Staff Editor - PeerJ (US)

Company Description

Taylor & Francis is an Informa Business

Informa is a leading academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge, and events business, creating unique content and connectivity for customers all over the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.

Taylor & Francis is one of the world’s largest publishers of high-quality, peer reviewed scholarly journals, books, e-books and reference works. We empower learners, thinkers and doers with trusted knowledge that advances research and enriches lives. We bring together diverse people, ideas and opinions to validate and publish the experts, theories and truths that matter. And we’ve been doing this in an unbroken arc since 1798.

Our purpose is to foster human progress through knowledge.  We strongly believe that this requires us to encourage and examine different ideas and voices, so that any work that meets our exacting levels of quality deserves to be included in our publications. This requires open minds, the opportunity for robust debate, and the courage to defend perspectives that stand up to scrutiny, even if they conflict with our personal beliefs or values. Because that’s the only way to find the best obtainable version of the truth and, ultimately, foster human progress. If you agree, then we’d love to hear from you.

Job Description

PeerJ is an open-access publisher specializing in peer-reviewed research across life sciences, environmental sciences, medicine, and chemistry. Known for its innovative publishing model, PeerJ emphasizes rigorous peer review and broad accessibility of scientific knowledge. Now part of Taylor & Francis Group, PeerJ continues to champion open-access publishing while benefiting from the resources and global reach of a leading academic publisher. For more information on our PeerJ This role works closely with internal teams and the external Academic Editors and peer-reviewers of our peer-reviewed journal publications.

For more information on our PeerJ catalogue, please visit https://peerj.com/life-environment/

What you'll be doing:

• Evaluate incoming manuscripts for adherence to our policies; aims and scope; and editorial standards (“sub scan”).
• Liaise with authors to communicate their adherence to our standards.
• Work with / chase authors to ensure acceptable manuscript submissions.
• Support, and cover for, other staff Editors at PeerJ in similar roles
• Comment on, and advise, internal and external stakeholders on scientific and technical issues relating to subject expertise, and editorial standards
• Respond to specific emails (relevant to the responsibilities of this position) as they come-in, to shared inboxes
• In collaboration with other team members, responsible for the integrity, speed and smooth running of the PeerJ Peer-Review process – assigning Editors, chasing Editors, chasing Reviewers, research and identify peer-reviewers on behalf of some Editors etc.
• Provide input and advice on changes to the Scope, Editorial Policies, and Author Instructions of the seven PeerJ journals.
• Train new staff members
• Strategic input into the development of a strong journal program
• Proactive editorial development of the journals (e.g. proposing and creating new Sections)
• Input into the recruitment, vetting and ongoing communications with Editorial Board members in a wide range of areas
• Conduct some ethical investigations as needed
• Close collaboration with colleagues in other departments to communicate user needs (i.e. the needs of publishing academics) and to develop and implement strategies to meet those needs
• Expected to suggest and implement process improvements which will improve the KPIs of the peer-review process.
• Work closely with colleagues in the Communities Team and Publishing Operations team.

Qualifications

What we're looking for:

• An advanced degree (minimum PhD, but ideally postdoctoral)
• STM background highly preferred
• Excellent English comprehension and communication skills (written and verbal)
• Good analytical, decision making and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently, contribute to building a positive team spirit and support everyone’s efforts to succeed.
• 4+ years of experience in editorial roles
• Capable of understanding complex scientific topics; able to converse with academics on ‘their level’; and able to communicate academic concepts to a broader audience.
• Professional and articulate.
• Capable of handling multiple responsibilities, working independently, and meeting strict deadlines.
• The ability to communicate appropriately, both upstream and