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Publishing Editor Blog

Ever wanted to know what the staff at the RSC get up to? In this blog our publishing editors describe some of the interesting activities they are working on, and let you know what it's really like to work at a leading international scientific publishers. You can also hear from the development editors in our publishing team, and find out what exciting projects and RSC social events they have been involved in recently.

Find out more about publishing opportunities at the RSC here
 

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Publishing Editor - General and Analytical Team


37fb0e080baef1b173e09d6995c42ba7-huge-alLike many others who came to work as a Publishing Editor at the Royal Society of Chemistry, the path that led me here brought me from a research background with a readiness to hang up the lab coat and safety specs.

Having completed my PhD at the University of Sheffield, I was in the middle of a postdoctoral contract in January 2017 when I was shown an advert for the Publishing Editor scheme at the Royal Society of Chemistry. The temptation of a permanent and stable job, particularly one that would allow me to remain involved with cutting edge research while avoiding the ups and downs of the lab, was too much to resist, and in September of the same year I began working at the Cambridge office.

The generous relocation allowance took away a lot of the stress of moving to a completely new part of the country. While there is a large base of Publishing Editors living in Cambridge, I decided to opt for the (slightly cheaper!) option of living in Ely, which is served by a train service that runs regularly to Cambridge North station a few minutes walk from the Science Park.

I have now been working at the Royal Society of Chemistry for over a year, and my level of responsibilities have increased quickly giving me insight into a few different journals. Besides supporting a host of external Associate Editors in their tasks and coordinating RSC Advances and Metallomics, I also recently had the opportunity to attend the Chemistry World Jobs Live event held at Burlington House, London. This allowed me to discuss my role with the many enthusiastic undergraduate and postgraduate students who were interested in a career as a Publishing Editor at the Royal Society of Chemistry. I hope my advice and experience helped everyone who I talked to, and I look forward to working with those who choose to apply to the Royal Society of Chemistry in the future!
 

Alex Metherell is a Publishing Editor working in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Publishing Department. To see if there are any current vacancies go to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' Blog or subscribe to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' by Email
Posted by Harriet Brewerton on Dec 4, 2018 9:18 AM GMT
Publishing Editor - Sustainability

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Even without a degree in Chemistry, it really is possible to apply any scientific background to the Publishing Editor role. When I first introduced myself at my assessment centre, I realised I was the only biologist and was surrounded by chemists with masters degrees, PhDs and post-docs, making me certain that I wouldn’t be considered for the job! I am now coming up to my year anniversary as a Publishing Editor with the Royal Society of Chemistry, and I could not imagine working anywhere else.

At the Royal Society of Chemistry, we are lucky enough to count biologists, geologists and more among our ranks, and each contributes their own knowledge and skills to our teams. As a Publishing Editor on the Sustainability team, I have worked on facilitating the peer review of some incredible journals and I spend most days communicating with authors and reviewers from all over the world. After eleven months working here I now support Associate Editors, am the journal coordinator for Green Chemistry and the cover coordinator for Energy & Environmental Science, and I have just started training a new starter on my team in peer review.

As well as a varied workload, we are also very proud of our work/life balance, and there is a thriving social scene at the Royal Society of Chemistry making it impossible not to settle in straight away. Almost as soon as I joined I volunteered to work on the Sports and Social Club Committee, who plan company-wide social events throughout the year both after work and at lunch, and I personally helped to organise a celebration for International Women’s Day in March. Since then, we have hosted a self-defence class, a floristry workshop, go-karting and have lots more in store for the remainder of 2018.
 

Olivia Wakeman is a Publishing Editor working in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Publishing Department. To see if there are any current vacancies go to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' Blog or subscribe to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' by Email
Posted by Harriet Brewerton on Sep 12, 2018 2:44 PM BST
Assistant Editor – Chemical Science


ff14700f0f097d7308950ab12214c76e-huge-wiI joined the Royal Society of Chemistry 18 months ago, having previously worked in science outreach and education for over 2 years. I began my career at the Royal Society of Chemistry as a Publishing Editor on the General Chemistry portfolio of journals, and recently moved to a new role as Assistant Editor of Chemical Science.

As a Publishing Editor I worked on several journals including Chemical Science, and I particularly enjoyed supporting our Associate Editors based around the world. I had the opportunity to travel to a conference in Oxford to meet one of my Associate Editors, and I also attended an editorial board meeting for Royal Society Open Science (our partnership with the Royal Society) to deliver a workshop for Associate Editors on referee selection.

