---

Hello from the Publishing side of the RSC! The graduate scheme in Publishing is a year long traineeship to become a Publishing Editor. The job involves all aspects of handling a manuscript, from when it's first submitted right through to when it gets printed in an issue. I've been here for over six months and have so far been trained in both of the main aspects of the job: the peer review process and technical editing.
I am currently working on the Materials Team, which handles three RSC journals: Soft Matter, Journal of Materials Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry. My team has about 10-12 people, and currently there are four of us at different stages of the graduate program. I came directly from a research job, and have had a steep learning curve in going from bench work to sitting in front of a computer all day. The best bit? Never having to run a column again! It's definitely interesting being on the other end of the peer review process, and seeing how and why manuscripts get rejected or accepted. I find the most interesting part of the job is when you first read a paper, you have to judge whether it's suitable for the particular journal within about five minutes. The next part is finding the reviewers, which can be easy on popular subject areas, but pretty tricky when it comes to quite obscure topics.
Apart from handling manuscripts there are also other projects that come up. For instance, I have just started blogging about Hot Articles in Soft Matter. I even tweeted for the first time ever, thus joining the 21st century finally!
 

---

Serin Dabb is a Graduate 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