I can’t believe it has been four months since my last blog post!
On the other hand, it must have been that long, because an awful lot seems to have happened in that time. The Interfaces team is growing fast – we have acquired four new members since I joined the RSC. I am now fully trained in editing, as well as proofing, and am working hard on peer review.
At first, the thought of reading reviews and making a decision on a primary research paper that I had only just read was a terrifying one, but I am now getting into the swing of things and feel that I can cope with the awesome responsibility of the accept/reject decisions. I am more or less independent on
RSC Advances peer review (though it is always nice to get a second opinion on a tricky decision!) and have spent the past month training on
Soft Matter. Of course, the flip side of the terrifying responsibility is the elation of realising you’ve got a really good paper on your hands, which may be the best bit of this job!
In addition to peer review training, I have been working on producing a new
LaTeX template to match the new RSC article template which has been introduced this year. It has been nice to work on a cross-team project, as I’ve got to meet and work with a different set of people in the LaTeX user group. I have also commissioned a few covers for our newest journal,
Biomaterials Science. Choosing the most striking image for the front cover is a lot of fun, although sometimes the submission deadlines for final images are quite tight, which can be stressful for us, as well as the authors!
Outside of work, I have also been encouraging my colleagues to come running! So far only a few of us have braved the cold to do a few laps of the Science Park at lunchtime and after work, but we have plans to find more recruits and maybe even enter some races.
LJ Michie 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