Chemical Science is the Royal Society of Chemistry’s flagship journal and my new role as Assistant Editor allows me to continue carrying out peer review activities and be involved with strategy and development activities.

I like the focus on Associate Editor support in my role, which plays well to my strengths, and I have greatly enjoyed getting stuck into the development tasks such as promoting articles through our China office and engaging with the community at conferences and on social media. There are challenges ahead, but my experience as a Publishing Editor will serve me well.
William King is an Assistant Editor working in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Publishing Department. To see if there are any current vacancies go to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' Blog or subscribe to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' by Email
 
Posted by Harriet Brewerton on Aug 15, 2018 1:31 PM BST
Publishing Editor - General Team

69ae7ca97915007dd2482851ece3df1f-huge-saI have been working on the General Chemistry Team at the Royal Society of Chemistry along with Hannah since I joined in November 2016. As the journals in our portfolio are aimed at a general audience, it has been great to see such a broad range of research going on in the chemistry community.


Following some recent team changes, the General Team has recently gained some different journals to coordinate, which has brought along lots of new opportunities, as well as new colleagues! All of the Publishing Editors involved with the changes were asked to express an interest in which journals they wanted to work on, as well as what responsibilities they might like to take on, which has allowed us all to try different tasks and learn about more specialised journals.

As well as the core peer review tasks that all Publishing Editors do, there is a lot of other stuff that you can be involved with; including providing support to Associate Editors, being a journal or cover coordinator, or training new Publishing Editors – once you are fully trained and experienced of course!

There are also other opportunities to get involved with outside of the team – I have had a great time working on a Faraday Discussion and doing some Member Recruitment visits. I visited several universities across the UK along with other Publishing Editors to support the Membership Team. We went to a university for a day, set up a stand in the chemistry department foyer and chatted to undergraduate students about Royal Society of Chemistry membership. (As an aside, if you are not a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, I would definitely encourage you to be as there are many benefits!)

Whilst I have been working at the Royal Society of Chemistry I have made many great friends. We often go on trips and some of us recently went on a Scavenger Hunt organised by the Sports and Social Club, one of many social events throughout the year that make the Royal Society of Chemistry a really friendly place to work!

Sarah Whitbread is a Publishing Editor working in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Publishing Department. To see if there are any current vacancies subscribe to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' by Email
 
Posted by Harriet Brewerton on Jun 1, 2018 2:57 PM BST
Publishing Editor – General Team


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I joined the Royal Society of Chemistry in February 2016 after spending 4 years working on my PhD in physical organic chemistry at Queen’s University, Belfast and the ISIS Pulsed Neutron and Muon Source in Oxfordshire.


Moving from research, I decided to look for a job that would allow me to keep in touch with chemistry and academia without being in the lab. The Publishing Editor role is perfect, since you see such a huge variety of manuscripts related to all aspects of the chemical sciences, and you really get a feel for what is popular in the research landscape at any given time.

As a member of the General Chemistry team, I work on Chemical Communications, Chemical Science, and RSC Advances. In addition to handling the peer review of manuscripts for ChemComm, I provide support for 15 associate editors across all 3 journals. This includes assisting the AEs with the initial assessment and peer review process of the manuscripts.  

Over the last year, my role has become more production focused, with a range of responsibilities focusing on the handling of workflow between acceptance and the final version appearing in an issue and online. I particularly enjoy my role as the ChemComm production coordinator, which involves keeping track of the manuscripts in production, and allocating them to the twice-weekly issues ensuring that the articles are published as rapidly as possible.

The Royal Society of Chemistry is a friendly place to work, and it is particularly great around the Christmas period. Christmas 2017 was no different, with a range of festivities to fit everyone – in addition to the Christmas party, the general team took part in a team-wide Secret Santa gift exchange, and attended the annual Christmas lunch at King’s College, Cambridge. Those who brave working the final day before the Christmas shutdown are also rewarded with a big breakfast of champions in the cafeteria, which is always great fun.

With my second Royal Society of Chemistry anniversary soon approaching (and the cake/baked goods that inevitably come with it), I am looking forward to another year of more cake, peer review, lovely colleagues and ChemComm coordination, including production of the 2018 Emerging Investigators Issue. Oh and finally finishing my thesis!
 

Hannah Dunckley is a Publishing Editor working in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Publishing Department. To see if there are any current vacancies go to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' Blog or subscribe to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' by Email
 
Posted by Harriet Brewerton on Mar 6, 2018 11:17 AM GMT