From Researcher to Journal Editor
Maria Nowotny
Monday, 22 June 2009 06:40 UTC
Hi,
I am an active researcher in materials science.
During my Phd I was invited to review a scientific paper and found that I really enjoyed the process. Since, then I have been invited to join the Editorial board of a specialised scientific journal and have been a guest reviewer in a number of other journals. I have been enjoying the experience so much that ultimately I would love to become an editor for a journal like Nature.
What qualifications and experience do I need to gain in order to have an edge and be eligable for an editing position with the NPG?
Any comments will be greatly appreciated.
Best wishes
Maria
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Before you apply for an editor position, you should prepare yourself to have the skills and experiences necessary to land—and more importantly, perform well—at that plum gig. Here are a few tips I’ve gleaned, by osmosis, from manuscript editors I’ve worked with at Nature and talked to at other journals:
- Read as widely as as possible, not just in your sub-sub-micro-niche specialty. I’d recommend an ongoing relationship with literature (not just the scientific kind) too.
- Write as widely as you read, in varying styles. If your goal is to edit at a specific journal, analyze all that journal’s features, then try to write in that style. For Nature, for instance, carefully scan a “News & Views”. Ask yourself questions like: How is it structured? How does it capture the reader’s interest? How does it qualify claims? Then practice your own and seek honest feedback.
- Review papers as part of your current gig. Serving on a study section—for your institution, your discipline’s funding agency, your field’s society journal—will give you the skills, experience and contacts that could lead to a full-time editing gig.
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Before you apply for an editor position, you should prepare yourself to have the skills and experiences necessary to land—and more importantly, perform well—at that plum gig. Here are a few tips I’ve gleaned, by osmosis, from manuscript editors I’ve worked with at Nature and talked to at other journals:
- Read as widely as as possible, not just in your sub-sub-micro-niche specialty. I’d recommend an ongoing relationship with literature (not just the scientific kind) too.
- Write as widely as you read, in varying styles. If your goal is to edit at a specific journal, analyze all that journal’s features, then try to write in that style. For Nature, for instance, carefully scan a “News & Views”. Ask yourself questions like: How is it structured? How does it capture the reader’s interest? How does it qualify claims? Then practice your own and seek honest feedback.
- Review papers as part of your current gig. Serving on a study section—for your institution, your discipline’s funding agency, your field’s society journal—will give you the3 skills, experience and contacts that could lead to a full-time editing gig.
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Thanks for the quick response Hildi. I will be sure to check out the source link and hopefully get on second life by the time the London event comes!
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Hello!
Great topic! I hope I can join in although I am a bit late…
First I would like to thank Hildi, Maxine and Paul and the rest of you for your good advice (thanks!), and then I would like to ask for some more: I am yet another PhD student with editor ambitions nearing the end of my PhD studies, and I’m trying to decide whether to go for a post doc or not. The big question is of course if a post doc will substantially help my chances to land an editor job in the end? I definitely want to keep working in science, but I don’t think that an academic career working in the lab is for me, meaning that my main reason for doing a post doc would be to get more attractive for a future job (preferably an editor job). Is it worth the time and the effort, or should I try to look for jobs directly after my PhD? What do you think? I am happy for any ideas or views!Thanks!
/Anna
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