Publishing Editor – Physics

Morgan Healey Exclusive

Our client, a leading STM Publisher, requires a Publishing Editor within Physics to form part of a new team in London.

You will be responsible for the success of a defined set of journals within a broad discipline group. The primary goal of this role will be to develop a close working relationship with members of the academic editorial boards to further develop the journals within the portfolio.

Key Responsibilities
Portfolio Management:

  • Be the key point of contact for your Academic Editors and build a close working relationship with them
  • Prioritise journals for development and create as well as implement a strategy plan
  • Ensure journals are represented in relevant indexing services and prepare journals for acceptance by additional services
  • Develop knowledge of the research areas of your portfolio and use this knowledge to actively identify journal development opportunities
  • Work alongside your Academic Editors to increase journal visibility, submissions, and reputation within the field
  • Increase visibility and citations through commissioning and appropriate marketing

Special Issue Development: 

  • With the assistance of the Editorial Board, assess special issue proposals submitted to the journals within your portfolio
  • Give guidance to the lead guest editors to refine their call for papers
  • Support the lead guest editors in promoting their call for papers to prospective authors
  • Compile reports on the status of the special issues within your portfolio
  • Explore and implement methods to promote special issues once they are published

Skills & Experience: 

  • A minimum of 1-2 years’ experience in the publishing industry
  • Degree in a scientific discipline (Physics)
  • Knowledge of peer review and the publishing process
  • An interest in Open Access publishing
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Strong organisational skills, with attention to detail
  • A positive and proactive approach to problem-solving in daily tasks
  • Able to work cooperatively with colleagues at all levels
  • A high level of computer literacy
  • Experience of working in a start­up and/or tech environment desirable

Associate Publisher – Physics

Our client, a leading Open Publisher and cutting edge platform provider requires a new Associate Publisher within Physics. 

The new position of Associate Publisher offers an exciting chance for an outgoing and self-motivated individual to work with a network of contacts within Physics, to develop and expand the services offered to serve the needs of these research communities, and to build up content on the clients open research platforms in these areas.

The successful candidate will be educated to post-graduate level, and must have an active interest in open science publishing, open data and related matters, and strong experience of scholarly research publishing.

Key Responsibilities:

  • To work with, and grow, a network of contacts within the research community, with particular focus on Physics and to advocate the advantages of open research publishing to these communities.
  • To develop services, processes and features that serve the needs of diverse research communities, establishing differences in scholarly publishing practices between academic disciplines.
  • To identify new potential partners in the research community for developing gateways and collections in subject areas that are currently underrepresented.
  • To project-manage the set up, and drive the growth and development of, new gateways (and potentially platforms, where appropriate) in Physics, as well as other subject areas.
  • To implement an outreach strategy to generate new submissions; this includes outreach support for existing platform partners who serve these communities.

Key Requirements 

  • At least five years scholarly online publishing experience, including significant contact with editors, authors, reviewers and societies and experience with journal development activities
  • Excellent communication, negotiation and influencing skills with individuals at all levels of seniority
  • Experience of managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders
  • Strong leadership and analytical skills
  • Organisational skills with attention to detail
  • Ability to complete tasks to high standards, working to (often competing) deadlines
  • A positive and proactive approach to problem solving both in daily tasks and more complex trouble-shooting
  • Able to work cooperatively with colleagues at all levels
  • High level of computer literacy (including MS Office, Outlook and internet browsers)
  • Familiarity with social media platforms and online engagement
  • Willingness to travel frequently and represent the company at international events

2x Editorial Production Editors

Morgan Healey Exclusive

Our client, a leading Open Access Publisher based in London are searching for two more Editorial Production Editors to be the link between the customer and the back office vendors.

Reporting into the Operations Manager, the Editorial Production Editor will be responsible for overseeing a portfolio of journals from submission through production and to final publication. The Editorial Production Editor will work with operations staff based overseas to perform this role, and work to achieve an ever improving author experience.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Managing a portfolio of partnership journals
  • Ensuring key performance indicators on these journals are met via critique, feedback and reporting Acting as an escalation point for overseas colleagues, and for authors, reviewers and editors
  • Taking a proactive approach to improving quality, turnaround times and author experience within a portfolio of journals
  • Using initiative to identify new efficiencies to suggest process changes to the Operations Manager
  • Keeping the Operations Manager updated on the performance of a portfolio of journals and the operations teams
  • Completing spot checks on overseas supplier output to ensure quality and accuracy
  • Ensuring documentation to is updated
  • Working on vendor and operational projects
  • Acting as a cover for colleague absences and to deputise for the Operations Manager if required
  • Excellent attention to detail and organisational skills
  • Willing to travel is required

Skills & Experience:

  • 3 years of either production or editorial experience in an STM environment
  • Experience working with overseas suppliers
  • Proven ability to prioritise own workload and to meet deadlines

Senior Managing Editor – Platforms

Our client, a leading publisher and cutting edge platform provider, requires an experienced in-house scientific editor to join the team as Senior Managing Editor.

The successful individual should have a background in life science publishing, additional experience in publishing in other scientific fields would be a distinct advantage.

The role will involve managing and developing the expanding team of in-house editors who manage the pre-publication checks, production steps, and then peer review of submitted manuscripts and the growing number of white-label publishing platforms.

Key aspects of the role include overseeing the scientific and editorial pre-publication checks, developing and overseeing editorial policies, and recruiting, training and managing the editorial staff. The successful applicant will need to be flexible and adaptable to challenges as the role develops.

This is a rare opportunity to be involved in helping to really change the way scientific publishing is done. You will need a strong track record in an STM publishing environment and broad understanding of biomedical research topics through your education and/or editorial experience. You will need a PhD in a relevant biomedical discipline, and a strong track record in an STM publishing environment (preferably in Open Access).

You will need lots of enthusiasm, the ability to prioritise a challenging workload, have plenty of initiative and problem-solving skills, excellent attention to detail, and good verbal and written communication skills.
The successful candidate will need to be a strong team player who enjoys interacting with people and be highly computer literate.

Skills & Experience: 

  • At least 7 years of scientific editorial experience, preferably online, including extensive contact with editors, authors, reviewers and societies and experience with journal development activities
  • Experience of leading and line managing a large team
  • Experience of project management

Senior Commissioning Editor, Open Access

Our client, a leading STM publisher requires a new Senior Commissioning Editor who will become a key member of the Open Access publishing team.

You will be responsible for contributing to a 3-year new product strategy in key areas that support the overarching STM OA growth/investment strategy. They will be responsible for product ideation, research, development, launch and execution.

The role will balance high levels of academic knowledge with entrepreneurial skills and a keen interest in driving new online product innovation and development. The candidate must possess an interest and knowledge of Open Access journal publishing and Open Research.

Skills & Experience:

  • Higher degree in a scientific subject. Experience in an STM journal environment.
  • Managing relationships with external editors, authors and societies. Ideating, scoping and launching new STM products.
  • Knowledge and understanding of OA and OR policies and environments.
  • Organisational and project management skills.
  • Numerical analysis and financial planning/management.
  • Energetic and self-driven. Innovative and entrepreneurial.
  • Well organised and methodical.
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills.
  • Excellent interpersonal and collaborative skills.
  • Enthusiasm and flexibility to adapt to new responsibilities as they arise.