, and representing the organization in any disputes. Potential board members can be nominated by current members of the board, and are instated only if they receive unanimous approval from all active board members. Most decisions regarding the management of The DO are made at the board level – potentially after consultation with other team members or the public – and passed or rejected according to a simple majority vote of all active board members. These practices, the board’s functions, as well as the roles, responsibilities, and rights of all positions in the organization are outlined in The DO‘s bylaws.
The board appoints an Editor-in-Chief who is responsible for the daily management of the organization and liaising with the board. In turn, the Editor-in-Chief appoints and manages the Editors and Contributors who volunteer for The DO. Each summer we hold an open call for team members and following both a document screening and interview, receiving feedback from those engaged in the interview process (Editors and board members), the Editor-in-Chief assembles a team.
Most Editors are responsible for a subject area and usually manage a team of contributors and/or source external contributions. The editorial team is also made up of a Conference Manager and Editor, who organises our annual virtual conference and their proceedings, and an Editor for Guest Submissions. Their primary role is to make sure that articles meet internal standards in terms of content and style, things which are outlined in our Editorial Guidelines, and to act as a liaison between the Editor-in-Chief and their team members. Editors may also contribute their own pieces to The DO. Last year we also introduced Managing Editors who supervise larger teams as an additional layer above Editors.
Within a team there are a number of Contributors (both permanent and guest contributors) who write articles for The DO following our Author Guidelines. Contributions may also be solicited by Editors or come through our submissions portal. All Contributors sign an Author Agreement which outlines the rights and responsibilities of both Contributors and The DO. This is effectively a CC-BY-NC license, but with the provision of some non-exclusive printing and archiving rights to The DO and an agreement to uphold academic standards and ensure that the author gains permission for copyrighted materials before they are printed in The DO.
In addition to Editors and Contributors are members of the social media team. This team is managed by a Social Media Manager who is responsible for managing members of the social media team, our social media policy, and liaising on these matters with the Editor-in-Chief.
In practice some people take multiple roles in the organization. For example, several board members and the Owner also serve as Editors, contribute articles, and aid the social media team. This is a circumstance that has evolved in order to address labor shortages in different areas, but also helps to ensure that board members are actively engaged with the team and that they keep abreast of different developments.
For further inquiries about our organization and management please feel free to email us at: digitalorientalist[at]gmail.com.