Nearly three months have elapsed since my last blog entry and time seems to have gone by really fast!

Life in the Synthetic Organic team is as busy as ever. With the databases (MOS and CCR) now moved completely within our team, we abstract from so many different organic chemistry publications each month, with so many high-impact advances in the field to keep track of, and it is all we can do to keep on top of things! I am very glad that my training for this started early and that I am now almost independent in my abstracting, the most interesting part of which, of course, is to get to read outstanding research from leading experts in the field from all over the publishing world.

With my proofreading and issue make up training completed, I am now doing the peer review for OBC which, as I predicted, is extremely interesting and I enjoy looking after papers since the early stages of their submission to the journal. In the summer, we will publish our 10^th Anniversary special issue which already counts several contributions from outstanding names in the field of organic chemistry. As the cover coordinator, my challenge is to commission and produce a suitable cover to highlight this very important occasion and showcase the OBC 10^th Anniversary issue on the RSC’s blogs and media channels. When I write my next blog entry, the issue will be published so I will be able to show you which cover was selected!

These past six months in Cambridge have flown, I have now made a number of friends inside and outside the organisation of whom I am already very fond. We regularly showcase our general knowledge skills on Wednesday evening pub quizzes and, when it stops raining and I am finally rid of this annoying cough, I will hopefully be able to participate in the next RSC rounders game!

I am very much looking forward to the next stage of my training, which will involve editing, and to the continuation of my career. I couldn’t be more excited about the future.