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I started working at the RSC a year and a half ago on the Science, Education and Industry Graduate Training Scheme, then 5 months ago I moved to the role of Development Editor in the Publishing Department.  A Development Editor is part of the Journals Development department in RSC Publishing; we are responsible for getting the best quality work submitted to RSC journals and for ensuring that this content is highly accessed and visible.

To increase the number and quality of submissions I do a lot of commissioning, both for original research and review content.  This involves following leads on topics or people we are interested in submitting to our journals, we get these leads from all sorts of sources such as Editorial Board members, investigating who is speaking at the best conferences and simply searching online.  I read about what work they do and if it fits with the scope of a journal I then invite them to contribute a paper.

Another important aspect of my role is increasing the visibility and usage of our published content.  One way we do this is through the Journal’s Blogs.  We highlight hot articles and also use the blogs to communicate news about the journal and the field to those in the community.  I have been writing for two of RSC publishing’s newest journals, on the Food & Function Blog and Metallomics Blog.

Having come to the RSC from a PhD in biochemistry I have now worked on a variety of journals covering topics from materials science (Journal of Materials Chemistry) to analytical science (Analyst) and finishing up on food (Food & Function)!  It’s great to be learning about cutting edge science, across a variety of topics.  Philip was absolutely correct in his blog piece earlier this month, working in publishing allows you to keep in touch with a broad range of science without having to specialise to the extent required in research.  In addition, RSC Publishing is part of a non-profit scientific society and having worked in a variety of roles at the RSC I have seen first hand the value, quality and range of the work that the RSC carries out; I enjoy working for an organisation whose work I believe in.

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Anna Simpson 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

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Studying science can be a great experience. For kids who are inquisitive about how the world around them works, and are hungry for answers, choosing to pursue scientific subjects during their education will not only give them those answers, but will provide them with a completely viable career opportunity. What could be better than spending your days pondering the nature of what’s going on around you?

As you continue on through your education, you are required to specialise more. By the time you get to PhD level or beyond, you really do dedicate all of your energy into a very narrow field. Whilst this is an extremely rewarding experience, giving you the opportunity to make a contribution to the fundamental understanding and progression of your chosen field, it is very easy to lose touch with the wonders of science in a broader context.

However, this level of subject specialty isn’t inevitable in a scientific career. If you are someone who enjoys learning about a variety of topics, and embraces learning new skills, then working in publishing might be for you. In only four months at the RSC working as a Publishing Editor, I’ve been exposed to, and learnt a lot about, a wonderfully diverse range of subjects. What’s more, you are given the opportunity to contribute to the progress of science as a whole, which is a very rewarding experience.

One of the best things I've done at the RSC is write for the journal blogs, mainly Nanoscale. These serve as a great way to interact with the community which RSC Publishing serves, and have allowed me to exercise my expertise.

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Philip Howes is a Graduate working in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Science, Education and Industry/Publishing Department. To see if there are any current vacancies go to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' Blog or subscribe to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' by Email

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I have been at the RSC for ten months now, so am nearing the end of my year on the graduate Publishing scheme. The time seems to have flown by! I work on the Analytical team, where we deal with four journals and a series of databases.
 
When I first arrived I began my training on the database Analytical Abstracts, a current awareness and information retrieval service for analytical chemists worldwide. The work involves searching the literature in this field for relevant new articles, then indexing them for inclusion in the database according to the analytes and techniques used. As my chemistry background is not strongly analytical, I’ve found it really interesting to read papers in a field quite new to me, and it seems I’ve learned a lot in a short space of time!
 
I now divide my time between working on the database and the four journals in our team: Analyst, Analytical Methods, JAAS and Metallomics. I have so far been trained in the technical editing aspect of journal work (involving all stages between the acceptance of a manuscript and its publication), and I’ve now just started my training in the peer review process (dealing with manuscripts from submission to acceptance). There are several stages to the process, but at the moment I’m learning to find suitable referees for each manuscript and look at their comments, and then decide whether or not to accept the manuscript for publication - today I accepted my first one!
 
With all the different aspects of dealing with manuscripts as well as working on the database, my job is very varied and I’m never doing the same thing for long! After my degree and PhD, I was looking to stay involved with chemistry without working in the lab, and working in publishing is an ideal way to do that – I’m able to use and expand my chemistry knowledge and read about the latest research, and I honestly don’t miss the lab at all!

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Sarah 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
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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!
 

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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